Dec 16, 2020 • Filed to: USB Recovery • Proven solutions

A drive can be formatted with exFAT using either a Windows or a Mac computer. From what I understand, Windows doesn’t always like the way Mac’s do the formatting on some larger drives, though, so give it a try and if your Windows machines don’t like it, just format the drive with Windows. I doubt you'll see any real negatives in terms of performance. ExFAT is the necessary format if you want to transfer files from Mac to Windows and vice versa. Windows can't read/write APFS or HFS+, and MacOS can't write to NTFS. FAT32 is your only other option, but it has file size limitations. The Mac/Windows-compatible ExFat format allows larger file sizes than the old FAT32. As to what you indicate about exFAT format being used as default by flash drive manufacturers for Mac + Windows compatibility, I'd really like to see a verifiable trend (or actual flash drive manufacturer guidelines) before I'd draw any conclusion. Click the Format pop-up menu, then choose one of the following: MS-DOS (FAT): Choose this format if the size of the disk is 32 GB or less. ExFAT: Choose this format if the size of the disk is over 32 GB. Enter a name for the volume. The maximum length for the volume name is 11 characters. Click Erase, then click Done.

If you work in an environment where you constantly use a flash drive between a Windows and Mac computer, you may find that you constantly have to format USB drive. One way to permanently solve this problem is to format usb flash drive to exFAT, a platform-independent file system.

Which Format to Choose? FAT32, NTFS, or exFAT?

Before we get into the actual process of formatting USB drive to exFAT, we need to understand exFAT and other files systems, specifically, FAT32 and NTFS.

FAT32: FAT32 is the oldest file system. FAT is an acronym for File Allocation Table. FAT32 was introduced way back in Windows 95 and was the successor to the older FAT16 that was used on Dos and Windows 3. It currently works on all Windows versions, Mac and Linux. This is the reason it is also one of the most ubiquitous file systems and comes pre-installed on almost all USB you buy at a store. Unfortunately, FAT32 comes with limitations. One of the biggest drawbacks is a maximum file limit size of 4GB. In today's world where video files can often be larger than that, FAT32 is often impractical. FAT32 also limits partition sizes to 8TB.
NTFS: NTFS or NT file system is the default file system used by Windows. NTFS has a huge file size and partition limits that are theoretically impossible to surpass. It originally debuted in Windows NT and later in Windows XP. NTFS is compatible with Windows but files can only be opened in read-only mode in Mac and some Linux distributions.
exFAT: exFAT is an acronym for the Extended File Allocation Table. It was created by Microsoft to replace FAT32 and address its limitations. The system has a file limit size of approximately 16 exabytes (over 1 billion gigabytes!) and is compatible with both Windows and Mac. exFAT formatted USB drive has no realistic partition size limits.

From the above descriptions of the three of the main file systems, it becomes immediately apparent why you would need to format a flash drive to exFAT. The most common reasons include:

Store large files. As already mentioned, the FAT32 file system has a file limit size of 4GB. In such a situation, you need to format the USB to exFAT to accommodate large file sizes.
You continuously use a flash drive between Windows and Mac. In such a situation, your USB drives need to use a file system that is compatible with both operating systems. ExFAT formatted USB drive solves this problem beautifully.
The nature of your work requires you to have large partitions for different types of data. For example, you may want to create a different partition for media such as images and videos.

How to Format flash drive to exFAT?

As mentioned earlier, the exFAT system is ideal for large files and partitions. If your USB is small, for example, 4GB, it may not make sense to format it to exFAT because you will never be able to store files larger than 4GB, unless you have the need to transfer files between macOS and Windows devices. For small USB drives of under 32 GB, you can format flash drive to either FAT32 or exFAT.

Method 1: Using the File Explorer

Step 1: Plug in the USB into the computer and wait for it to be detected.

Step 2: Once it's recognized, open Windows File Explorer and navigate to the disk location. Locate the USB drive under This PC. Right-click and select Format.

Format Flash Drive Mac Fat32

Step 3: Click on File System and select exFAT from the dropdown. Check the Quick Format checkbox if it isn't already ticked.

Step 4: Click Start to begin the process. You will get a pop-up warning you that, 'Formatting will erase ALL data on this disk. To format the disk, click OK. To quit, click CANCEL.' Click 'OK' and wait for the progress bar to finalize. If the format is successful, you will get prompt as shown below. Click 'OK' and begin using the drive or eject it safely.

Method 2: Using Disk Management

Disk Management is a Windows utility tool that helps you manage all your drives from one area. It is packed with several features that allow you to format thumb drive, change drive letters and paths, add mirrors, extend, shrink and delete volumes, and much more.

Step 1: Plug in your USB drive and wait for it to be detected. Once detected, type Disk Management in the Windows Search bar and click 'Create and format hard disk partitions' to launch the Disk Management Utility.

Step 2: Right-click the flash drive and select the Format option.

Step 3: Type a name in the Volume Label field to help you quickly identify the drive in File Explorer.

Step 4: In the File System drop-down menu, select NTFS, FAT32， or exFAT, and tick the Perform a quick format option.

Step 5: Click OK and wait for the process to complete. Once complete the drive has been formatted to exFAT. You can now use it or unplug it safely from the PC.

The process to format larger drives, that is, above 32 GB is more or less the same. You can use both methods outlined above. But, to ensure you don't encounter any errors, the additional two methods below are recommended for larger flash drives.

Method 3: Using the Command Prompt

The Windows Command Prompt takes much longer but is the best way to format flash drive, and deal with any problems such as 'Windows was unable to complete the format'.

Step 1: As with Method 1, plug in the flash drive and wait for it to be detected.

Step 2: Once detected, type 'CMD' in the Windows search bar and launch the Command Prompt.

Step 3: All drives on a Windows computer usually have letters assigned to them. For example, the hard disk is almost always C. Any additional drives connected to the computer are allocated subsequent letters. For example, D, F, and so on. E is usually reserved for the optical drive (CD/DVD) if the computer has one. For this example, our flash drive is letter D. You can find out the letter allocated to your USB by navigating to This PC and taking note of the letter in brackets.

Step 4: Type 'format D: /fs:EXFAT' and press enter. Remember to make sure the letter you type corresponds to the letter allocated to the USB drive plugged into your PC.

Step 5: Press Enter when ready and the process begins. When complete, you will be asked to enter a Volume Label to identify the drive. E

Format Flash Drive Mac Exfat