My sister has an external hard drive that works fine on her Mac, but she can't see any of the files when she connects it to her new Windows computer. I'm guessing this is because of the drive's formatting, but I'm not entirely sure. What steps should we take to ensure she can access her files on her Windows machine? Would it make sense to get a new drive and copy the files over?
2 Answers
The issue you're facing is likely due to the external drive being formatted in a way that's not compatible with Windows, like APFS, which is used by Apple. A good solution is to reformat the drive to exFAT since it's compatible with both Mac and Windows. Just remember to back up all the files first, or you'll lose everything!
You're right about it being a format issue! Using a Mac to access the files is one option. There are also some programs that can let Windows read Mac-formatted drives, so it's worth looking into that too. Ultimately, once the files are transferred to her Windows computer, she can then reformat the external hard drive for Windows use and transfer back the files she wants to keep.
Okay, got it! Thanks for the heads-up about backing up first.