It could be because the storage device is experiencing an issue or maybe you purchased a new external storage device and are trying to get it to work with your Mac or Windows computer. Even though most people associate formatting with system installation, there are many other reasons why you might want to format your hard drive. It also integrates with Windows Explorer.Both macOS and Windows allow users to format their hard drives using built-in utilities. Like MacDrive, users can view, update, and delete files on the Mac hard drive.

Paragon HFS+ for Windows - This program is available as a 10-day free trial and can be purchased for $19.95.

MacDrive can integrate with Windows Explorer for easier browsing of the hard drive's files.

MacDrive - Available as a 5-day free trial and can be purchased for $49.99, MacDrive allows users to view, update, and delete files on the Mac hard drive.Updating or deleting files on the Mac hard drive from the Windows PC is not possible. It allows for read-only access to files on the Mac hard drive. HFSExplorer - Free-to-use program and requires Java to be installed on the Windows computer.A few of the popular applications used by Windows to read a Mac hard drive are listed below. Using a third-party application, it may be possible for a Windows computer to read a Mac-formatted hard drive. The HFS and HFS+ file systems are not readable by Windows. For this reason, a Mac-formatted hard drive is not directly compatible, nor readable by a Windows computer.

Why not?Ī hard drive formatted for use in a Mac has either an HFS or HFS+ file system. File systems compatible with Windows include FAT32 and NTFS. For a Windows computer to be able to read a hard drive, it needs to have a file system format compatible with Windows.

Windows format disk for mac