This is because the drive has been initialized for windows nt file system, ntfs for short, and ntfs is primarily for pc use. Start the disk utility, located under applications utilities. This insures that you will have a compatible hard drive with your computer. To format a drive on a mac, youll need the builtin disk utility application. How to format an external hard drive on windows and mac. Formatting is a very simple procedure which is operated in a similar way for all sorts of storage media. The tutorial and screenshots below are based on macos sierra. How to format an external drive for mac from ntfs to mac os extended. Change the partition layout from current to 1 partition. If you buy a new external hard drive, you may notice that working between mac and pc is an often difficult but it doesnt need to be. It interprets what is on the external hard drive so that your mac or pc can read and write to the drive.
To format external hard drive on mac, all you have to do is plugin your hard drive and launch disk utility. How to format or partition an external hard drive for mac. Now that you know which format to use, check out our guide on how to format your hard drive on. Click erase button, the external hard drive will be formatted. How to format an external drive to work with mac from ntfs to mac os extended. Before a hard drive can read or write data, it must first be formatted, or erased and reconfigured.
Format your western digital my passport external hard drive to fat32 or exfat format so to transfer the data between a mac and windows system conveniently. In this post, youll learn how to format an external drive to a mac compatible file system and recover files from a reformatted hard drive. Format hard drive in windows 10 with easeus management software easeus partition software is a popular disk partition management tool that is available for all hard disk related jobs such as format disk partition, extend system partition, settle low disk space problem, convert mbr to gpt without data loss and vice versa. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac laptop mag. Step 2 now, go to the applications folder on your mac, and launch the disk utility from the utilities folder. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac. How to share an external hard drive between mac and windows. Here is the step by step guide you need to follow to format the hard disk on mac. The quickest way to do this is a simple spotlight search. The disk utility application is located in the utilities subfolder. On mac computers, use the finder app to browse and manage files on your computer and external hard drives. How to format a hard drive for mac internal, external or. Use disk utility to erase format a hard disk, ssd, flash drive, or other. Buying and using an external hd is one thing, getting the most out of it is quite another.
Step 2 on the left side of the utilities screen, find the name of the external hard drive you want to format and select it. Quickly format an external hard drive for mac and windows pc. The best ways to format an external drive for windows and. How to format an external hard drive for mac and windows.
However, it is not possible to format hard drive to exfat, the only option under the window of format file system is ntfs default. Select the external hard drive on the lefthand side. Please keep in mind that reformatting will result in the loss of all the data on the hard drive so make sure you back up your data elsewhere before starting. All your job, all your files and all your pictures went poof. If you run into issues while formatting, see how to unlock your mac external drive how to unlock and format an external hard drive for your mac heres a quick guide on how to format an external hard drive for mac and solve any issues you may encounter. Use disk utility to format an external drive after you connect an external drive to your mac, open the applications folder from the finder window. Buying an external hard drive is one of the best options for adding the storage space to the mac computer system. The instructions below are for windows 10, but other versions of windows from windows 7 and up can also format an external drive as exfat for use with mac as well. Since formatting an external hard drive will erase all of its files if you wish to save them you must back them up copy. Format an external hard drive or usb flash drive for mac os x. In this guide, well show you how to format an external hard drive so you can not only get rid of the.
Maybe you want to copy something onto a drive to share with a pc or another mac. Heres how to format a drive if you are planning to use it with a mac. With exfat, you can store files of any size, and use it with any computer made in the last 20 years. Choosing the right format for your external hard drive b.
Both mac os x and windows allow users to format their hard drives using builtin utilities. This insures that you will have a compatible hard drive with. Even though most people associate formatting with system installation, there are many other reasons why you might want to format your hard drive. Format and external hard drive on mac first, lets see how to format an external hard drive or usb drive in macos which works with both mac and pc platforms, first plugin your drive in macos machine. Which mac file system is best for an external drive. Then, click erase at the bottom to format the drive. Click go on the top tool bar, and select utilities. Use external storage devices with mac apple support. This is a simple procedure and is achieved the same way for all drive types and through. Hence, you must backup your important files before reformatting the drive if you want to save them. There are specific thirdparty systems, like digital camcorders, and sony playstation 3, which need the drives to be formatted in either fat32 or exfat format to perform read from and. How to format an external hard drive the easy way in 2020.
How to format external hard drives on a mac sweetwater. Just transfer all useful files out from the external hard drive to other devices on mac. How to format an external drive for mac compatibility. If you want to use a different file system on your usb drive, youll need to format it. Please see below on how to reformat your external hard drive on mac and windows. Open finder and choose applications utilities disk utility to launch the app on your mac. Before using an external hard drive on a mac, you should format it using disk utility. Formatting your drive will wipe out all the data in it. Follow the steps to format your toshiba hard drive for mac step 1 connect your toshiba hard drive to your mac using a compatible medium and make sure the connection remains uninterrupted. Use a software solution you get a piece of software that sits on your mac. Of course, if you have a backup already, ignore this step. You can select the exfat format when using the disk.
Master boot record is appropriate for external drives used with a pc or boot camp. By default its the disk built into your mac, named macintosh hd. Sometimes, you may want to try format directly to format your external hard drive partition to exfat for mac and windows. Most external hard drives are designed to work for windows computers. External hard drives, thumb drives, usb drives, flash memory cards, and devices like ipod are examples of storage devices that you can connect to your mac using thunderbolt, usb, or firewire cables, or connect wirelessly using bluetooth. Format an external hard drive external hard drives use either spinning disks or solid memory to save your files. Make sure your external hard drive is attached and mounted to. How to format a hard drive in mac os x connecting external hard drives. How to format external hard drive to use on mac and pc. Have you ever wondered how to reformat, partition and readytouse an external mac hard drive. How to convert a macformatted drive to a windows drive. External hard drive compatible with mac and pc without. Well, after some analysis it seems your best option is some recover for mac. Launch disk utility, located in applications utilities.
So if you re trying to connect an external hard drive to a mac, you might. This is perfect for anyone who uses macs and pcs and wants to transfer files between the different operating systems with an external drive. Formatting a hard drive is the best way to start from scratch on a geeky project. The easiest way is to drag it from one drive to another. This article shows you how to format an external hard drive via different methods, and you can follow these methods to format external hard drive for pc, mac. I want to know that what i should format the seagate external hard drive to, so that it can be compatible both with mac and pc. Give your drive a name and select the file system you want from the format dropdown. Step 1 connect the external hard drive you want to format to your mac, then start the disk utility app that you can find under applications utilities. Format external hard drive for mac reformat external. Again, formatting a drive will erase it completely, so make sure you have everything backed up that you want to keep. Options for having an external hard drive for mac and pc without formatting. Connect the external drive or the usb drive to the mac.
All is set, then you can go ahead to format the drive on your mac. Launch disk utility and then click to select the external hard drive listed on the left. How to format seagate drive for mac and pc quickly and. In the volume format list, select mac os extended journaled. Then, select your hard drive from the left sidebar. Locate the drive name from the left hand side of disk utility and click on it. Find the name of the drive in the left side of the utilities window and select it. Or perhaps you are setting up an external drive for backups. So, whether you wish to format the internal hard drive, external drive, or a usb flash drive, the procedure is the same for all. Enter a name for the disk or volume, such as macintosh hd. While you have bought this drive, you will find the drive already formatted for your mac or windows system. If you are trying to format mac external hard drive, you can go over the process step by step.
You can format an external hard drive or thumb drive to work seamlessly with both mac and windows by using the exfat file system. If you recently purchased an external hard drive or portable ssd for your mac, you probably noticed that mac os x doesnt allow you to write data on to the drive. The best format for your external hard drive the hellotech blog. Choose either apfs or mac os extended journaled to format as a mac volume. Looking to add storage, or for a smart way to back up your mac. How to format external hard drive for pc, mac and linux. You can do this quickly by pressing cmd and the spacebar at the same time. The best external hard drives for mac in 2020 pcmag. How to format or partition an external hard drive on mac. Formatting an external hard drive would erase everything on it. How to format external hard drives for mac and windows. If you want to format your external hard drive to work with mac and windows computers, you should use exfat.
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