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Volumes and Drives
External drives, USB sticks, and network shares mount under /Volumes/.
bash
ls /Volumes/
# Macintosh HD MyUSBDrive BackupDiskEjecting Drives
Always eject before unplugging:
- Right-click the drive in Finder sidebar → Eject
- Or drag the drive icon to the Trash (it becomes an Eject icon)
- Terminal:
diskutil eject /Volumes/DriveName
Disk Formats
| Format | Best For | Read/Write from Windows? |
|---|---|---|
| APFS | Mac internal drives | No (without third-party tools) |
| Mac OS Extended (HFS+) | Time Machine, older Macs | No |
| ExFAT | Shared drives (Mac + Windows) | Yes |
| FAT32 | Small USB sticks, max compatibility | Yes (4 GB file limit) |
| NTFS | Windows drives | Read-only on Mac (write with Paragon NTFS) |
Tip: If you share a drive between Mac and Windows, format it as ExFAT.