Format your USB drive with exFAT to use with both Windows and MacOS

One of annoying problems that MacOS users may face is MacOS cannot read NTFS USB drive and, therefore, it’s rather difficult to transfer data between Windows and MacOS. To write data to NTFS USB in MacOS, we need to use some commercial programs such as Paragon NTFS. If we format USB with HFS+ of MacOS, Windows cannot read them and we need to install MacDrive program. To solve this problem, you can format your USB drive with exFat (Extended File Allocation Table) so that it can be read and written by both MacOS (MacOS 10.6 or later) and Windows.

Format with exFAT in Windows

exFAT is recommended to use for USB drive but it can also be used with your portable hard disk. In MacOS, to format with exFAT, in Disk Utility, Erase your drive with exFAT.

Format with exFAT in MacOS

Note: some devices (e.g. TV) cannot read exFAT format, check your devices before formatting.