Format large SD card to FAT32 via third-party freeware In the pop-up small window, set file system as exFAT or FAT32 for the SD card. Find out the SD card, right-click the partition on the SD card, choose ∿ormat . Input disk management in the Search box and choose ∼reate and format hard disk partitions to open Disk Management. Change file system of SD card to FAT32/exFAT via Disk Management Detailed steps on format SD card for Mac and PCĪfter you decide the file system format for your SD card that will be work under Mac and Windows PC, you can refer to the following steps to change the file system of SD card for Mac and Windows from Windows PC. If there is no large file to transfer or save, the SD card can be formatted with FAT32.
Format hdd for mac on a pc mac os#
In a nutshell, if Mac OS and Windows OS that you are running are not too old and the SD card may need to hold a file beyond 4GB, exFAT file system is recommended.
Format hdd for mac on a pc mac os x#
exFAT SD card cant be supported by some old operating system: your Mac OS shouldnt be older than Mac OS X 10.6.5 and Windows OS is supposed to be Windows Vista SP1 or newer. However, exFAT doesnt perform as well as FAT32 file system in compatibility. When SD card is formatted with exFAT, an individual large file over 4GB can be saved on it. If you copy big file to FAT32 SD card, youll be told that the file is too large for the file system.ĮxFAT file system is introduced in 2006.
The drawback of FAT32 SD card is that its unavailable to save an individual file whose size is beyond 4GB. FAT32 formatted SD card can be read and write under different operating systems (including Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, etc.) and devices (covering PS3, PS4, and Xbox One). If you still have no idea about format SD card to exFAT or FAT32, you can refer to Part 1 to realize more about the differences between FAT32 and exFAT file system.įAT32 file system, released in 1996, has great compatibility. FAT32 file system performs better in compatibility and exFAT has no 4GB file size limit. Both its OK to change the file system of the SD card to FAT32 or exFAT. To make SD card work both under Mac and Windows PC, its necessary to format it with a file system compatible with both Mac and Windows operating systems. Nowadays, its common to own Mac and Windows at the same time and you may need to migrate data between Mac and PC using SD card.