| Volume and file limits in Mac OS X | |
|---|---|
|
Maximum number of volumes (all Mac OS X versions) |
no limit |
|
Maximum number of files (or files and folders) in a folder (all Mac OS X versions) |
up to 2.1 billion (2) |
|
Maximum volume size and file size (Mac OS X v10.0 - 10.1.5) |
2 TB (1) |
|
Maximum volume size and file size (Mac OS X v10.2 - 10.2.8) |
8 TB (1) |
|
Maximum volume size and file size (Mac OS X v10.3 - 10.5.2) |
16 TB (1) |
|
Maximum volume size and file size (Mac OS X v10.5.3 or later) |
close to 8 EB (1,3) |
Notes
- The theoretical maximum file size for a Mac OS Extended file system is millions of terabytes. In practice, the maximum file size is equivalent to the maximum volume size, except for a small amount of disk space reserved for file system information.
- Specifically, 2^31, or 2,147,483,648. However, the actual number of files that can be stored on a Mac OS Extended (HFS Plus) or journaled HFS+ volume depends on the volume's size and the size of the files. For example, a 160 GB Mac OS Extended volume with the default block size of 4 KB has 40 million available blocks. This volume could store up to 40 million very small files, but not 2 billion. A bigger disk with the same default block size could hold proportionately more files.
- 2^63 - 2^31 = 9,223,372,034,707,292,160, which is just under 8 exabytes (EB). One exabyte is roughly equivalent to one million terabytes.