I find there are loads of file systems among OS, including FAT32, ex-FAT, HFS+, APFS and NTFS, but what’s their differences after all and why hard drive are formatted with different file system? Why there is no one a general file system since it’s more convenient to use after all.
Because there are different operating system, so they create different file systems to differentiate each other. What a dad invention, since a general file system can mend all the incompatibility between these operating systems. But this is what they want, vendors can make money by these ‘inconvenience’!
FAT32, exFAT, and NTFS are released by Windows used on the Windows operating system with full read and write permission. Different from NTFS in storage, FAT32 has limitations in file size and partition size. It only can store a file that is less than 4GB. Moreover, a partition formatted to FAT32 cannot be over 2TB of space size.
When it comes to NTFS and exFAT, however, the maximum file size is 128 petabytes and the maximum partition size is 128 petabytes. You may have never heard of this unit because it is immeasurably huge. In other words, there is no specific file size or partition size limitation, so you can allocate any space size you want to the targeted partition or volume.
Despite being released by one team, NTFS, FAT32, and exFAT are supported by different OS with different permissions.
NTFS offers support for Windows, read-only permission on Mac, and some Linux operating systems. If you want to proceed with writing actions to an NTFS hard drive on a Mac, NTFS for Mac assists you with that task.
FAT32 works well on Windows, Mac, and Linux operating systems as well as other external hard drives.
exFAT functions on Windows, some maintained macOS, and Linux Kernel 5.7 or newer operating systems. If you want to run this file system on some older Linux operating systems, third-party software is indispensable.
APFS, short for Apple File System, was introduced with the launch of macOS 10.13 (High Sierra) in 2017. Apple has also designed it to optimize access to solid-state drives (SSDs) and flash storage devices. From macOS 10.13, APFS has become the default file system of Mac hard drives (or startup disks). APFS volumes also enable snapshots for creating a point-in-time and read-only instance of the file system, which can be a backup of your data. For Macs with SSDs before 2016, they have auto-converted to APFS when upgrading the macOS.
Mac OS Extended (Journaled) is also known as HFS Plus or HFS+. It is the file system used on all Mac OS 8.1 and later, including Mac OS X, since 1998. This file system is an upgrade of HFS (HFS Standard or Hierarchical File System). It continued as the default Mac OS X file system until APFS replaced it. The “journaled” feature on this file system refers to a way of storing media on the disk. With this feature, files won’t be corrupted when some accidents happen. For example, you unplug the drive while it’s working, or your Mac loses power while the drive is in use.