Home > Questions

Can I make my Windows drive compatible with my Mac?

Hi, I just purchased a new MacBook Pro. The computer I did use prior is a Dell XPS 13 running Windows 10. I have a 1TB Toshiba Canvio Slim ii external hard drive that I keep everything on. I know that in order for my Toshiba hard drive to be compatible with the new OS X, it must be formatted, but I will be loosing all of my data. I purchased a LaCie 1TB Porsche Design Portable Hard Drive along with my new computer. Am I able to format my LaCie hard drive to have it read/write on PC and Mac, then plug it into my Dell computer along with my Toshiba hard drive, drag and drop my data from my Toshiba hard drive to my LaCie hard drive (using my Windows based Dell computer), then have everything on my LaCie hard drive ready to be read/written on both my new MacBook Pro (Mac) and my Dell XPS (PC)?

Best Answered by

iBoysoft author Amanda Wong

Amanda Wong

Answered on Monday, February 19, 2024

Yes, your solution works to make the Lacie hard drive containing the copied data from Toshiba hard drive readable and writable on both Mac and Windows PC.

Before you format the new Lacie hard drive, you can check the file format of the Toshiba hard drive on both Windows PC and Mac. If the file format is FAT32 or exFAT, you can directly read and write to it on your MacBook also, then you don't need to format the Lacie external drive for further operations.

In case the file system of the Toshiba hard drive is NTFS, a Windows-exclusive format, it is a read-only drive on macOS. Instead of formatting the NTFS Toshiba hard drive which will lose all data, you can format the Lacie external drive as FAT32 or exFAT, then copy data from the Toshiba drive to Lacie drive on a Windows PC.  

There is also another alternative to enable NTFS write on Mac without reformatting and losing data, it is the NTFS driver for Mac such as iBoysoft NTFS for Mac. It allows you to read and write NTFS drive on Mac without any restrictions just like you can on a Windows PC. And iBoysoft NTFS for Mac has updated to support the latest macOS Ventura.

People Also Ask

Read More Questions

Read More Advice From iBoysoft's Computer Experts

Wie man eine externe Festplatte auf dem Mac löscht

Tutorial to Completely Wipe an External Hard Drive on Mac

Guide to completely wiping an external hard drive for Mac, both Mac and PC, and Mac Time Machine. Tell you what to do if won't erase the external drive.

Fix couldnt unmount disk 69888

'Couldn't Unmount Disk 69888' on Mac/MacBook Pro, How To Fix?

Fix 'couldn't unmount disk 69888' on Mac or MacBook Pro when erasing, partitioning, or deleting the internal volumes or external hard drives, USBs, Time Machine backup disk, etc.

How to Tips

Cómo reformatear discos duros externos en Mac

¿Cómo reformatear HDD/SSD para Mac y PC sin perder datos?

Aprenda cómo reformatear un HDD o SSD para Mac, de Mac a PC, o para ambos Mac y PC, y cómo hacer que su disco duro externo sea compatible con Mac y PC sin reformatear.