Reformat external hard drive on mac. In addition, being able to back up the data on a computer ensures that if you want to save your data, you now know how to keep a copy of it. Here's how to format an external hard drive on your Mac, Windows 10, or Windows 11 computer. Press CMD + Spacebar to open Spotlight Search. This article will give detailed steps to finish formatting WD hard drive. 3. If you have a Mac lying around, you can plug the drive into a Mac and back up the files. However, I do not want to use it as Time Machine backup anymore, I just want to use it as a regular external hard drive. Choose your hard drive in the sidebar. Then, open a File Explorer window. Oct 20, 2023 · By reformatting your external hard drive, you can ensure compatibility with your Mac and optimize its performance. How To Format An External Drive On Mac. May 9, 2023 · How To Format Toshiba Hard Drive For Mac Overview. This displays a pop-up menu next to the hard drive. Any files on the drive will be erased. Jun 17, 2024 · Note: Formatting a drive will erase all the existing files on it. Here are some important factors to consider: 1. 1. Backup your data: Before reformatting your external hard drive, it is crucial to back up any important files. Drive Support Supported WD External Drives ; DOES NOT support SanDisk External Drives or USB Flash. NOTE: This method requires that you erase everything on the external hard drive. Pick Your Toshiba Drive in the External Drives List. Click Erase, Disk Utility will start formatting the drive; Once complete, click Done Aug 20, 2018 · Partition prepares a drive for use by the Operating System (OS) by creating a Volume. To completely erase and format the hard drive on which Windows or macOS is installed, you'll need to do so from outside of the operating system. To format an external hard drive on a Mac, please follow these instructions: Jul 24, 2024 · The WD My Passport Ultra for Mac is a 2. Finally, select your drive, click Erase, choose a format, and click Erase. Sep 27, 2023 · Formatting an external hard drive for use with Mac without losing data is a common task for many Mac users. 5. However, you need to make doubly sure that you complete a Quick Format. In the sidebar, select the storage device you want to erase, then click the Erase button . It’s a bit like giving your hard drive a fresh start. Expand the Sharing & Permissions section. And use the drive. Thankfully, reformatting an external drive on a Mac is a relatively straightforward process – Apple even ships Macs with a built-in utility to do so. May 23, 2024 · How to Format an External Hard Drive on Mac. Go to Application, click "Utilities", and double-click "Disk Utility" to launch the tool. Click on the View button in the Disk Utility toolbar and select Show All Devices. Sep 6, 2022 · You can find out how to Format Your External Hard Drive for Mac. Insert your external hard drive into your Mac. Aug 19, 2014 · I have a WDC Passport external drive which I used as a time machine backup. Select your hard drive on the left pane, then click "Erase" at the top panel Mar 20, 2024 · To format an external drive from Terminal: Connect the external drive to your Mac. Open Disk Utility for me Double-click Disk Utility in the Utilities folder of the Applications folder. Open Disk Utility via Finder or Spotlight. You should see your Oct 25, 2023 · If you’re using a newer Mac with USB-C ports, you may need to use an adapter or a USB-C to USB-A cable to connect your external hard drive. Aug 20, 2018 · WD Quick Formatter can be used to format and remove all partitions on WD External Drive. The goal is to reformat the drive to a Mac compatible format like Mac OS Extended (Journaled) or APFS without erasing or losing any of the existing data on the drive. Right-click the drive and choose Format from the drop-down menu. In this video we'll cover how to Format a Western Digital External Hard Drive for use on macOS and Windows. This is true as of Mac OS Ventura. If you have any files you want to save, copy them to another storage device. How to format a primary drive (C:) on Windows Jun 15, 2023 · This wikiHow teaches you how to format your computer's built-in hard drive, which is different than formatting an external or secondary hard drive. But it’s a little different if you’re formatting the primary drive, a secondary internal drive, or an external hard drive. Dec 14, 2023 · Although your Mac comes with a hard drive built-in, knowing how to format an external hard drive on macOS will widen your options. Important Note: Reformatting an external hard drive will erase any data on it so if you have any important files that you want to save, you must save them onto your Mac or elsewhere if you want to keep them. Now let's go through the detailed steps. Newer Seagate and LaCie branded external drives come preformatted with the exFAT file system, which allows it to be used on both Mac and Windows without reformatting the drive. Type diskmgmt. Some older drives are formatted specifically for PCs, some specifically for Macs, and some of them have special utilities allowing them to work between both without Sep 2, 2014 · First, back up the data on the Mac-formatted drive if you have anything important on it. Click Go. Follow these simple instructions: Connect your external drive to your Mac and open Disk Utility by going to Applications > Utilities in Finder. Click Utilities. Connect your external hard drive to a Windows computer. If you want to erase any other type of storage device: Double-click Disk Utility in the /Applications/Utilities folder. Related: How to Use Windows File Recovery Tool to Restore Your Lost Data Apr 15, 2022 · To reformat a drive on Windows: Plug in the drive and open Windows Explorer. 2. Feb 15, 2023 · Formatting an External Drive Using Disk Utility Disk Utility, if you didn't know, is the disk management center in macOS. Connect the drive to the computer. Formatting an external hard drive isn't a bad idea, as long as you don't do it too often. After opening Disk Utility, the next step in reformatting your Seagate External Hard Drive for Mac is to select the drive you want to reformat. Choose View > Show All Devices. To reformat an external drive on a Mac without losing data, you’ll want to use the Disk Utility app that comes pre-installed on all Macs. Reformat Hard Drive on Mac Using Disk Utility. Open System Settings WARNING: Formatting the drive will erase all data on the drive, so you should copy any data you want off the drive prior to formatting. Open Finder. Click Next then Finish . Flash drives you purchase will often come formatted with FAT32 for maximum compatibility across not just modern computers, but other Jul 23, 2024 · When you are reformatting a drive, memory card, or flash drive you need to pick a file format. Plug in your external hard drive to your computer using a USB port. Double-click Disk Utility in the Utilities folder of the Applications folder. Quick Not always available: Use the convert command to change the external hard drive format without losing data. If APFS is not available then the drive is in MBR and not GUID Partition Map. Aug 2, 2022 · Use NTFS if you’re not using the hard drive on Mac; Use exFAT if you’re using the external hard drive on both Mac and Windows computers. Reformatting an external hard drive on Windows is a pretty straightforward process. Step 1. Jul 1, 2024 · You may know how to format USB on Mac, but are confusing about formatting a WD hard drive. Formatting a New drive on Windows Note: If you would prefer a video tutorial of these steps instead, please click the thumbnail below. msc then click OK. This often causes difficulties when opening external drives on a Mac. Nov 3, 2022 · Why do you need to reformat an external hard drive for your Mac? By default, most models of hard disk drives (HDDs) and solid-state drives (SSDs) are formatted for a Windows operating system. Identify the disk identifier (e. Otherwise, it may be listed as "USB Drive" or the make and model of your hard drive. You can do this by clicking the folder icon at the bottom of your screen. This Sep 28, 2023 · Reformat the Drive. g. Instead, we'll just be wiping the drive and starting over from scratch. How can I do this? Whenever I run the Disk Utility App, I can't seem to find a way to reformat the external drive back to FAT32. If you Jun 17, 2024 · After backing up all data, you can then refer to the next guidelines to reformat your hard drive on Mac. See previous step. The 5TB unit currently offers the best bang for Nov 1, 2021 · Press and hold Command+R to start the Mac in Recovery mode. Jun 3, 2022 · If you’re using an external hard drive, these often need reformatting because they may have different filesystems that might not work with a Mac. Type Disk Utility Press Enter. Windows 11 (NTFS) Windows 10 32-bit & 64-bit Oct 8, 2021 · How to format a hard drive on Windows. You should see a Lock button in the bottom-right corner. Enter a name for the drive. If your external hard drive has a specific name, it will be listed in File Explorer. Log Into Your Mac and Plug in your Toshiba Drive. Format deletes, cleans and assigns a drive letter to the Volume. Click Show All Devices. It will only format and create a single partition for better performance. Windows does not support the exFAT file system, and the others are relatively slow. This will allow you to store, transfer, and back up your files easily. Here is a step-by-step guide for using Disk Utility to reformat a drive: Connect the external drive you want to reformat to your Mac. FAT32 is the de-facto standard file system that works between PC and Mac operating systems since 1995. Or a reformat a WD SSD drive this way? It’s best to reformat your hard drive on your Mac when you want to use your drive on your Mac. Follow the tutorial below, you'll learn everything concerning reformatting external hard drive on Mac, as well as how to recover data from formatted external hard drive. Here’s how to reformat external hard drive Mac using Disk Utility: Connect the external drive to your Mac; Go to Applications and launch Disk Utility Aug 2, 2021 · If you don't plan on using the drive for Time Machine, skip steps 5 through 11 below and continue with step 12. However, you can reformat it using the Mac’s Disk Utility. Erasing and Reformatting an External Hard Drive. Oct 20, 2023 · Now that you have successfully opened Disk Utility, you can proceed to the next step, where we will select the Seagate External Hard Drive for reformatting. If you see FAT32, exFAT, and NTFS, but don't know which one to pick, here's what you need to know. Once connected, you should hear a confirmation sound and see the external hard drive appear on your desktop or in the Finder. Jun 7, 2023 · Format your external hard drive using File Explorer or Disk Management and then use data recovery software to recover important files. Sep 6, 2023 · Answer ID 51139: How to Fix the Windows Was Unable to Complete the Format Message on an External Drive, USB Flash, and Memory Card; Answer ID 18341: How to Fix the Windows Was Unable to Complete the Format Message on an Internal Drive; Steps for macOS. Click Erase, Disk Utility will start formatting the drive; Once complete, click Done Sep 4, 2024 · Hi JP, Your advice on formatting the external hard drive is rather insightful. After plugging the disk into your Mac, Control-click the external drive icon in Finder, followed by Get Info. Jan 27, 2018 · Here's how to format a drive using a Mac - including how to format a drive for Windows and Mac so the contents can be read on both platforms, and what format to use for Time Machine. And sometimes you’ll find that you end up reformatting anyway. Give the drive a descriptive name and leave the default settings: OS X Extended Feb 20, 2023 · The truth is, if you want to use the external hard drive on your Mac, it's necessary to reformat it to make it compatible with the Mac OS. Jul 7, 2021 · How to Reformat a Drive on Windows The process to reformat an external hard drive on Windows is straightforward. In Disk Utility on Mac, you can erase and reformat (initialize) external storage devices to use with your Mac. You’ll likely pay extra for this preformatting convenience. Click "View > Show All Devices". Jul 21, 2022 · Formatting an external hard drive can seem like a daunting task at first, but knowing what data type you should format to and how to go about formatting, makes the process all that much easier. If you are interested, continue to read. Start Up Disk Utility. Take note that when you erase a device, it erases all the Volumes contained within it as well. Windows Disk Management that can be used to partition and format a drive. Because Mac’s are choosy about their file system formats. Step 3. And is sometimes precious about its external hard drive format. Jan 2, 2024 · Your WD external drive will show up on your desktop as a drive Icon. WARNING: Formatting the drive will erase all data on the drive, so you should copy any data you want off the drive prior to formatting. Using exFAT, you can store files of any size and use them with computers made in Jul 28, 2023 · Format External Hard Drive For Mac Time Machine Overview. A Quick Format only deletes the organizational structure of the files on the drive, without removing the actual files. Wait for Windows to recognize the connected drive. External Hard Drive For Mac and PC with Data Interchangeable Aug 20, 2024 · And this means you just plug your ‘for Mac’ external hard drive into your Mac. Well, a Mac is a Mac. ; In the main part of the window, under the name of the drive, you will see its current format. How to Format an External Hard Drive for use on Ma Aug 20, 2018 · Answer ID 18341: How to Fix the Windows Was Unable to Complete the Format Message on an Internal Drive; Steps to Format a Drive on macOS. ly/32SoDnDImportant Tip:😎 Leave comments Mar 15, 2023 · Right-click your external hard drive. I hope you can help me here: I would like to format my external hard drive so that I can edit in on my macbook pro. Before you begin the digitization process, make sure that your USB or external hard drive is formatted in FAT32 or exFAT following the instructions below. You’ll have your external hard drive formatted for Time Machine as part of your set up with Time Machine. The amount of space each hard drive has is listed below the drive name in File Explorer. ; Select Edit > Delete APFS Volume from the menu bar and Delete. #Tip 1. It involves erasing the current contents of the drive and setting it up with the correct file system for use with a Mac computer. In Disk Utility on Mac, you can erase and reformat storage devices to use with your Mac. Select the parent folder for the drive you want to reformat or erase, then click the Erase button again. ; Select the file system you want, give your drive a Jan 8, 2024 · Since formatting hard drives for Mac erases all data, make sure you’ve created a backup of all necessary files from that drive before going through the steps below. You’ll find it has the name you gave it on your Mac format screen. Press Windows key + R to open Disk Management. So, if you have saved any important files on your external hard drive, make sure to back them up before proceeding. Jan 3, 2022 · If you want to use your external hard drive with Mac and Windows computers, the best format to use is the exFAT. If you keep your hard drive's out-of-the-box NTFS format, you'll be able to read the drive when it's connected to a Mac, but you won't be Jan 29, 2020 · Alternatively, use the shortcut Cmd + 2. Erasing a storage device deletes everything on it. And this passage is also suitable for you to format a WD Black hard drive for Mac or make your WD Passport compatible with your Mac. Option 1: Format to NTFS and buy this app for your Mac. Oct 20, 2023 · In the next sections, we will explore the step-by-step process of formatting the drive for PC use and transferring files from a Mac to a PC. Launch Terminal (Applications > Utilities > Terminal). Because. Reformatting an external hard drive involves erasing all existing data and configuring it with a specific file system format that suits your needs. 5-inch external USB hard drive that offers a pretty decent storage capacity of 6TB for around $200/£200. Some older drives are formatted specifically for PCs, some specifically for Macs, and some of them have special utilities allowing them to work between both without Feb 15, 2024 · Formatting an external hard drive means you’re wiping it clean and setting up a new file system so that Windows 11 can read and write data on it. Connect Your External Hard Drive. So, if you are formatting a drive that has already been used, be sure to copy any files you will ever want to see again onto a computer or backup drive. And while you’re here why not check out the other related articles here on this site. Be aware that formatting a hard drive erases the drive's contents in the process. Click View. Type “diskutil list” and press Enter. For earlier Mac operating systems check out that section in the article below. Formatting the External Hard Drive for PC. Aug 30, 2019 · Formatted external hard drive without backup and want to recover the data? Try Recoverit data recovery: http://bit. And reformatting on a windows platform, using windows explorer. You can use it to format your external drive easily. Follow the steps to format an external drive on a macOS. Step 2. And now you can use the WD Elements external hard drive as you use your internal hard drive. Double Click On Your WD Elements Drive Icon On Your Desktop. Apr 29, 2020 · How to reformat an external drive on Mac. That will open up a Finder window for you. External Hard Drive Compatible with Mac and PC Without Reformatting. Step 1: Connect the external hard drive to your computer. Operating System Support Windows. Apr 29, 2024 · Existing drive you want to reformat According to Mac OS X11 Catalina, an external hard drive can be formatted in two ways, (1)Mac OS Extended (classic view) or (2)exFAT. . Related Articles. Step 4: Select the Seagate External Hard Drive. Formatting a hard drive on Windows is largely the same whether you’re using Windows 10 or 7. /dev/disk2) for your external drive. As well as giving you more space to play with, an In Disk Utility on Mac, you can erase and reformat (initialize) external storage devices to use with your Mac. Select Disk Utility > Continue. Jan 29, 2024 · Formatting a hard drive can change the file system to make it compatible with your computer's operating system and fix any errors on the drive. Reformatting an external hard drive on Windows . I need to format an external hard drive from FAT32 to NTFS without losing data. Select the drive on the left. Click the Scheme pop-up menu, then Feb 15, 2024 · Formatting an external hard drive for Mac is a simple and straightforward process. This process won't actually convert the file system. 3 days ago · To format an external hard drive for Mac, open a Finder window and go to Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility. Jul 14, 2024 · How to Unlock a Hard Drive on macOS You can easily fix permissions-related issues with a hard drive and use it with your Mac. Oct 20, 2023 · While reformatting your external hard drive can be a straightforward process, there are a few considerations and tips to keep in mind to ensure a successful and smooth experience. 7. Then click View in Disk Utility and select Show All Devices. Using this article here on the site. Jul 13, 2024 · Buying an external hard drive or SSD for your Mac is much like buying one for your Windows PC; most computers of either stripe now have at least one oval USB-C port for drive connections. Nov 9, 2023 · How to Reformat a Drive. Firstly, connect your external hard drive to your computer using a USB port. This will list all storage devices connected to your Mac. Apr 11, 2023 · Why Reformat A WD External Hard Drive For Mac This Way. It’s worth noting that reformatting a drive will erase everything stored on the drive, so make sure you transfer important files before you follow the Nov 18, 2023 · Find your drive in the left sidebar under External and select it. In order to make a Mac-formatted external hard drive compatible with a PC, we need to reformat the drive using a file system that both Mac and PC can recognize. amowtlgmwjqcwtwgnoeuvcdhmrrieepaltmajjgyahqurjjxbfbajg