I have the same issue. A whooping 2Tb ext hard drive gives me about 1Tb storage (or less) as I have many small sized files. This is after I made a back-up of my PC - kind of frustrating.
Hey there,
I faced a similar issue with my Portable SSD, and after some extensive research, I found a solution that might help. It appears that the default ExFAT format might not efficiently handle file storage, resulting in larger-than-expected file sizes on disk.
If you’re using the SSD across multiple operating systems, ExFAT is indeed a good choice due to its compatibility. However, for Mac-specific purposes, APFS (Apple File System) might offer even faster performance.
The solution I found effective was to reformat the SSD and choose the appropriate file system based on my usage. In my case, reformatting to ExFAT resolved the size discrepancy issue. You might want to consider reformatting your SSD to ExFAT or any other format that suits your needs.
After reformatting, I copied the files again and noticed a significant improvement in storage efficiency. I’d recommend giving this a try and see if it resolves the problem for you as well.
