1. Format Flash Drive Mac Os Extended Journaled In Windows 10
2. Format Flash Drive Mac Os Extended Journaled In Windows 7
3. Format Flash Drive Mac Os Extended Journaled In Windows 8

A Mac will format a hard drive to HFS+ which Windows cannot see, both Mac and Windows can see a NTFS formatted drive. You will need to use a 3rd party HFS+ to NTFS conversion utility that will not result in data loss, Windows itself cannot do that - there are a few available on the Web for free. When using Disk Utility 16.3 with macOS Sierra to format a 'thumbdrive' USB 3 Lexar flash drive (64 gigs), when I choose a Format of ‘Mac OS Extended (Journaled)’, I get a list of three Scheme item.

Summary :

How much do you know about APFS vs Mac OS Extended? Which Mac file system should you choose? How to format hard drive for Mac? If you have similar questions on your mind, please read this page carefully to find answers; the main differences between APFS and Mac OS Extended file system and several ways to format a hard drive (internal/external) on Mac will be introduced.

Mac (formerly known as Macintosh) refers to the personal computers that are designed, manufactured, and sold by Apple Inc. MacOS is one of the most popular operating systems in the world; it’s the main competitor of Windows.

Common Mac file system includes:

• APFS (Apple File System): the default file system used in macOS 10.13 and later versions.
• Mac OS Extended: the file system used in macOS 10.12 and earlier versions.
• FAT (MS-DOS) and exFAT: the system systems that are supported by both Mac & Windows.

So you may ask what are the differences between APFS and Mac OS Extended, right? The following content first discusses on APFS vs Mac OS Extended; after that, it will tell you how to format a hard drive for Mac in several different ways.

Part 1: APFS vs Mac OS Extended

In this part, I’ll first introduce APFS and Mac OS extended to you. Then, I’ll compare these two file systems used on Mac for you in brief.

What Is APFS Format

APFS (the full name is Apple File System) is a proprietary file system released by Apple Inc. It can be used on different devices running macOS High Sierra (10.13) and later, iOS 10.3 and later, all versions of iPadOS, watchOS 3.2 and later, or tvOS 10.2 and later. APFS is a new file system which was originally designed by Mac to fix core problems of Mac OS Extended.

What Is Mac OS Extended (Journaled)

Mac OS Extended, also known as HFS+, HFS Plus or HFS Extended, is actually a journaling file system released by Apple Inc. It was released in 1998 to replace HFS (Hierarchical File System, also known as Mac OS Standard or HFS Standard), which is the previous primary file system in Apple computers. Two main advantages of HFS+ when compare to HFS are: a. it gives support to much larger files; b. it uses Unicode for naming items.

Part 2: Which Is Better, APFS or Mac OS Extended

APFS vs HFS+ vs HFS:

APFS file system was announced in June 2016 to replace HFS+ (also known as HFS Plus or Mac OS Extended); the latter was used on all Mac computers as the primary file system since 1998 to replace the previous HFS.

Choose APFS for SSDs & Flash Storage Devices

When compared to Mac OS extended, APFS has been optimized a lot in terms of encryption, so it’s more suitable for flash and solid-state drive storage. APFS becomes the default file system for both for SSDs (Solid State Drives) and flash drives.

• In 2016, APFS was first released by Apple to replace Mac OS Extended (the previous default file system on Mac); it carries all sorts of benefits you can found in Mac OS Extended.
• A partial specification for APFS was published by Apple in September 2018 to allow the read-only access to APFS drive on even unencrypted and non-Fusion storage devices.

But don’t worry, you can still use the APFS on mechanical and hybrid drives.

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There are two main highlights in APFS.

1^st: fast speed. Copying and pasting a folder on APFS drive can be finished in an instant since the file system points to basically the same data twice.

• There are huge improvements in metadata so that many actions can be performed quickly; for example, confirming how much space the target file/folder takes up on an APFS drive.
• The reliability is also improved a lot. Users don't encounter corrupted files as often as they used to.

2^nd: reverse compatibility. If you are running 2016’s macOS Sierra or the later versions of macOS, congratulations, you have both read and write access to APFS, HFS +, and HFS file system. However, for users who run an older Mac (or a Windows operating system), they are not allowed to write to APFS-formatted drives.

Pros & Cons of APFS

Main advantages of APFS:

Format Flash Drive Mac Os Extended Journaled In Windows 10

• It’s able to create point-in-time snapshots for users.
• APFS allows users to encrypt the full disk by using a single or multi-key so as to enhance the security.
• The checksums are used to ensure the integrity of metadata.
• It creates new records, instead of overwriting the existing ones, in order to avoid metadata corruption; the records may be corrupted because of system crash or other reasons.
• The storage management of APFS is more efficient than HFS+, resulting in helping users get additional free space.
• Users don't need to write changes twice by choosing APFS over HFS+; this will increase the system performance on some devices.
• The clones or multiple copies of the same file are allowed; it will only store the changes as deltas. This helps to reduce storage space greatly when users copy files, make revisions, or do other things.
• The APFS drive is generally more stable and reliable than the previous HFS+ or HFS drive.

Main disadvantages of APFS:

• Compression is not allowed on an APFS drive.
• It gives no support to the Fusion drives.
• The NVRAM (Non-volatile Random-access Memory) can’t be used even for data storage.
• The Checksums used are only available for ensuring integrity of metadata (that of user data can’t be guaranteed).
• You can only access the encrypted volumes from another other computer which runs macOS High Sierra.
• The biggest disadvantage of all seems to be: APFS isn’t compatible with Time Machine till now. That’s why users are told to make backups on Mac OS Extended drive unless they use a third-party backup tool rather than the built-in Time Machine.

Choose Mac OS Extended Journaled for Mechanical Hard Disks

Mac OS Extended (HFS+) is the default file system for all Macs from 1998 to 2017, until the new APFS replace it. Till now, it’s still the default file system for both mechanical and hybrid hard drives. You should keep it unchanged while you install the macOS or format external hard drive Mac. The HFS+ is a better choice than APFS on even current mechanical and hybrid hard drives.

Besides, you should definitely choose Mac OS Extended when you reformat external hard drive Mac considering that it may be used on older Macs running El Capitan or earlier versions of macOS. As you know, the new APFS file system is not compatible with these old macOS versions.

Pros & Cons of HFS+

Main advantages of HFS+:

• It gives support to the Fusion drives (which can’t be supported by APFS).
• It gives support to all versions of Mac OS X and macOS.
• You can encrypt volumes and then access them from any version of Mac OS X and macOS.

Main disadvantages of HFS+:

• There’s no point-in-time snapshot for users.
• The nanosecond standard is not used for Timestamps.
• The native file support for other file systems is too limited.
• The support to Mac OS Extended will be stopped on February 6, 2040.
• No checksum is used for metadata integrity or user data integrity.
• You can’t have concurrent access to the file system by a process.

Please ask yourself the following questions when you choose between APFS and Mac OS Extended:

• Are you formatting the internal disk or the external hard drive on your Mac?
• Which macOS are you running? Do you prepare to install macOS High Sierra or later?
• Is the Time Machine backup or bootable installer included in your daily schedule?
• Are you preparing to use the disk on another Mac or even Windows computer?

Bonus Tip: Choose exFAT for Hard Drives Used on Both Mac & Windows

Though the file system of main system drive on Mac is confined to APFS and Mac OS Extended, you can still consider exFAT (or the older FAT) when you format an external hard drive on Mac.

The most obvious benefit of using exFAT is that it can work with both Windows and macOS computers (you have both read and write access to the exFAT drive). Although there are solutions to read Mac formatted drive on Windows or read a Windows formatted drive on Mac, formatting drives to exFAT is still a convenient thing and an economical choice.

Part 3: How to Format Hard Drive for Mac

Users shouldn’t reformat the disk that built-in Mac causally unless they have special needs and they are professional enough. So this part will focus on how to format external hard drive for Mac by using the snap-in tool: Disk Utility (it can be used to format & manage both internal and external hard drives as well as disk images).

How to format an external hard drive for Mac? Please follow this guide.

Step 1: open Disk Utility on your Mac.

Go to the Applications -> select Utilities folder -> double click on Disk Utility.

Step 2: choose View -> Show All Devices.

Please click on the View icon in the upper left corner of Disk Utility window. After that, please select Show All Devices from the drop-down list.

Step 3: erase/wipe the target disk.

Please connect the external hard disk in advance and make sure it’s appeared on Mac. Then, select the disk that you want to format from the left sidebar. After that, you should click on the Erase button in the right pane.

Format Flash Drive Mac Os Extended Journaled In Windows 7

1. Give the disk a Name (the maximum length is 11 characters).
2. Select a proper file Format.
3. Choose a proper Scheme.
4. Click on the Security Options to choose how you'd like the drive to be formatted (optional).
5. Click on the Erase button.
6. Wait for the process to be finished.
7. Click on the blue Done button to close the window.

You can now start to use the formatted disk. Please click here to know how to format a disk for Windows computers in Disk Utility on Mac.

The file formats available for you to choose are:

• APFS
• APFS (Encrypted)
• APFS (Case-sensitive)
• APFS (Case-sensitive, Encrypted)
• Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
• Mac OS Extended (Journaled, Encrypted)
• Mac OS Extended (Case-sensitive, Journaled)
• Mac OS Extended (Case-sensitive, Journaled, Encrypted)
• MS-DOS (FAT)
• ExFAT

Click here to know more about the differences between these file formats.

That’s how to reformat a disk on Mac by using Disk Utility (the steps to reformat MacBook Pro are the same). Of course, there are also many third-party tools you can download to format the disk on your Mac.

How to Recover Formatted Hard Drive on Mac

Data recovery from mac formatted external hard drive:

1. Download Stellar Data Recovery for Mac.
2. Follow the wizard to install it properly.
3. Launch the software right after installation.
4. Make sure the formatted drive is connected to your Mac.
5. Define the file type that you want to recover; you can select all types by enabling Recover Everything.
6. Click on the Next button to continue.
7. Choose the formatted disk/drive and click on the Scan button (enable Deep Scan to find more files).
8. Wait until the scan is finished.
9. Browse the scan results and choose what you want to recover.
10. Click on the Recover button and select a safe place to store the recovered data.

Extended reading:

Final Thoughts

Both APFS and Mac OS Extended are popular file systems supported by Mac computers. If you don't know which one is more suitable for you, please read part 1 and part 2 carefully (the advantages & disadvantages of these two Mac file systems are included). Part 3 teaches you how to format a hard drive for Mac by using the snap-in Disk Utility; besides, it offers an easy method for recovering data from a formatted drive on Mac. Hope this can help you decide which one to choose: APFS or Mac OS Extended, and prevent your important data from getting lost.

Yo just got a new external hard drive and want to use it on your Mac. However, the Mac OS does not allow you to write data to the drive. You may wonder how to reformat an external hard drive on Mac. Follow the tutorial below, you'll get everything covered.

• Bonus: How to Recover Data from Formatted External Hard Drive on Mac

Reformatting an external hard drive for use with Mac OSX is not as difficult as it might seem. In a few simple steps you are ready to go and can save your back-up files to the external drive, keeping your information safe and giving you peace of mind. Keep in mind that a MAC can generally read other file formats, but for the best performance and to create a bootable disk, formatting exclusively for MAC is required.

Part 1: Which File Format You Should Choose?

Before you begin formatting the drive, there are a few things to do. The most important, you should decide which format to use.

There are a few file formats you can use, but it depends on the purpose you want to use the drive for. Which one is right for your circumstance? We'll describe them here, you'll know your choice after reading the details.

APFS: This is the default file system in Macs with High Sierra. It is efficient and reliable. However, it won't be readable and usable on machines that are not running Mac High Sierra, and Windows or Linux PCs. What's more, it is compatible with SSD and flash storage devices only.

Mac OS Extended (Journaled/HFS+): If you didn't update your Mac OS to High Sierra, the default file system on your Mac shoule be Mac OS Extended. Mac OS Extended (encrypted) would be an ideal option if you probably carry your laptop or external drive here and there. You can encrypt it so that no one can access the contents on your drive.

MS-DOS FAT (aka FAT32): In addition to Mac, it can also be written and read by Linux and Windows. It enables you to regularly share files with your friends who own a PC. Nevertheless, this older file system is limited to no more than 4GB and there might be security issue and disk errors.

ExFAT: It is similar to ExFAT which can be read by both Windows and Mac, but it can store more than 4GB files.

NTFS: As the default file system in Windows, it can only read by Mac OS, writing to it is not available. Luckily, there are third-party tools to help you do so.

Part 2: Format External Hard Drive for Mac with Disk Utility

Formatting an external hard drive would erase everything on it. Hence, you must backup your important files before reformatting the drive if you want to save them. The easiest way is to drag it from one drive to another.

All is set, then you can go ahead to format the drive on your Mac. Disk utility - the MacOS utility application can help you with this. Just follow these steps below:

Step 1. Connect the external drive or the USB drive to the MAC.

Step 2. Start the Disk Utility, located under Applications > Utilities.

Step 3. Find the name of the drive in the left side of the Utilities window and select it. And click Erase button.

Step 4. Follow on-screen prompts to choose Mac OS Extended (Journaled) file system and allow the disk to format.

Bonus: How to Recover Data from Formatted External Hard Drive on Mac

In case you forgot to backup files before formatting the external drive. Here comes the cure - iMyFone AnyRecover - a one-stop solution to recover deleted, lost or formatted files from Mac.

Follow these simple steps using AnyRecover to get your files back!

Format Flash Drive Mac Os Extended Journaled In Windows 8

Get Ready!

First, download and install AnyRecover, following on-screen prompts to accomplish the task.

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Get Set!

• 1. After loading AnyRecover, plug your external hard drive into your Mac directly or via USB.

• 2. Next select the drive under 'External Removable Devices' tab, click 'Start' to begin scanning lost files on the drive.

Go!

• 1. AnyRecover takes a moment to scan your drive. Once done, it will list out all scanning results by file type.

• 2. Double click a single file to preview it before recovery.

• 3. Select the files and press Recover to get them back.

What If?

What if my files were not found? Fear not. We can take this a step further. Enable 'Deep Scan' to try one more time, follow the steps above just as before to locate and recover your files.

It is plain to see that AnyRecover for Mac is a tool worthy of top shelf treatment in your arsenal of items that are used to defend, recover and keep your system up and running. Don't get caught without the file you need for that meeting or stumbling looking for baby photos that were stored on disk and suddenly 'hid' from your view. Allow AnyRecover to find and recover your lost files. AnyRecover is easy to use but provides sophisticated results that mean you know what you're doing!