All iPads What file format will it be if I do it under an iPad

[hajime]

Hi, if I connect an external drive to an iPad and format, what format will that be? Can the files be read and modified by Mac and Windows?

 

[JustAnExpat]

You can't format external drives on an iPad

can I format an USB Flash Drive with my i… - Apple Community

discussions.apple.com

 

[rui no onna]

It will be whatever format the drive originally shipped with or you formatted it to on your computer.

iPadOS supports read/write to FAT, exFAT and Apple formats (HFS, APFS, etc). It also supports NTFS but just in read-only mode.

Most flash drives come pre-formatted as either FAT or exFAT. Caveat, iPadOS has been known to randomly corrupt FAT/exFAT formatted drives so make sure you have backups.

 

[hajime]

You can't format external drives on an iPad

can I format an USB Flash Drive with my i… - Apple Community

discussions.apple.com

That is too bad. Certainly it cannot replace computers.

 

[hajime]

It will be whatever format the drive originally shipped with or you formatted it to on your computer.

iPadOS supports read/write to FAT, exFAT and Apple formats (HFS, APFS, etc). It also supports NTFS but just in read-only mode.

Most flash drives come pre-formatted as either FAT or exFAT. Caveat, iPadOS has been known to randomly corrupt FAT/exFAT formatted drives so make sure you have backups.

Thanks for your info. Why it corrupts FAR/exFAT formatted drives? I consider to buy a 2.5" SSD or a HDD to backup photos on my iPad/iPhone and data on my PC. So exFAT.

Is it a bad idea to use HDD with iPad? At least we need to turn off the iPad as it has no Reject function. Anything else that I need to be aware of?

 

[HDFan]

I consider to buy a 2.5" SSD or a HDD to backup photos on my iPad/iPhone and data on my PC. So exFAT.

That would be one of your 3-2-1 backups. You need another 2.

 

[hajime]

That would be one of your 3-2-1 backups. You need another 2.

So because it is one of my 3-2-1 backups, I don't need to worry too much about exFAT formatted drive getting corrupted?

In this case, for backuping up photos and videos on iPad and iPhone, I shall have another backup or two in drive formatted in HFS or APFS?

 

[sparksd]

Thanks for your info. Why it corrupts FAR/exFAT formatted drives? I consider to buy a 2.5" SSD or a HDD to backup photos on my iPad/iPhone and data on my PC. So exFAT.

Is it a bad idea to use HDD with iPad? At least we need to turn off the iPad as it has no Reject function. Anything else that I need to be aware of?

Regarding exFAT, I had a long thread on it -

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/file-corruption-on-copy-to-external-storage.2235171/

Cliff Notes: The Files app would corrupt attached exFAT drives. That may now be fixed but I don't trust it. I long ago switched to using FileBrowser Pro for my external drive interaction - directly-attached HDDs, SSDs and cards in card readers and devices attached vi a USB-C hub. I have never run into a problem using FB Pro.

 

[RevTEG]

Admittedly I’m not an external drive “pro”, but we use external HD’s and iPads extensively in our business. Never had a single failure issue. Zero. Obviously, anything can break. We just haven’t had the issues some are concerned about.

 

[sparksd]

Admittedly I’m not an external drive “pro”, but we use external HD’s and iPads extensively in our business. Never had a single failure issue. Zero. Obviously, anything can break. We just haven’t had the issues some are concerned about.

What format are the drives? That's a key element.