Seagate 2TB HD exFat file?

Hey guys
Noob question here - I jumped on the 2TB seagate Portable drive deal recently but i forgot to check if it’s exFat file format? I have a windows and Mac so I need to switch between the two without formatting the drive.

Thanks a lot

Comments

  • +1

    Could be that by default I'm guessing but likely exfat32.

    In W10 go into disk management. Right click on portable HDD volume, select properties. Under the volumes tab check the partition style.

    If in doubt just reformat

    • Hi thanks for the response. I haven’t opened the package yet but would like to know if I need to format because I need to be able to use it without formatting each other I’m switching OS. If I can’t do this I will return it back to OW

      • +2

        Plug it in to W10 machine.
        Right click on drive in explorer
        Select format
        Choose a format type
        Give your drive a memorable name (eg. Drivey_mcdriveface)
        Done

    • +1

      If in doubt just reformat

      This was my first thought. If it's not exFAT, just change it to exFAT.

  • +1

    Well, not sure about smaller drives but 4TB+ are NTFS for sure

  • +1

    It sounds like you don't have the drive yet so you can format it to any filesystem you like when you get it. That's assuming that "without formatting the drive" you mean without formatting it every time you switch OSs.

    • Hi thanks for responding!

      I just got the drive yesterday from OW and yes I want to make sure I don’t need to format every time I switch OS. I have a T7 SSD now which I can plug in windows and Mac . Hustle free.

      • +1

        If you open the drive and format it to exFat yourself you won't need to reformat every time you plug it in.

        • Oh right sorry I wasn’t even aware I could do this myself …

          • @sauce2k: MS Paint lists the steps above.

          • @sauce2k: Yep, and exFat is fully compatible with Windows and Mac computers.

  • just buy this app for your mac ntfs for mac

    • +1

      Hi would prefer not to spend money :/

      • +1

        True oz bargainer.

  • +1

    Just format it as exfat?

    • Legend

      • No prob.

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