format flash drive in Exfat for transferring files between Mac and Pc.
However, portable SSDs (solid-state drives, or flash drives) offer the best combination of portability and performance if you want a drive to plug into your Mac. They are one of the most effective. Best external backup drive. Unlike most USB “thumb drives” this baby doesn’t hit the wall when writing files. It can write 20GB of files in just 110 seconds. Unless you have an older.
FORMAT TYPES
FAT32 (File Allocation Table)
- Read/Write FAT32 from both native Windows and native Mac OS X.
- Maximum file size: 4GB.
- Maximum volume size: 2TB
- You can use this format if you share the drive between Mac OS X and Windows computers and have no files larger than 4GB.
NTFS (Windows NT File System)
- Read/Write NTFS from native Windows.
- Read only NTFS from native Mac OS X
- To Read/Write/Format NTFS from Mac OS X, here are some alternatives:
- For Mac OS X 10.4 or later (32 or 64-bit), install Paragon (approx $20) (Best Choice for Lion)
- Native NTFS support can be enabled in Snow Leopard and Lion, but is not advisable, due to instability.
- AirPort Extreme (802.11n) and Time Capsule do not support NTFS
- Maximum file size: 16 TB
- Maximum volume size: 256TB
- You can use this format if you routinely share a drive with multiple Windows systems.
Best Thumb Drives For Mac
HFS+ ((((MAC FORMAT)))) (Hierarchical File System, a.k.a. Mac OS Extended (Journaled) Don't use case-sensitive)
Best Flash Drives For Macs
- Read/Write HFS+ from native Mac OS X
- Required for Time Machine or Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper! backups of Mac internal hard drive.
- To Read HFS+ (but not Write) from Windows, Install HFSExplorer
- Maximum file size: 8EiB
- Maximum volume size: 8EiB
- You can use this format if you only use the drive with Mac OS X, or use it for backups of your Mac OS X internal drive, or if you only share it with one Windows PC (with MacDrive installed on the PC)
Best Thumb Drives For Saving Photos From A Mac
EXFAT (FAT64)
Best Thumb Drives For Mac
- Supported in Mac OS X only in 10.6.5 or later.
- Not all Windows versions support exFAT.
- exFAT (Extended File Allocation Table)
- AirPort Extreme (802.11n) and Time Capsule do not support exFAT
- Maximum file size: 16 EiB
- Maximum volume size: 64 ZiB
- You can use this format if it is supported by all computers with which you intend to share the drive. See 'disadvantages' for details.