You have decided to make the jump from Mac to PC, and the very first question will pop into your mind – how to transfer files from Mac to PC? Right? Well, do not worry. In this in-depth guide, we have included everything you need to know about switching from Mac to Windows PC. In this guide, we have covered detailed guidance on how to transfer files from Mac to PC as well as setting up your brand-new experience. It is pretty simple than you might think.
One of the significant hurdles you might feel is moving your important files, especially when transferring files from Mac to PC. The reason behind it is simple. On both platforms, you have folders to store music, photos, movies, and documents. However, some files are more difficult to find than others.
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Once you have moved these files over, Microsoft’s Groove Music app will automatically import your songs. The Photos app will identify all images, and all of your other files will sit where they belong.
Before we deep dive into how to transfer files from Mac to PC, you will need an external hard drive that works perfectly with Macs and PCs. If you do not have such a drive, you need to format the drive. So, it will work on both types of computers.
Let’s learn steps to format a hard drive for both Windows and Mac
How to Format a Hard Drive for Both Windows and Mac?
The major issue you will face when planning to use the external hard drive for Windows and Mac is that these platforms use different filesystems by default. Windows uses NTFS while Mac OS uses HFS. Both are incompatible with each other. However, you can format the drive to work with both Windows and Mac with the help of exFAT filesystems.
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Here are the steps.
How to Format an External Drive in Mac OS?
Connect the drive to the Mac.
After that, Open the Disk Utility Application.
Select the external drive as the source
Choose Erase from the icon list near the top of the window. If you are not planning to use the drive for Time Machine, you can skip steps from 5 to 10 and directly go to step 11.
Give the drive a descriptive name, use the Format drop-down menu, and select exFAT. After that, click on Erase.
Click Partition
Enter the amount of space you want to keep aside for Time Machine.
Click Apply
Choose the new untitled partition to format it with exFAT so we can use it with Mac and Windows.
Now, click on Erase.
Give the partition name and select exFAT for the format.
Click Erase to Finish
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How to Format an External Drive in Windows?
Connect the drive to your PC and launch the Start Menu.
Open the Disk Management Tool -> Select Create and format hard disk partitions
Right-click on the external drive partition -> select New Simple Volume
Choose a volume size
Assign a drive letter
In Format Partition Screen, you need to Choose exFAT as the file system
Give a new name to the volume
Click Next & then click finish
Now, as you know how to format an external drive in Mac and Windows, let us move to the next section – how to transfer files from Mac to PC.
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How to Transfer Files from Mac to PC?
You should follow the below steps when you want to transfer files from Mac to PC.
Connect the external drive to your Mac -> open the drive -> select File.
Select New Folder
Now type Exported Files -> hit Return. If you do not use Photos, skip to Step 17.
Open the Photos app -> click Edit in the Menu bar.
Click on Select All
Click File
Select Export
After that, select Export Unmodified Original For
Then, click on the drop-down menu that is next to Subfolder Format.
Choose Moment Name
After that, select Export.
Click on your external hard drive.
Double click on the Exported Files directory
Now, click on New Folder.
Type photos and click Create
Click on Export Originals. This step will take some time, depending on the images you have in total.
Now, open iTunes and right-click any song. If you do not use iTunes, you can skip to Step 24.
Select Show in Finder
You have to press Command + Up to move up to the Artist directory in this step.
Then, press Command + Up to move up to the Music directory.
Again, press Command + Up to navigate to the iTunes Music directory.
Now, click and drag the Music Folder icon to the external hard drive in the side menu. While doing this, you need to hold the mouse button till Windows shows the external hard drive’s content.
After that, Move from the Music folder to the Exported Files Folder. Release the mouse button, and the files will begin to copy.
Click on Go in the Menu bar.
Select Home
While holding Command, click on Desktop, Movies, Documents, and Downloads. If you want to bring over additional directories, you can select them, too.
Now, drag all these folders to the external hard drive in the side menu.
Move the folders to the Exported Files folder. Once done, release the mouse button. Once the copying of files is finished, your Exported Files folder should look like this without any progress bars.
Click the Eject icon that is next to the external drive.
Now, it is time to connect the external drive to your PC -> Click the File Explorer icon.
Double click the external drive
Then Double click the Exported Files folder.
After that, double-click the Desktop Folder.
Click on Select All
Drag all of the files to Desktop in the sidebar. Repeat steps 33 to 35 as required.
Now, your PC has everything all your Mac has.
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To Wrap Up
In a nutshell, switching from Mac to Windows PC was quite difficult for a few years. However, these days, due to more Microsoft and a third-party app version for a Mac has eased the process. It has reduced the need for converting files. Besides, the cloud and faster data connections have also made it much easier for you to transfer files between systems. Hopefully, this article has cleared all your doubts about how to transfer files from Mac to PC. Still, if you have any doubts, you can share them with us in the comment box below.
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