USB stick not working with a mac?

Florida_Bear · 5 Apr 20, 03:36 PM

Hi All, I saved loads of stuff to a usb stick from a windows pc before wiping it and donating it to a local school.
I tried the usb in my mac before I did the transfer and it worked fine.
Now I put the stick in my mac and ut wont recognise it at all?
Any other usb stick I put in my mac is fine.
Any help appreciated, Ted
Stay safe everyone...

Florida_Bear · 6 Apr 20, 05:52 PM

*bump* :-)

**akhurstf1** · 6 Apr 20, 07:01 PM

I hope this helps. It seems like when the usb was plugged into the Windows PC is that it has formatted to NTFS. NTFS is a Windows only format that isn�t read on a Mac.

A way round it is to install something like this. I think they offer a 10 day free trial.
paragon-software/us/home/ntfs-mac/

wanye · 7 Apr 20, 10:15 AM

i have random issues with sd cards and usb sticks not showing up in finder. a reboot tends to help. does the device show up in disk utility?

also, the ntfs thing above could be possible. if youre wanting a stick thats compatible with windows and macs you need it to be either fat32 format (maximum 4gb file size though) or exFAT...

ntfs and/or AFS/HFS are not generally cross-compatible unless you install additional software...

Florida_Bear · 8 Apr 20, 08:21 AM

Thanks Guys

wanye · 8 Apr 20, 10:20 AM

Originally Posted by akhurstf1

A way round it is to install something like this. I think they offer a 10 day free trial.
paragon-software/us/home/ntfs-mac/

fuse for macos is a free alternative to paragon

osxfuse.github.io/
in particular, the ntfs-3g module:
github/osxfuse/osxfuse/wiki/NTFS-3G

personally, i wouldnt bother with either (assuming its formatted as NTFS) - just format the drive as something that can be read/written to (exfat or fat32)

Florida_Bear · 8 Apr 20, 10:24 AM

Originally Posted by wanye

fuse for macos is a free alternative to paragon

osxfuse.github.io/
in particular, the ntfs-3g module:
github/osxfuse/osxfuse/wiki/NTFS-3G

personally, i wouldnt bother with either (assuming its formatted as NTFS) - just format the drive as something that can be read/written to (exfat or fat32)

Thanks Wayne