Compatibility issues between Microsoft‘s Windows and Apple‘s MacOS operating systems have dramatically decreased over the years, though that doesn’t mean those differences have completely disappeared. Today, if you buy a new storage device, you may find that working with both operating systems is an often daunting task. But don’t be discouraged, the solution is simple: you can divide your hard drive into several sections with different rules and functions. In this case, partition your drive so that a part of it works correctly with MacOS and another section with Windows. This is what we want to tell you next: how to share an external hard drive on Mac and Windows.
By using the correct partition format, you avoid problems that may arise. Both computers have the necessary tools to help you partition a new drive, once you have connected it.
It’s a split niche stage
A quick Google search can lead you to believe that you are on the right track by formatting the entire disk as a single exFAT (Extensible File Allocation Table) drive.
It’s a simpler universal method, as long as each file you store is less than 4GB in size. However, exFAT does not support larger files, which can be problematic for transferring 4K videos, for example between a Mac and a Windows 10 computer.
Meanwhile, the NTFS (New Technology File System) system, used by Windows 10, supports large files, but MacOS cannot read this format natively.
That puts you in a peculiar bind, limiting any file shared between the two platforms to 4GB or less. If you want to save larger files, you will need to create a second dedicated space in a format optimized for MacOS (extended) or Windows 10 (NTFS).
That being said, our guide splits the external drive in half: a main section capable of storing files larger than 4GB and a secondary section capable of sharing files between MacOS and Windows 10. Not the ideal solution, we get it, but it works. .
Before digging in, select a primary format that you will use most often: MacOS Extended if you primarily use Macs with a secondary exFAT partition, or NTFS if you primarily use Windows 10 with a secondary exFAT partition.
Caution : Formatting deletes all data stored on the drive. Make sure to back up everything important before starting the formatting process. There are several ways to back up your information depending on the type of user, you can use a traditional external hard drive, or if you are a user with massive information, you can use a special device.
Partition the drive in Windows 10
We have a complete guide on how to complete the process from Windows 10 here. But, let’s look at the important steps you need to know to quickly partition the drive while working in Windows.
On a Windows 10 computer, the process is less straightforward than what you see on a Mac, but now it’s easier than ever.
Step 1. Right-click on Start and select Disk Management . Your computer’s main boot drive ( C 🙂 that hosts Windows and other programs appears as Disk 1.
If your computer has a secondary “data” drive ( D :), Disk Management assigns it to Disk 0. Windows 10 normally shows an external drive as Disk 2 along with the next successive alphabetical label, if you don’t have any other internal storage disk-based. Windows 10 lists optical drives differently.
External drives are usually formatted immediately. However, you may encounter a “Not initialized” error when connecting the device to your computer. That means it is not properly formatted to work with Windows.
What’s more, you won’t have a drive letter assigned in File Explorer ( This PC ) and it may not even have space assigned to save data.
If you see a pop-up window that says: Initialize disk , it provides two formats: Master Boot Record (MBR) and GUID Partition Table (GPT).
The former is older and only supports capacities up to 2TB, but is backward compatible with older versions of Windows. GPT is a newer format that supports larger capacities, but is not compatible with older versions of Windows.
Select the partition style and click the OK button to continue. If you accidentally closed the pop-up window, right-click the disk in the list and select Initialize disk in the pop-up window.
If you did not receive the pop-up warning, continue with Step 2.
Step 2. Right-click on Unallocated Space and select New Simple Volume option from the pop-up menu, as shown above.
Step 3. The New Simple Volume Wizard starts. Click on the Next button.
Step 4. Since we are going to create two partitions, divide the indicated physical number in half and write it in the field next to Simple volume size in MB and click the Next button to continue. In our scenario, we are splitting a 1TB SanDisk Ultra SSD.
Step 5. Allow the wizard to assign a drive letter or manually assign the letter using the drop-down menu. Click the Next button to continue.
Step 6. Select a file system. Because your main Windows 10 computer uses NTFS. Enter a volume label (drive name) you can use Windows 10 , although you can label this partition with almost any word. Click the Next button to continue.
Step 7. Click the Finish button to complete.
In Disk Management , the external disk should include a new volume, Windows 10 in our example, and a second part with Unallocated space .
Right click on that unallocated space and repeat steps 1-6 . This time, however, choose exFAT as the file system during step 6, which you will use to share files with MacOS. Note that you don’t need to specify a volume size.
The result should look like this:
Partition the drive on a Mac
Partitioning an external disk in MacOS is not that annoying, initially, we will assume that it does not have partitions, so we will need to create two. If you already have a Mac compatible partition, continue from step 5.
Like Windows 10, you may see an “initialization” error because the drive’s file system is not “readable.” Click the Initialize button in the small pop-up screen to create the first compatible partition, and then start at step 5. If the error does not appear, start with step 1.
Step 1. With Finder highlighted, click Go in the menu bar followed by Utilities in the drop-down menu.
Step 2. Double-click the Disk Utility icon in the next window.
Step 3. With Disk Utility open, in the Location option, your drive appears in External on the left. Click Delete , located on the top toolbar of the application.
Step 4. In the next pop-up window, select a profile, in this case MacOS Extended (Journaled) for Format , and GUID Partition Map for Scheme or Partition Type . Click the Delete button to make these changes.
Step 5. After completing this procedure, your disk should have only one partition. Let’s go for the second part. Select the drive again in Disk Utility and click Partition .
Step 6. On the next screen , click the little plus ( + ) button below the blue pie chart to add a second partition.
Step 7. A second part appears, cutting the pie chart in half. Enter a volume name , select the exFAT format, and click the Apply button.
Step 8. Click the Partition button in an additional pop-up window to complete the process.
The result should look like this:
Note that you will see icons on the desktop for both units.
If you are concerned about the reliability factor of the exFAT file system, or the lack of it, there is a way to format the secondary Windows partition to NTFS, but it requires connecting the hard drive to a Windows computer.
You can check our Windows section for more information on this process.
Final notes
Here’s how to partition a hard drive for use on Windows and Mac. Alternatively, you can install a program like Microsoft’s NTFS software from Paragon (paid app) or the open source Tuxera (free) on your Mac to enable the NTFS read / write support, but, even with third-party options, some features, including Time Machine , will not work properly with an NTFS file system.