Working between APFS and HFS+

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Level 1

11 points

Working between APFS and HFS+

Hello community,

I am constantly transferring files between my HFS+ sparsebundle in my external HDD and my APFS sparsebundle in my Mojave-iMac SSD. Is there any risk of corruption in such arrangement between two different file systems; and furthermore, two encrypted volumes?

I assume naturally that I have to format my Mojave-iMac sparsebundle in APFS since it is the native file system of Mojave. But the option of <Mac OS Extended> format is still available.

So the question is, for the sake of stability during frequent file copying between the two sparsebundles on different file system, should I format my Mojave-iMac sparsebundle consistantly in the same format as the HFS+ sparsebundle in my external HDD?

Since my external HDD is not an APFS volume, I assume I should not be creating a new sparsebundle in APFS format right? How about APFS disk image which I intend to back up to the external HDD? Can an APFS volume be modified and worked on without risk of corruption on a HFS+ HDD disk?

//

Another query is how do we confine the Mojave Finder search to the specific opened window /folder? Currently my Mojave displays results from all volumes, including the external volumes for a search.

Thanks.

Posted on Oct 21, 2019 5:20 AM

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Answer 1

VikingOSX

Level 10

123,230 points

Oct 21, 2019 5:57 AM in response to rw-rw

Filesystem objects (e.g. files, folders) are like leaves on water, and float above the APFS or HFS+ formatting.

In the Finder Preferences, I have these settings:

General
1. New Finder windows show: [ house icon with short user name ]
Advanced
1. When performing a search: [ Search the Current Folder ]

Also, in Finder View menu : set Show Path Bar.

Now, when in a Finder window, you can enter the Spotlight search in its search field, and in the case of the current folder is the Pictures folder, you will see it as follows:

That should help you narrow your search scope to the current folder that you are searching. Clicking any image would display its path in the bottom of the window. When you click This Mac, the results of your search would be shown for all locations outside of your present Pictures folder.

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Answer 2

rw-rw Author

Level 1

11 points

Oct 22, 2019 4:35 AM in response to VikingOSX

Thanx VikingOSX.

Like leaves floating on water ...brilliant one liner analogy to answer my paragraphs : )

Just for further clarification: newer file system can accommodate older systems but how about the another way round: Can a HFS+ external HDD host a frequently modified APFS sparsebundle in it?

And regarding the Finder search field, gee, I swear I have looked into Finder preference several times and still blatantly missed the tab about Search field in the Advanced tab. I guess I have sat out from upgrading my osx for too many cycles and is getting impatient to have to go back and customized some basics settings all over again.

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Answer 3

VikingOSX

Level 10

123,230 points

Oct 22, 2019 6:23 AM in response to rw-rw

Catalina introduces some enhancements to APFS that were not present in Mojave, so without testing, I doubt that Mojave could host a Catalina created APFS bundle. And in general, a version of macOS that did not support APFS would not mount an APFS bundle either.

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Working between APFS and HFS+

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