Forum Discussion
How to convert NTFS to FAT32 without losing data on Windows 11/10?
If your 4TB hard drive is in NTFS format and Mac cannot directly write to NTFS format, you can indeed consider converting it to FAT32, so that both Windows and Mac can support it. However, direct formatting is definitely not an option because you cannot lose so much data. I have encountered a similar situation before, and later used Partition Manager to directly convert NTFS to FAT32, and the data was not lost at all. Moreover, this tool is easy to use and can be done in a few steps. I recommend you to try it.
I followed this tutorial: (worked for me)
https://www.gicmodo.com/how-to-convert-ntfs-to-fat32
If you want to convert NTFS to FAT32 format, the safest way is to back up the data on the hard drive to another place first, then format the hard drive to FAT32, and then copy the data back. Although this is troublesome, it can ensure data security.
I have actually used this method myself. Although it is a bit troublesome, it is indeed the safest. The basic operation is to back up the contents of the hard drive first, format it, and then copy the data back. The whole process is to avoid data loss. Let me briefly describe the steps:
- Backup data: You have to find a large enough place to back up first. For example, find an external hard drive, or directly transfer it to a cloud drive. My hard drive was almost full at the time, and it took me a long time to back up all the data.
- Format the hard drive: After backing up, open "Disk Management" in Windows, find your NTFS hard drive, right-click and format it to FAT32. It should be noted that FAT32 has a 4GB limit on the size of a single file, so you may need to consider large files.
- Recover data: After formatting, the hard drive will be in FAT32 format. Then you just need to copy the previously backed up files back. I remember that it took me several hours to copy the files, after all, it was several terabytes.
Although this method seems a bit old-fashioned and time-consuming, it can at least ensure that the data will not be lost. Just make sure you have enough backup space, otherwise it will be a bit troublesome.