I need help finding an easy, appropriate flash drive, memory stick, thumb drive - not sure what to call it so used all three names.
I usually call it a "USB flash drive" but I've heard all of those names used.
I want to copy financial information from my iMac to a drive I can send to a person who uses a PC. My files are MS Word, MS Excel, and PDF. I am using macOS Ventura 13.2. The size of my files is small, less than 1GB. I have tried a PNY16 and ScanDisk Duo 128GB, I can load them, but then I can't encrypt the data. Thanks
When I do this, I make things as simple as possible, and it always works perfectly with excellent security.
Your USB flash drive will usually come pre-formatted as "exFAT", which is ideal for sharing files with a Windows user, but you should check with Disk Utility and re-format your USB flash drive if necessary. See:
https://www.easeus.com/computer-instruction/format-usb-to-exfat-on-mac.html
I use a an encryption program (that includes password protection) that runs on both Macintosh and Windows, and which is free for both platforms. It is dead quick and easy to use:
Encrypto (free)
https://macpaw.com/encrypto
- So...check, and if necessary, change the formatting of your USB flash drive to exFAT.
- Both you and your recipient should download a copy of Encrypto from the above site.
- Use Encrypto to encrypt/password protect your files on your Mac.
- Copy your files to the USB flash drive.
- Send the USB flash drive to your recipient.
- Talk to your recipient and tell him/her the password that you chose.
- He/she should copy the files to their Windows computer and use Encrypto to decode them.
- Bob's Your Uncle!