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Which Is the Best Format for 8TB HDD for Win and Mac, Help

I like to back up my PC and Mac to an external 8TB HDD, but I don't want to split up the HDD into multiple partitions. So is there any format that is compatible with Windows and Mac at the same time?

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Sherly· Answered on Apr 19, 2024

So you want to get a file system type that allows you to work both on Windows and Mac, don't you?

Flat out, the simplest answer is exFat. Before we learn why exFAT is the best choice, we need to know what file system types Mac and Windows both use.

  • Windows: FAT, NTFS, exFAT
  • Mac: HFS, APFS, HFS+, FAT32, exFAT

Hence, it's clear that exFAT and FAT32 are both compatible with Mac and Windows. But why is exFAT the best choice instead of FAT32? You can learn more difference between exFAT and FAT32 as long as you click the "ExFAT VS FAT32" link.

In simple terms, exFAT (Extensible File Allocation Table)) is advanced and superior to FAT32 (File Allocation Table 32) and supports more devices and OS. It is the best solution for users who always work on both Mac and Windows. The biggest advantage of exFAT is that there is almost no limit to the partition size, while FAT32 supports files up to 4GB, and the partition size is up to 8TB.

I used to use FAT32, but now, I have formatted FAT32 to exFAT and set the best exFAT allocation unit size by using EaseUS Partition Master. This tool allows you to format your HDD to any file system type you want, such as FAT32, exFAT, NTFS, ext2/3/4, and so on.

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