You plug a USB stick into your PC, then into a Mac, and suddenly find that some files can no longer be copied. In other cases, the drive works perfectly on Windows but does not appear correctly on Linux, or your Android smartphone simply prompts you to format it.
The problem isn’t with your USB stick or hard drive. Windows, macOS, Linux and Android do not all use the same file systems. The format chosen when the device is formatted therefore largely determines which devices are able to read and edit the files on it.
If you’re simply looking for a file system that will allow you to use the same USB stick, SD card or external hard drive on multiple devices, the choice is, fortunately, quite straightforward. exFAT is the most convenient file system available today, whilst FAT32 is a good option when you need to use older hardware.
In this article
exFAT and FAT32 are the best file systems for sharing your files
Not all file systems are actually designed to be used across multiple operating systems. APFS works perfectly within the Apple ecosystem, NTFS is much more useful on Windows, and ext4 is ideally suited to Linux, but these formats quickly become restrictive as soon as you connect the drive to another device.
When it comes to storage media intended primarily for transferring files, exFAT and FAT32 remain the two formats you need to be aware of.
| Format | Windows | macOS | Linux | Android |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| exFAT | Read and write | Read and write | Read and write | Compatible with many recent devices |
| FAT32 | Read and write | Read and write | Read and write | Extremely widely compatible |
Apple also offers FAT and exFAT directly in Disk Utility to create Windows-compatible storage media. For its part, Android has included exFAT in the file systems supported by AOSP since kernel version 5.10, although behaviour may still vary depending on the manufacturer of the phone, tablet or television.
exFAT is compatible with most modern devices
Have you just bought an external SSD or a high-capacity USB stick and want to use it on both Windows and a Mac? exFAT is usually the file system I’d choose.
Its main advantage is that it does not have the well-known 4 GB per file limit of FAT32. You can therefore copy a large video, an ISO image, a backup or an archive of several tens of gigabytes onto it without any problems.
Windows and macOS can read from and write to an exFAT volume without installing any additional software. Linux also supports exFAT, and Android includes it in the latest kernels used by AOSP. Microsoft also classifies exFAT as one of its main file systems and enables it to handle files that are much larger than those supported by FAT32.
| System | Compatibility |
|---|---|
| Windows | Native read and write support |
| macOS | Native read and write support |
| Linux | Read and write |
| Android | Compatible with many recent devices |
However, exFAT is not the best choice for everything. It lacks the journaling and advanced features of NTFS, APFS or ext4. This is of little consequence for a USB stick used to carry photos and documents, but it matters more for a system drive or a storage device on which you are constantly working.
A sudden power cut whilst writing data can, for example, be more problematic than with a journaling file system. exFAT is therefore excellent for exchanging data, but it is not necessarily the format you should use for your computer’s main drive.
FAT32 for older devices
FAT32 has been around for a long time, and that is precisely what makes it so reliable. An old television, a car radio, a games console, a camera, a printer or an embedded device is often more likely to recognise FAT32 than a much more recent file system.
On Windows, macOS, Linux and Android, compatibility is generally not an issue.
| System | Compatibility |
|---|---|
| Windows | Native read and write support |
| macOS | Native read and write support |
| Linux | Read and write |
| Android | Widely compatible |
The main problem arises when you try to copy a file larger than 4 GB. Microsoft documents this limit directly in the FAT32 specifications. A 4K video, an ISO image or a large backup file may therefore fail to copy, even though there is more than enough space left on the USB stick.
That is why I would now opt for exFAT for newer hardware. FAT32 remains primarily a compatibility choice when one of your devices cannot handle exFAT.
Now that we have identified the two most useful formats for sharing files, we need to understand why Windows, macOS and Linux use different file systems for their own drives.
On Macs, APFS has replaced Apple’s older file systems
If your drive is used exclusively within the Apple ecosystem, there is no reason to sacrifice macOS features in order to gain compatibility that you do not need.
Apple now mainly uses APFS, whilst HFS Plus is still found on older Macs and hard drives.
APFS is the format to choose for a recent Mac
APFS became the default file system for macOS from macOS High Sierra 10.13 onwards. Apple designed it specifically to work better with SSDs and flash storage, although it can also be used on traditional hard drives and external storage devices.
It adds useful features to macOS, such as encryption, snapshots and dynamic space sharing between multiple APFS volumes. If several volumes are located within the same container, they can automatically utilise the available space rather than having to allocate a fixed size to each one.
| System | Compatibility |
|---|---|
| macOS | Native read and write support |
| Windows | No native support |
| Linux | Limited support or support with additional tools |
| Android | No standard support |
For an external SSD that will never be disconnected from your Mac, APFS therefore makes perfect sense. However, do not format a drive as APFS if you intend to connect it to Windows on a regular basis. You will need to install additional software or reformat the drive to ensure it remains truly straightforward to use.
Ultimately, that is the key difference between a native file system and a file system designed for data exchange. APFS makes much better use of macOS’s capabilities than exFAT, but exFAT will be far less restrictive when the drive is regularly moved between computers.
HFS Plus for older Macs
Before APFS, Macs mainly used Mac OS Extended, also known as HFS Plus or HFS+.
This file system can still be found on external hard drives, old backups and Macs running older versions of macOS. Apple now recommends APFS for macOS High Sierra and later versions, whilst HFS Plus remains particularly suitable for older installations and certain traditional hard drives.
| System | Compatibility |
|---|---|
| macOS | Read and write |
| Windows | Additional software required |
| Linux | Support may be available |
| Android | Not currently supported |
If you pick up an old hard drive from a Mac, it’s not unusual to find it formatted as HFS Plus. That said, I wouldn’t choose this format to create a new external hard drive these days, unless there’s a very specific need for compatibility with an older Mac.
Apple is, in fact, beginning to move towards APFS. Unencrypted HFS Plus volumes will continue to be supported in the forthcoming versions of macOS, but Apple has already indicated that encrypted HFS Plus volumes will no longer be supported from macOS 28 onwards.
HFS deals with the recovery of very old media
HFS is even older than HFS Plus and no longer really has a place on modern storage media.
You might come across it when recovering data from a very old Mac or an older Apple storage device, but it is no longer a format you should choose today.
| System | Compatibility |
|---|---|
| Recent versions of macOS | Very limited |
| Windows | No native support |
| Linux | Support may be available depending on the configuration |
| Android | No standard support |
In this case, the main aim should be to recover the files and then convert them to a more recent format, rather than continuing to use the disc as it is.
On Windows, NTFS is Microsoft’s proprietary file system
If you check the properties of your PC’s C drive, there’s a good chance it’s formatted as NTFS.
Windows uses NTFS for its system drive and for the majority of internal or non-removable drives. exFAT and FAT32 are, however, available for external devices, but these have already been discussed above as they are primarily of interest for interoperability between systems.
NTFS is suitable for a drive used with Windows
NTFS has far more features than exFAT or FAT32. It supports permissions, journaling, compression, file-system-level encryption, quotas and various features used by Windows.
| System | Compatibility |
|---|---|
| Windows | Native read and write support |
| macOS | Read-only by default |
| Linux | Read and write |
| Android | Varies by device |
However, the situation is less straightforward if you regularly connect this drive to a Mac. macOS can read an NTFS volume, but cannot write to it natively. You will therefore be able to retrieve a file from the drive but will not be able to add a new one.
Linux works much better with NTFS. The Linux kernel includes drivers that enable true read and write access with NTFS3.
NTFS is therefore a good choice when Windows is the primary operating system. For a drive that is used on a daily basis with both Windows and macOS, exFAT is much more suitable.
Linux offers a much wider range of options depending on your needs
Linux is a bit unusual because there isn’t a single file system that, on its own, represents the entire platform.
The Linux kernel supports a wide range of file systems, and different distributions may opt for different ones. On a Linux computer, however, ext4 is one of the most common file systems, whilst Btrfs, XFS and F2FS are designed to meet different needs.
ext4 for a Linux computer
ext4 is part of the ext family of file systems that have been used on Linux for many years.
It features a log and many of the functions you would expect from a Linux system. It is a robust format that is very well integrated into the Linux ecosystem.
| System | Compatibility |
|---|---|
| Linux | Native read and write support |
| Windows | Additional software required |
| macOS | Additional software required |
| Android | Used on certain devices and partitions |
If you are installing Linux or creating a disk intended solely for a Linux machine, ext4 is therefore a suitable choice.
On the other hand, there is no point in formatting your USB stick as ext4 to transfer files to Windows. You’ll gain the features of a proper Linux file system, but lose the ease of use on other computers.
ext2 and ext3 belong to earlier generations of Linux
ext2 and ext3 are the predecessors of ext4. ext3 introduced journaling to the family, before ext4 continued its evolution with more modern capabilities and structures.
It is still possible to come across these file systems on older Linux installations, certain embedded devices or storage media that have not been reformatted for a long time.
Btrfs adds advanced features to the file system
Btrfs is much more appealing when you’re looking for features such as instant backups on Linux, compression, subvolumes or data integrity checks.
It is based on a copy-on-write approach and offers a much wider range of functions than a simple file system designed to store a few documents.
| System | Compatibility |
|---|---|
| Linux | Native read and write support |
| Windows | No native support |
| macOS | No native support |
| Android | No general support |
Btrfs can be very useful on a Linux machine or server, but it becomes much less practical as soon as the drive needs to be accessed directly by Windows or macOS.
Android uses a more limited selection of Linux file formats
Android is indeed based on the Linux kernel, but that does not mean that an Android phone can automatically read all the file systems available on Linux.
Google explains that only certain file systems are supported and suitable for production use on Android. In 2026, AOSP lists exFAT, ext4, F2FS, VFAT and EROFS, as well as a few file systems used for specific platform functions.
Internal storage can use ext4 or F2FS because Android has full control over the device, permissions and encryption. A USB stick or external SSD, on the other hand, must be compatible with multiple devices. It is precisely for this reason that exFAT and FAT32 are much more suitable for removable storage.
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The format depends on the devices you’re going to use
If you’re looking to connect a USB stick, memory card, SSD or hard drive to Windows, macOS or Linux, I’d go for exFAT. It works straight away on all three operating systems, supports large files and means you don’t need to install any extra drivers.
If you factor Android into the equation, exFAT remains a very attractive option on newer devices, but support may still depend on the manufacturer. If you need to use an old television, a car stereo, an older games console or another somewhat temperamental device, FAT32 is the safest option if you don’t need files larger than 4 GB.
If your drive is used exclusively with Windows, NTFS is the better choice. You’ll benefit from a true journaling file system and features designed for Windows without having to worry about compatibility with macOS.
If your drive is only on a recent Mac, APFS is the latest option. You’ll retain the modern features of macOS.
On Linux, ext4 is a safe bet for general use, whilst Btrfs, XFS or F2FS may be more suitable if you have specific requirements.
The most important thing, therefore, is not to look for the file system that would technically be the best in absolute terms. The right format is, above all, the one that all the devices on which you intend to use your drive will actually be able to read and edit.
And if you’re not sure which format to choose for an external hard drive that you’ll be moving between devices on a regular basis, exFAT is currently the most suitable choice in most cases.
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