
To do this, you will need to use either exFAT or FAT32 formats. If you need to send them RAW files or an edited sequence, you will need to make sure the external hard drive is set up for both operating systems. You may be using only Macs or PCs in your own office, but you will also need to take into account what type of machines your client is using. That said, if you are using both a PC and Mac in the workflow, you’ll need to use a different format. Hard drives set up for use on Windows machines only will often use NTFS, while Macs will use HFS+. Formatting the Hard DriveĪ vast majority of video production will be done on a Mac or Windows operating system, so we aren’t going to cover Linux. Let’s take a look at the different types of formats, and which are best for video production. If you work solely on a Mac, but need to send files to someone working on a PC, your external hard drive needs to be set up for both operating systems. Eventually you will find out that you may not be working on the same operating system (OS) as others.

Use these steps to format external hard drives for both operating systems.Īs a video editor or Digital Imaging Technician, you will often need to share files with others. Make sure the allocation unit size is set to default and type in a volume label.Video editors will often find that they need to share files between a PC and a Mac.

Launch Disk Utility (Applications > Utilities).How To Format Seagate External Hard Drive For Mac And Pc Format a drive using Disk Utility on a Mac If you know you’ll be using computers running updated versions of these operating systems, exFAT is the clear best choice.

Any Mac running 10.6.5 (Snow Leopard) or 10.7 (Lion) supports exFAT, while PCs running Windows XP SP3, Windows Vista SP1, and Windows 7 are compatible. Awesome, it’s perfect! Almost… since exFAT is fairly new, it isn’t compatible with older Macs and PCs. The exFAT file system eliminates the two major deficiencies of FAT32: the largest partition and file sizes it supports are virtually unlimited by today’s standards.
