Instead of reformatting it all the time, just use the much more platform-independent exFAT and never format it again.

FAT32 works for both OSes, but has a 4GB size limit per file, so it isnt ideal.

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You can always install drivers for those other OSes, but that doesnt help when youre sharing files with your friends computers.

Read more Advertisement exFAT has been around for awhile, but weve never really talked about it.

Essentially, its a file system thats both readable and writable on any modern Mac or Windows machine (sorry, Leopard users).

All you need to do is format the drive on a Windows machine and youre good to go.

Note that you cant format it on OS X, you have to format it on Windows for it to be compatible with both platforms ( Update: A lot of you are noting that OS X formats these just fine, so your mileage may vary).

To do so, just: Open up Windows Explorer and right-click on your drive in the sidebar.

Choose Format. In the File System dropdown, choose exFAT instead of NTFS.

From then on, that drive should work fantastically between Mac and Windows machines.

It wont work with Linux unless you install Linuxs exFAT drivers, but for most people, exFAT is just about perfect.

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GO Media may get a commission JACHS NY Long Sleeve Tech Shirts Buy for 25 from JACHS NY Guide: How to format an external drive to work seamlessly with Macs and PCs without third party software MacTip via Reddit Share This Story Get our newsletter Subscribe More from Lifehacker How to Make a Bootable macOS Sierra USB Install Drive 15 Food Hacks I Use Constantly How to Fix the Latest Windows 10 Sleep Mode Bug The Best Ways to Teach Yourself to Code DISCUSSION TBeermonster 71812 9:12PM ExFAT is only a useful option for a rare corner case.

If you need for some reason to regularly move data in chunks larger than 4Gb, on a one off basis, between multiple random Windows (XPSP2 or later) and MacOSX (Snow Leopard or later) and only those OSs then an ExFAT external drive may just about make sense.

If you dont need to move data in chunks larger than 4Gb (for example you could pack a large file into multi-part archives) then FAT32 offers by far the widest compatibility.

If you dont need to do it often then the multi-part archive and FAT32 is a no-brainer.

If each transfer is not a one off then ExFATs poor design means the risk of allocation table corruption for removable devices renders it unsuitable.

If the machines you are transferring files between are known and small enough in number then it makes far more sense either to install ext23 drivers on Win and Mac or to install a modern NTFS-3G implementation and FUSE on any non-windows machines.

If the machines you are transferring files between include linuxBSDother nix then ExFAT is useless for those machines and FAT32, ext23, NTFS are the only practical propositions.

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