Mac Drive for Windows 10 Free Download Updated

Mac Drive for Windows 10 Free Download

The Windows 10 Format Drive Dialog

Have yous always plugged a native Mac bulldoze into a Windows 10 PC? If you do, you lot'll see a scary-looking bulletin asking you to format the disk. Why does Windows exercise that? We'll explain.

Windows Can't Read Mac File Systems

Here'due south the brief technical answer for the scary prompt: Mac-formatted drives use a file system that Windows ten tin't read, and Windows wants y'all to reformat the Mac drive with a file organization that Windows can understand. Unfortunately, formatting will also erase all of the information on the disk, so don't hit the "Format Disk" button just yet.

There are other options, but first, allow's accept a deeper expect at what'southward going on.

A Tale of Two File Systems

By default, Windows 10 and Macintosh computers use ii dissimilar file systems. A file system is a software method that determines how an operating system writes data to (and reads data from) a storage medium such as a hard disk drive or a USB drive.

Windows x uses the NTFS file organisation, and macOS currently uses APFS. (macOS previously used HFS+ in macOS x.12 and earlier.) If you format a drive as APFS on a Mac, Windows x won't read it, considering APFS is a proprietary file system format created by Apple.

For example, if you insert a USB drive formatted every bit APFS or HFS+ into a Windows 10 PC, yous'll come across a alert pop-upwardly that reads "You lot need to format the deejay in drive [letter] before yous tin can use it. Practise you want to format it?" When y'all see this bulletin while attempting to read a known good disk, e'er click "Abolish."

If you click "Format Disk" and go through with the formatting process, you'll lose all of the information on the disk! And Microsoft doesn't heed, evidently.

If Windows 10 asks you to format a Mac disk, click "Cancel."

And then Why Does Windows Really Practise That?

If Microsoft really wanted, Windows could attempt to read your Mac-formatted drives. It could perhaps license the APFS applied science from Apple tree and include information technology with Windows 10—or, at the very least, warning you that you've inserted a Mac-formatted drive and explicate why it can't be read.

Instead, Windows x pretends that your Mac disk is equivalent to a corrupt or unformatted disk and doesn't mind if you accidentally format it and lose all of your information. "Not my problem!", says Windows. The same goes for Linux-formatted drives, and it's a common frustration for multi-platform reckoner users.

In this 24-hour interval and age of IoT devices and Linux & macOS co-existence why on globe does Windows try and erase everything information technology doesn't understand?

SD cards and external drives come pre-formatted. What good can come of this prompt?

There isn't even a style to plough information technology off. movie.twitter.com/4vm7Moh1eo

— Damien Baby-sit (@damienguard) April 30, 2021

The reason for Microsoft's user-hostile behavior in this item case is tradition. Windows has long been the ascendant desktop computer platform, and it can get abroad with treating foreign file systems like they don't be.

In contrast, macOS can read NTFS-formatted drives (but cannot write to them without add-on software), and it tin also read and write the FAT32 legacy Windows file system and Microsoft's exFAT in a nod to compatibility of removable drives between vendors.

Is In that location Any Way Around It?

If yous have data on a Mac disk that you lot demand to transfer to a Windows 10 PC, there are some ways to get around the consequence. Here are a few of them.

Transfer the Data Through a Network: You can avert a Mac-formatted deejay entirely and share files over a LAN, send them through a cloud-based backup service like Dropbox, or even email a few files to yourself as attachments.
Install a Third-Party Tool: Some third-party vendors make utilities that allow y'all to read Mac-formatted drives on Windows. Linux Reader past DiskInternals is a freeware tool that reads APFS drives but won't write them. APFS for Windows by Paragon is a commercial product ($50) that lets you read and write APFS drives. For HFS+ drives, you can install HFSExplorer, a free utility that reads older Mac-formatted drives.
Make a Drive That Can Exist Read on Macs and PCs: If you lot still accept the Mac that wrote the disk available (and room to support the information on the disk), you could reformat your Mac deejay with exFAT file organisation—which volition erase the drive, then back it up first—and then re-create the files back onto the bulldoze. Windows and macOS both fully support reading and writing exFAT drives, since it's an industry-standard file organisation for removable flash media.

If you ask us, it'due south past time for Windows to treat other file systems with the respect that they deserve. Nosotros alive in a vibrant multi-platform world these days, and Microsoft's products should reflect that reality. If annihilation, Microsoft'south recent embrace of Linux sets a good example of how to move forwards. In the concurrently, resist the urge to reformat, and skilful luck!