[Housteau]

I know this is pretty basic, but it is something that I am not 100% certain of.  I am asking about sharing music files back and forth between the two platforms.

I seem to be able to copy music files written to an external HD from my mac Mini's iTunes to other HDs and read them fine on a PC.  But, I believe that the original HD first written to from my Mac cannot be read on that PC.  Is that correct?  I also know that music files copied to a HD from my PC can be copied to my Mac without issue.  Can these same files now only be erased by the platform that originally wrote them?

Dave

[avahifi]

You need to format a memory stick or hard drive with the FAT 32 format using the Mac disk utility program.

They it can be used with either a Mac or a PC.

Note that this will erase everything formerly on the storage device.

Frank

[toocool4]

It would all depend on the way the HD is formatted, both platforms will read / write to FAT formatted HD. If the HD is formatted NTFS then only the PC will read / write to it unless you do some funky stuff with the Mac. If you formatted with the Mac using HFS, APFS etc then only the Mac will read / write to that HD.

If you use FAT 32, the biggest single file you will be able to put on that drive is 4GB that is the limitation of FAT 32

[Housteau]

In general, are thumb drives formatted to FAT 32?  I ask because I am able to copy to and from using them without problem in both directions.

[toocool4]

I think most are. Just right click and Properties on the PC or right click and Get info on the Mac to find out what format the stick is.

[GentleBender]

You can always use ExFat format to move large files between different OS machines. https://www.howtogeek.com/235596/whats-the-difference-between-fat32-exfat-and-ntfs/

[Housteau]

Thank you.  I have a much better understanding now.

[dB Cooper]

There is a program called MacDrive (IIRC) that enables a PC to read a Mac formatted HD directly. Probably not needed if this only comes up occasionally.

[shadowlight]

Slightly off topic response but something that the OP might be able to do, provided both systems are on the same network

Store all you files on the Windows PC and share the folder and on the Mac mount that folder, this will get around any file size limitation.  You can now copy files from Mac over to Windows and back again if you want it on local drive.

Similar concept to sharing files via NAS.