ExFat External Hard Drive problems on New Mac Book Pro

Question

Level 1

9 points

ExFat External Hard Drive problems on New Mac Book Pro

I frequently need to move files between my Mac book and my PC. This has been the case for about 7 years now. In that time, I have had 3 Exfat formatted hard drives, two mac books, and 3 PC's. Every Exfat formatted hard drive can be read with in a few seconds if not instantly on ANY PC I plug them into. However, EVERY mac I plug those external hard drives into, it takes 45 mins (I timed it) for both my 2013 Macbook Air and my brand new Mackbook Pro (that is about a month old) to register that the external hard drive is plugged in. Is there anything I can do to fix this problem?

Posted on Sep 22, 2020 8:50 AM

Reply

Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

HWTech

Community+ 2026

Level 9

71,096 points

Sep 23, 2020 1:55 PM in response to WondraBox

You can try running Disk Utility First Aid on the external USB exFAT drives to see if any errors are reported.

Try connecting the external drive directly to the Mac. If the drive is already connected directly to the Mac, then try using another USB port (preferably on the other side of the laptop if available) and try using a powered USB3 hub which may supply a bit extra power for the drive plus a hub can act as a filter & buffer as well.

It is possible there is an issue with the file system on the drive. macOS cannot always read drives with the exFAT file system when those drives were formatted using Windows. You may want to try erasing the external drive on the Mac by using Disk Utility. When using Disk Utility to erase the external drive you want to select GUID partition and exFAT (plus give the drive/volume a proper name). When you go to erase the drive using Disk Utility this information should make more sense. "GUID" is just the type of partition used with newer & larger drives and is preferred these days. Just make sure the data stored on the external drive you are erasing has been backed up or stored elsewhere so you don't lose the data.

Reply

Answer 2

WondraBox Author

Level 1

9 points

Sep 23, 2020 10:27 AM in response to HWTech

I am sorry, I am a little confused. So I should back up the external hard drive so i can re partition it as a GUID? Or wipe the external hard drive clean (after back up files) and not use either GUID or ExFat? (I dont really know what GUID is). And then whatever option you are having me do, I should be able to still have both Mac's and PC's read the external hard drive, right?

Reply

Answer 3

WondraBox Author

Level 1

9 points

Oct 1, 2020 5:53 PM in response to HWTech

Sorry it took so long. So I tried all those things and nothing seemed to work. However, I want to throw out a possible solution and see if it would work.

So, I mentioned that I have two external hard drives right? What I did not mention is that the data on them is the same. I basically have a back-up of a back-up in case one of the external hard drives fails. So what if I have one external hard drive set to whatever Apple uses as their main external drive format and then leave the other one as exFAT? If I do that, would I still be able to periodically take the files from the Mac formatted external hard drive and place them onto the exFAT external hard drive when I go to basically back up my back ups?

So can files saved on an exFAT be moved onto a Mac formatted hard drive and vise versa and be moved between the two without any corruption occurring? Because the exFAT works 100% on both mac and PC its just stupid slow on my mac.

Reply

Answer 4

WondraBox Author

Level 1

9 points

Sep 24, 2020 2:15 PM in response to HWTech

Ok, thank you for the clarification. I will try those things and let you know if any of them worked.

Reply

Answer 5

Oct 1, 2020 8:40 PM in response to WondraBox

Should be Ok. I'm glad you have your data stored on more than just a single drive.

Reply

Answer 6

Sep 22, 2020 11:16 PM in response to WondraBox

Macs can have trouble reading drives formatted with other systems. Temporarily transfer the files to another location and use Disk Utility to erase the drive as GUID partition and exFAT. Transfer the data back and see how things work.

If these drives are getting older, then perhaps the drive is wearing out. Macs can be quite picky with the health of a drive. Or maybe you have a defective cable or port on the Mac.

Reply

ExFat External Hard Drive problems on New Mac Book Pro

Similar questions