Western Digital offers an expansive portfolio of technologies, storage devices, systems and solutions for businesses and consumers alike. Our data-centric solutions are comprised of the Western Digital®, G-Technology®, SanDisk® and WD® brands. FAT32 and exFAT can be compatible with Mac and Windows and you can choose one after realizing their respective merits and defects based on your demands: FAT32 takes advantages in compatibility. It is compatible with various devices like DVD player, game console, etc. Apart from Mac and Windows, it can support Linux and Android. An external hard drive is an excellent way to keep your priceless data safe, and Western Digital (WD) has been in the business of making top-tier external storage devices since 2006. There are a wide range of external hard drives in the WD family of devices, making it difficult to know just which model would be right for your data preservation.
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It is possible to find an external hard drive for both Mac and PC that is interchangeable. Of course, which device you go for depends on your budget and how much storage you need.
External hard drives are perfect if you want a safe place to back up your work, old files, or if you use multiple machines for work or recreation. In fact, it is often a good idea to back up important files on an external hard drive. Both PCs and Macs can fail at any time – so it’s worth having files stored elsewhere too.
If you’re unsure which external hard drives are compatible with both Mac and PC, we’ve got you covered.
Let’s take a closer look at external hard drives for Mac and PC that are interchangeable between machines. Mpeg to mp3 converter mac free.
Western Digital My Passport
The Western Digital My Passport is an external hard drive that is interchangeable between Mac and PC. But that’s not all.
Found in the latest range from Western Digital, this external hard drive can be bought with storage from 1TB to a huge 4 TB. Perfect for those looking to store large amounts of music, videos, photos or work documents.
The My Passport hard drive will also back up automatically using a customised schedule, so you can forget about remembering to back up your work! Not only that, but it completes file transfers at high speed and can also be password protected to keep your files secure.
- 1TB – 4TB storage
- Optional password protection
- Scheduled automated backup
- USB 3.0 interface
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- Reaches those hard to reach places to provide better Wi-Fi coverage
- Plug and Play
- Quick Installation Guide
- Allow more people and devices to connect to the same router
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Buffalo Thunderbolt Ministation
Thunderbolt by name and by nature, this external hard drive – compatible with both Mac and PC – delivers speed twice as fast as standard USB 3.0 hard-drives. With 1TB storage it provides plenty of space for storing work documents or photos – with extra to spare.
The Thunderbolt is also a sleek and slim design and much less bulky than other external hard drives on the market.
- 1TB storage capacity
- Thunderbolt Interface (10GBps)
- USB 3.0
- Mac and PC compatible
External Hard Drive For Mac and PC interchangeable: My Book Duo WD
For those looking for a large capacity interchangeable external hard drive for Mac and PC, the My Book Duo is a perfect choice. Although it is worth noting you will need to reformat the device to work alongside Mac.
It comes at a higher price tag, but for a higher capacity of up to 28TB, that can only be expected. This external hard drive also offers protection through the optional Raid 1 data mirroring – which allows you to back up your files twice on the device incase one of the independent hard drives fails. Perfect if you are storing documents that are irreplaceable.
The My Book Duo also comes with 2 additional USB ports, so you can plug flash drives directly into the device for easy file transfers.
- Up to 28TB storage
- 2x USB ports
- Optional Raid 1 data mirroring
- Compatible with PC and Mac (if reformatted)
LaCie Rugged External Hard Drive
If you want your data stored in an external hard drive so safe that it can withstand the pressure of a one-tonne car – this is the hard drive for you.
Yes, the LaCie rugged external hard drive is also rain resistant – and more importantly, compatible with both Mac and PC machines through the USB C cable. It is also an extremely fast device, delivering file transfers and image browsing at high speeds.
- 2TB storage capacity
- Drop, crush and rain resistant
- USB C cable and USB 3.0 adaptor
- 5GB/s file transfers and backup speed
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G-Technology External Hard Drive
This external hard drive comes pre-formatted for use with Mac machines; however, it can be easily reformatted for use with Windows PC’s too.
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With 4TB of storage at an extremely reasonable price, USB C ready and both USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt 3 compatibility, this is a tough external hard drive to beat.
The G-Technology external hard drive also features a sleek, aluminium design that is lightweight and easy to transport.
- Up to 4TB storage capacity
- USB C ready
- USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt 3 compatible
- Mac and PC compatible (if reformatted)
There we have the 5 best external hard drives, interchangeable for both Mac and PC.
If you are looking for a high storage capacity external hard drive whether, for work or personal use, there are a lot of options out there. It is always good to backup important files to protect yourself from machine failures or viruses that can put your data at risk.
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Summary: Let’s figure out how to format your WD Passport on macOS & Windows. In this blog post, we will walk you through the formatting process and share instructions to format an external drive on macOS & Windows.
But before you proceed, understand that formatting carries a risk of hard drive corruption and data loss. So, in case, if you had accidentally lost your data due to drive formatting or corruption, we also recommend a data recovery software that can rescue data from your HDD. Take a free trial to evaluate the software now.
But before you proceed, understand that formatting carries a risk of hard drive corruption and data loss. So, in case, if you had accidentally lost your data due to drive formatting or corruption, we also recommend a data recovery software that can rescue data from your HDD. Take a free trial to evaluate the software now.
Professional Photographers and videographers have their hands laid upon various digital devices. Usually, their arsenal includes a cutting-edge Windows 10 desktop, the latest and the magnificent MacBook Pro, DSLR & SD-Cards of-course and the trusted & loved external drives such as the WD My Passport. The role of the WD My Passport drive is crucial since the individual will leverage the portable media to safely store their collection of pictures, videos, audio, and docs. But despite the best of the best device specifications; there remains one small glitch to rectify.
We know, Macs and Windows have their native file systems such as the new APFS or HFS and the NTFS. A WD My Passport formatted with Mac file system will be a dud on the Windows and vice-versa. Thankfully, MS-DOS FAT32 and ex-FAT formats have survived to date, and these are the file system to make your WD My Passport work with a Mac and a Windows PC simultaneously. In the next 5 minutes read, you will master yourself in formatting a WD My Passport safely and in a manner best suited for sharing your digital files between a macOS and Windows OS.
To format a Western Digital My Passport external hard drive in ex-FAT or FAT32 format, you can bank on built-in applications of Mac & PC. However, while doing this, there are things you have to keep in mind and follow the correct steps. Here you will get to know about the process to format your “My passport” portable drive in FAT32 and ex-FAT file system in both Windows and Mac platforms.
In Windows Platform:
1. Connect your Western Digital My Passport hard drive to your Windows PC through the USB cable. Wait till the Windows detects the external hard drive and configure it as an expansion drive automatically.
2. Now, click the Start button and select ‘This PC’. A new Windows Explorer window opens, on the left side of the screen; you will see a list of installed drives and their drive letters.
3. Locate the icon assigned to Western Digital My Passport drive and Right-click the connected drive icon and click ‘Format’ in the pop-up menu.
4. Select the ‘File System’ from the drop-down list, which is available in the format expansion and choose either ‘ex-FAT’ or ‘FAT32’.
5. Enter a relevant name in the ‘Volume Label’ field. This name will represent your drive when you connect it with Windows Explorer or Mac and will be mentioned above the drive letter for the My Passport drive. Therefore, enter a descriptive name.
6. Now, again select a ‘Quick Format’ option, then click ‘Start’ option, wait for a few minutes to get your drive reformatted with the FAT32 file system, so that you can use it. After successful formatting, you can directly save or move files to it like any other external hard drive.
In macOS / OS X Platform
- Connect your Western Digital My Passport drive to Mac computer, and let the OS detect and mount the drive for use. Now, a new hard drive icon will appear on the desktop.
- On macOS Dock, select Finder. When the Finder window opens, on the menu bar, select ‘Go’ and then ‘Utilities.’ After that, you will be able to see /Applications/Utilities folder in Finder. From the Utilities folder window, select ‘Disk Utility’ application.
- When the Disk Utility opens, choose the Western Digital hard drive icon from the sidebar.
- Click ‘Erase’ on the Disk Utility file menu. Now, the Erase dialogue window appears, here select the ‘Volume Format’ drop-down list and choose ‘MS-DOS (FAT)’ or ex-FAT File System.’ Note: ex-FAT is a better choice for formatting WD My Passport on Mac.
- Now, click the ‘Erase,’ button and wait a few minutes and let the macOS erase data on the drive and reformat it by FAT32 or ex-FAT format.
- Once formatting is done, you can use the drive in macOS or OS X as a regular hard drive.
Window’s Disk Management and Mac’s Disk Utility applications are secure platforms to erase your WD My Passport easily. You don’t require any third-party software to format your WD My Passport with FAT or ex-FAT.
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Caution: Avoid Formatting your WD My Passport without Backup
We can’t rule out the possibilities of human errors resulting in the accidental formatting of the WD My Passport external drive. A silly man-made mistake will permanently remove all of the contained pictures, videos, audio files, and docs instantly from the WD My Passport. Hence, fasten your seat-belts and backup your WD My Passport before erasing. If you have already joined the data loss club unwillingly, then try running D-I-Y applications to recover data from Mac and Windows.
Tips for Effective Formatting
- Format your Western Digital My Passport external hard drive to FAT32 or ex-FAT format so to transfer the data between a Mac and Windows system conveniently.
- There are specific third-party systems, like Digital Camcorders, and Sony PlayStation 3, which need the drives to be formatted in either FAT32 or ex-FAT format to perform read from and write operation. Check it before selecting a file format.
- Due to some limitations FAT32 format is not useful for every type of user, and also affects both Mac’s and PC’s performances. Therefore, it is better to choose ex-FAT instead.
- Ex-FAT supports maximum volume size up to 128 PiB, and its supported maximum file size is 128 PiB.
- Like FAT32, ex-FAT is not a very commonly used file system, due to which its support may vary among third-party devices.
- The corruption chances of the external drive increases, if it is used on both Mac and PC systems regularly. Therefore, it is better to take backup of your important photos and videos before sharing them between both the computers.