Because FAT32 supports only up to 4 GB large files, it should be used only with flash drives. Both Mac OS X and Windows also support the FAT32 file system, but we don’t recommend it for hard drives. Mac OS X uses the HFS Plus file system, while Windows uses the NTFS file system. First and foremost, you need to decide which file system to use. Regardless of why you want to format your hard drive, there are some considerations to be made before you begin. Of course, you may also just want to quickly delete the content of an entire hard drive. Data fragmentation remains an issue even in the era of mobile devices, and in some cases formatting is the fastest way how to solve it. Optimization is another good reason for hard drive formatting.
When you purchase a brand-new hard drive, there’s no guarantee that it will be pre-formatted from the factory, nor is there any guarantee that it will come with the right file system. Even though most people associate formatting with system installation, there are many other reasons why you might want to format your hard drive.
Both Mac OS X and Windows allow users to format their hard drives using built-in utilities.
