I’m on Ventura OS and I have a new thumb drive that I formatted to “extended (journaled)” Is that ok or should it be APFS? I feel like i had quicker download times on it when i was on Big Sur and since i recently upgraded to Ventura it seems a bit slower. Is there a particular format I should always go with going forward? Thank you.
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Which format for thumb drive?
- Thread starter zowenso
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Isn't that ext4? ext4 is what is preferred on Linux systems. If you're not going to use this drive in Linux then ext4 isn't needed - the "journaled" bit means there is space taken up on the drive as a sort of "write buffer".
Ok thanks. Going forward I’ll go APFS. I recently got help from Apple acre and during that phone call they helped me format the thumb drive and said the “extended Journaled” was the best choice, but after reading a few things i got curious. Would the formatting choice change download speeds? Thanks.
- FAT32 is a common option you’ll hear because it’s recognised by both Mac and Windows operating systems, but it offers no security and caps files at 4GB in size. Most USB flash drives will have a FAT32 file system out of the box. It is the most compatible file system for older/modern computers (PC and Mac), plus gaming consoles and other devices with a USB port
- exFAT is the ideal file system for USB flash drives. It doesn’t have the 4GB file size limit and it’s compatible with most Windows and Mac operating systems. Older operating systems might require an update to properly read and write to a USB drive with an exFAT file system.
- NTFS format is the file system Windows likes to use by default for internal drives running the operating system or used as a secondary storage drive. It has a much larger max file size but is read-only on Mac OS X (unless you install a third party NTFS read/write utility).
- Mac OS Extended is the native solution for Mac users and has the max file size of any of them. Only use this option if the drive will only be used in Mac OS. Windows will not detect this file system without a third-party utility.
- APFS is a file system developed by Apple for macOS that was introduced with macOS 10.13 in 2017. APFS includes features like cloning and file-level encryption. APFS cannot be read or written by a Windows PC without third-party software, so use ExFAT or FAT32 if you need compatibility across OSes.
I wouldn't use APFS on a USB flash drive.
Use HFS+ instead.
IF the drive is also going to be used with PC's, then exFAT will probably work.
IF the drive is going to be used with a car audio system, be aware that some of them can be very picky about how the drive is formatted. Consult the manual.
For example, my 2013 toyota seems to want MS-DOS with a Master Boot Record partition map, and rejects everything else.
Use HFS+ instead.
IF the drive is also going to be used with PC's, then exFAT will probably work.
IF the drive is going to be used with a car audio system, be aware that some of them can be very picky about how the drive is formatted. Consult the manual.
For example, my 2013 toyota seems to want MS-DOS with a Master Boot Record partition map, and rejects everything else.
Why? APFS is the Apple standard now. I really don’t think HFS should be used anymore unless for some reason you’re running a pre-High Sierra OS, or use spinning drives for backup/storage and are experiencing performance issues with APFS.
No. It's "Mac OS Extended", i.e. HFS+. Nothing to do with Linux.
Thanks for that. It sounds like “Mac OS Extended” is also a journaled file system.
It is indeed (when running on OS 10.3 or later, if I recall correctly).
I have endless problems with APFS on flash drives (memory sticks), just formatting them is a mission. What seems to happen is the OS formats them to HFS+ and then switches them to APFS. Sometimes the format to HFS+ works and then Disk Utility tries to unmount the disk to switch it to APFS and this fails (disk fails to unmount). I don't know if it's because Spotlight is trying to index the HFS+ volume before it's switched, or if the drive write speed is too slow / it's still catching up. Usually if I try a few times it eventually works.
This only happens on USB flash drives and not SSD's which format fine, which does lead me to think the drive's performance is the issue - these things are generally pretty slow.
The only reason I bother with even trying is because only APFS allows you to encrypt the volume at the time of formatting; I'd just use ExFAT if encryption isn't needed on a particular drive.
This only happens on USB flash drives and not SSD's which format fine, which does lead me to think the drive's performance is the issue - these things are generally pretty slow.
The only reason I bother with even trying is because only APFS allows you to encrypt the volume at the time of formatting; I'd just use ExFAT if encryption isn't needed on a particular drive.
APFS for macOS 10.13 High Sierra or newer
HFS+/Mac OS Extended for macOS 10.12 Sierra or older
NTFS is only available in Windows 2000 and newer
FAT32 is compatible with macOS, Windows, Linux but with 4GB max file size limit
exFAT is also compatible with macOS, Windows, Linux but without 4GB max file size limit [Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 with update KB955704 or Windows Vista and newer]
HFS+/Mac OS Extended for macOS 10.12 Sierra or older
NTFS is only available in Windows 2000 and newer
FAT32 is compatible with macOS, Windows, Linux but with 4GB max file size limit
exFAT is also compatible with macOS, Windows, Linux but without 4GB max file size limit [Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 with update KB955704 or Windows Vista and newer]