Download Mac Drive for Windows 8 Updated

Scudder Subt1967 – April 19, 2022

Download Mac Drive for Windows 8

The Windows 10 Format Drive Dialog

Have you ever plugged a native Mac drive into a Windows 10 PC? If you do, you'll see a scary-looking message request you to format the disk. Why does Windows practise that? Nosotros'll explicate.

Windows Can't Read Mac File Systems

Here's the cursory technical answer for the scary prompt: Mac-formatted drives apply a file organization that Windows 10 tin can't read, and Windows wants y'all to reformat the Mac drive with a file system that Windows can understand. Unfortunately, formatting will likewise erase all of the data on the disk, and then don't hitting the "Format Disk" button simply nevertheless.

There are other options, but first, let's take a deeper look at what's going on.

A Tale of Ii File Systems

By default, Windows ten and Macintosh computers use two different file systems. A file organization 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 or a USB drive.

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

For instance, if y'all insert a USB drive formatted equally APFS or HFS+ into a Windows 10 PC, you lot'll see a warning pop-upwardly that reads "You demand to format the deejay in bulldoze [letter of the alphabet] before you lot can use it. Exercise you desire to format information technology?" When you encounter this message while attempting to read a known good disk, e'er click "Cancel."

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

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

So Why Does Windows Really Do That?

If Microsoft really wanted, Windows could endeavour to read your Mac-formatted drives. It could maybe license the APFS technology from Apple and include it with Windows 10—or, at the very least, alert you that you lot've inserted a Mac-formatted drive and explain why it tin't be read.

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

In this day and age of IoT devices and Linux & macOS co-beingness why on earth does Windows try and erase everything it doesn't empathise?

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

There isn't even a manner to turn it off. motion-picture show.twitter.com/4vm7Moh1eo

— Damien Guard (@damienguard) April 30, 2021

The reason for Microsoft'due south user-hostile behavior in this particular instance is tradition. Windows has long been the dominant desktop computer platform, and it can get away with treating foreign file systems like they don't be.

In dissimilarity, macOS tin can read NTFS-formatted drives (merely cannot write to them without improver software), and it can as well read and write the FAT32 legacy Windows file system and Microsoft'southward exFAT in a nod to compatibility of removable drives between vendors.

Is In that location Any Way Around It?

If you have data on a Mac deejay that you need to transfer to a Windows 10 PC, there are some ways to get effectually the issue. Hither are a few of them.

Transfer the Data Through a Network: Yous can avert a Mac-formatted disk entirely and share files over a LAN, send them through a deject-based fill-in service like Dropbox, or even e-mail a few files to yourself every bit attachments.
Install a Third-Political party Tool: Some third-party vendors make utilities that permit you to read Mac-formatted drives on Windows. Linux Reader past DiskInternals is a freeware tool that reads APFS drives merely won't write them. APFS for Windows past Paragon is a commercial product ($50) that lets you lot read and write APFS drives. For HFS+ drives, you can install HFSExplorer, a gratuitous utility that reads older Mac-formatted drives.
Make a Bulldoze That Tin Exist Read on Macs and PCs: If you lot still accept the Mac that wrote the disk available (and room to dorsum up the data on the disk), y'all could reformat your Mac disk with exFAT file system—which will erase the drive, so back it up kickoff—and and then re-create the files back onto the drive. Windows and macOS both fully support reading and writing exFAT drives, since it'southward an industry-standard file system for removable flash media.

If you ask us, information technology's past time for Windows to treat other file systems with the respect that they deserve. We live in a vibrant multi-platform world these days, and Microsoft's products should reflect that reality. If annihilation, Microsoft's contempo embrace of Linux sets a good example of how to movement forward. In the meantime, resist the urge to reformat, and good luck!