What is fat32 format mac

Otherwise, you may need to consider one of the file formats discussed below. Advantages: FAT32 offers near-universal interoperability with virtually every computing system on the planet. A drive formatted this way can easily transfer files between Macs and PCs. You can also move files to video game systems like the PlayStation 3, Xbox , and Wii. Virtually all cameras and videocameras support FAT32, too. It's the closest thing we have to a universal file system format, which is why most flash drives are formatted this way right out of the box.

You also can't create a startup drive for your Mac using this format. Furthermore, FAT32 doesn't support OS X Lion's Versions feature -- something users have discovered the hard way when working directly off of files stored on a USB flash drive something we recommend against doing. However, those downsides may be more than outweighed by FAT32's near-universal support, and if you don't think you're going to be dealing with files bigger than 4 GB, this may be the optimal choice.

It has one big advantage over FAT exFAT supports file sizes larger than 4 GB, so if you have a need to move huge files between Macs and PCs, this is likely the format you'll want for your flash drive.

If you won't be dealing with older Macs or PCs, this may not be a problem. A drive formatted this way can easily transfer files between Macs and PCs. You can also move files to video game systems like the PlayStation 3, Xbox , and Wii.

Virtually all cameras and videocameras support FAT32, too. It's the closest thing we have to a universal file system format, which is why most flash drives are formatted this way right out of the box. Close search. To format a USB drive, follow these steps: 1. Click the fresh Finder window. Then select the drive. FAT32 format can be read and written to on both the operating system- Mac and Windows. There are many people who like to use the drive on both Mac and Windows, and others use it as a device for storage for TV shows and thus reformatting to FAT32 is necessary.

Find the location of your USB drive. If you are forced to format a flash drive and want to recover your files after formatting, you can do that with the help of FonePaw Data Recovery opens new window. This is a file recovery tool that can restore files from USB drive, SD card, external hard drive, computer drive and more even the drive has been formatted. Photos, documents, videos, audio files are recoverable. Step 3: Select the kind of files you want to recover and select your USB drive as the location.