What format should Mac hard drive be?

Mac OS Extended (Journaled) is the best option for most Mac users since it is compatible with all Macs. APFS (Apple File System) is only for newer Macs running macOS 10.13 or later. exFAT is compatible with both PC and Mac.

What is exFAT format on Mac?

exFAT is the preferred file format for flash storage drives that you share between Windows and Mac. exFAT has no realistic file or partition size limits. It also doesn’t require complicated ACLs and file attribution systems like NTFS.

What is Mac journaled?

Mac OS Extended (Journaled): Uses the Mac format (Journaled HFS Plus) to protect the integrity of the hierarchical file system. Choose this option if you don’t need an encrypted or case-sensitive format. Mac OS Extended (Journaled, Encrypted): Uses the Mac format, requires a password, and encrypts the partition.

Is exFAT slower than Mac OS Extended?

I tried exFAT in order to use my external hdd on both mac and windows but I found it’s so much slower than HFS+. The speed is noticeably different when I tried to fast forward movies (over 4gb). exFAT was recommended in this question.

Does ExFAT work on Mac Big Sur?

ExFAT is not compatible with Time Machine. Starting with Big Sur, APFS is now the default for Time Machine. ExFAT drives must be safely ejected to prevent corruption because ExFAT is not a journaled file system.

Is Mac OS Extended Journaled the same as HFS+?

Mac OS Extended (Journaled) is also HFS+, but it has an extra mechanism that avoids corruption of the file system when something bad happens, such as loss of power during a write operation. Mac OS Extended (Case Sensitive, Journaled) is HFS+ with a combination of case sensitivity and journaling.

Can Mac OS read and write exFAT?

In this guide, we’re using exFAT instead of FAT32, another filesystem that both Windows and Mac can read and write to, because FAT32 has a maximum 4GB file size limit whereas exFAT can work with files as large as 16EB (exabytes). exFAT also performs better than FAT32.