Can Windows-created floppy disks be read on macOS Sequoia?

Msnbell wrote:

I found a box of 3 X 5 floppy disks created on Windows. I understand I can purchase a reader that can open these but will disks created on Windows be read on Sequioa?

You’ve gotten the (correct) answer to the literal question earlier in this thread, but 3.5” floppies containing Windows apps and many Windows files from Windows Me, Windows 2000, Windows XP, and newer, are not likely useful on macOS. Some common-format files like (some) old photo files can be accessed, though. Old Office docs might be accessible using LibreOffice, too.

I concur with MrHoffman here... there's a difference between being able to literally read the disk and see the files on them (potentially copying them to some other media), and actually doing something with the files.

If the disks contain applications, then they won't run on MacOS (without some significant hoops involved), and if they're documents from some proprietary application you may not have a Mac-based app that can open them, so the fact you can read them may not do you any good at all.

Without knowing more about what's on the disks, it's hard to be more specific.

You didn't actually ask about using the files or specify the file types, so I didn't address that. Some formats have been around for many years and are still being used today and there's no problems finding applications that will open those. For example, mp3, jpg, gif. Others may require specific software but even then some support legacy formats. Somebody recently requested I provide them data from Lotus 123 files I created in 1990 and I think LibreOffice was able to open those. Yet others have vanished completely. Still, you may be able to rescue basic data even from those depending upon the type of file and data. I had some documents written with a software package that disappeared several decades ago. Since it was mostly text, I found that I could force open it (I think I simply changed the file extension to .txt) with a basic text editor and I could see what I had written 40 years ago, I just had to clean up the formatting codes.

I have several Windows formatted (FAT32) floppy disks from projects dating back to 1997, and that contain Word and Excel files that I can still read on a 1.44 MB 3.5-in floppy drive connected to an M4 Mac Mini Pro (Tahoe 26.2).

VikingOSX wrote:

I have several Windows formatted (FAT32) floppy disks from projects dating back to 1997, and that contain Word and Excel files that I can still read on a 1.44 MB 3.5-in floppy drive connected to an M4 Mac Mini Pro (Tahoe 26.2).

FAT12 was more common on floppies, but yeah. (Read: I spent way too much time rummaging inside FAT.)

Camelot wrote:

I concur with MrHoffman here... there's a difference between being able to literally read the disk and see the files on them (potentially copying them to some other media), and actually doing something with the files.

Yes, but that's not what the OP asked so I didn't cover all that in the first reply to this thread. I have now in a later post. We could even conjecture beyond that if we so wished as to what kind of drive may be needed, etc.

I haven't tried but in the past Macs have been able to read NTFS drives, but not write to them. Your disk format could also be FAT and Macs can use those to some extent.

A Mac can read exFat and Fat32 as well as NTFS Window formatted files.

Yes, if they use one of the FAT filesystems. It's unlikely for floppies and other small volumes to use exFAT or NTFS.

(262286)

Lol. Thanks for triggering my curiosity. I just mounted one of those floppies and sure enough, diskutil reported it as FAT12.