What Format Does a Hard Drive Need to Be to Install Windows 10?

By default, Windows computers will choose NTFS (New Technology File System) for you because that’s the native Microsoft filing system. But if you want the external hard drive to also work on a Mac, you should choose exFAT.

Do you need to format a hard drive before installing Windows 10?

Actually you do not have to format your SSD in order to fresh-install the Win 10 OS onto the SSD. As a matter of fact you do not have to even initialize nor partition the drive in order to install the OS. You can take your “virgin” SSD (or HDD) right out of the box and install the OS onto the drive.

Does Windows 10 use exFAT or NTFS?

Use NTFS file system for installing Windows 10 by default NTFS is the file system use by Windows operating systems. For removable flash drives and other forms of USB interface-based storage, we use FAT32. But the removable storage larger than 32 GB we use NTFS you can also use exFAT your choice.