How to format an external hard drive for mac and windows. Likewise, the mac os x operating system can read from, but cannot write to, an external drive that has been formatted for a pc using the ntfs file system without additional software. Enter a name, select the format and scheme, and click erase. So, if you want to use an external hard drive on both windows and mac, you need to format it to a filesystem that is compatible with windows pc and mac. If you desire encryption, then select mac os extended journaled, encrypted format instead. For now, the only reason to format a drive with apfs is to experiment with it. All is set, then you can go ahead to format the drive on your mac.
Use external storage devices with mac apple support. Open the disk utility app and highlight your external hard drive. Apfs apple file system this is the new file system that apple bought to macs with high sierra and it will. How to format your hard drive seagate support canada. If youre erasing an external drive, make sure that its connected. Reformatting an external hard drive for use with mac osx is not as difficult as it might seem. Use the file system dropdown menu, and select ntfs recommended. Now in this interface, you will see a format option. How to share an external hard drive between mac and windows. Once youve unboxed your new drive, connect it to your mac.
Open system information and select storage in the sidebar. For pc and mac compatibility, select exfat format and master boot record scheme. Aug 30, 2019 plug in the external hard drive into the system and open windows explorer by clicking on the computer section in the side bar, you will see your external hard drive get attached to your system. The easiest way is to drag it from one drive to another. 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. Open disk utility, select the drive not the macintosh hd volume, open the erase tab, set the format to mac os extended journaled, and press the erase button. If you want to insure full mac compatibility of a new external hard drive or flash disk, youll want to format the drive to the mac os extended. However, the new external hard drive comes as formatted drive, but, if you think the external drive should be formatted as another format filesystem. How to format hard drives on windows, mac and linux. How to format or partition an external hard drive for mac. Turn the drive on, and make sure it appears in the finder. High sierra wont format new drives macrumors forums. That allows you to test out the paragon software and.
Now that you know which format to use, check out our guide on how to format your hard drive on. Formatting an external hard drive would erase everything on it. Discover the world of external hard drives for mac. This is particularly necessary for purchases of generic pc drives, which almost always come preformatted to be windows compatible rather than for mac os x. Lacie mobile drive 2tb external hard drive hdd moon silver usbc usb 3. Oct 16, 2019 the best format for external hard drives. Step 1 open finder, applications, then go to utilities and disk utility.
Sep 06, 2019 select your new hard drive from the sidebar. How to format external hard drives on a mac sweetwater. Jul 12, 2017 the new apple file system is currently experimental. Or perhaps you are setting up an external drive for backups. When the external hard drive has been badly corrupted, formatting will be the last fix. How to use toshiba external hard drive on mac solved. Click go on the top tool bar, and select utilities. Oct 18, 2019 this wikihow teaches you how to change an external usb hard drives format on windows and mac computers. Compare the different options for formatting an external hard drive to work with windows and mac. The best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac. Compare portable, usb and external hard drive models for office and home and shop online. The best external hard drives for mac in 2020 pcmag.
The good news is that you can download the software and have a 10 day free trial. Fortunately disk utility, built right into macos, can help. Select the new untitled partition so we can format it as exfat for use with. Follow these instructions if you plan to share an external hard drive. Jun 02, 2017 in this video we look at the process of formatting a hard drive, flash drive, or ssd on an apple computer.
How to format an external hard drive focus photo school. It will likely already be formatted, either for use. Your first step to using your toshiba external drive on your mac is to plug your toshiba drive in. With exfat, you can store files of any size, and use it with any computer made in the last 20 years. Hence, you must backup your important files before reformatting the drive if you want to save them. If the external hard drive is pre formatted for mac, disk management will list 3 partitions and you will not be able to delete the health efi system partition because its a protected partition. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac laptop mag. The best format for your external hard drive the hellotech blog. If you want to create multiple partitions on your external hard drive in fact, you should for better file organization, heres a stepbystep guide. How can i reformat my external hard drive without losing data. How to format an external drive for mac from ntfs to mac os extended step 1. Before formatting the drive, its a good idea to back up the drive and save. Sep 17, 2019 right click on your toshiba external hard drive icon and pick get info from the menu.
However, its pretty normal these days to have video files or other highfidelity assets that are larger than 4gb, which makes this unsuitable for large drives that are likely to host bigger files. How to format a hard drive windows 10, 8, 7, vista, xp. Lacie mobile drive 5tb external hard drive portable hdd moon silver usbc usb 3. If you want to insure full mac compatibility of a new external hard drive or flash disk, youll want to format the drive to the mac os extended filesystem. Every time you click this plus sign, a new partition will be created. How to format an external hard drive the easy way in 2020. How to format new hard drive on windows 10 windows central. Dec 29, 2015 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. Regardless of brand or model, the very first thing that you must do when you buy a brand new external hard drive is to format it properly for your system. Feb 08, 2020 how to partition an external hard drive on mac. Format external hard drive for mac with disk utility. And it also wipes out all the bugs and harmful files that might harm your mac. How to format an external hard drive on windows and mac.
How to fix a corrupted external hard drive on macmacbook. Use the disk utility application to erase the drive. If you want to format your external hard drive to work with mac and windows computers, you should use exfat. For most reasons to erase, including when reformatting a disk or.
It will remove all errors by writing a new file system on the external hard drive and prepare it as a new and blank disk for use. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac. If it does not you will need to rightclick and delete the volume first. Best external hard drives for macs in 2020 techradar. Once you open the disk utility app, you can see all the drives on your mac are listed on the lefthand sidebar. Apr 14, 2020 fix a corrupted external hard drive by formatting. Formatting a hard drive can change the file system to make it compatible with your computers operating system, as well as fix any nonphysical errors on the drive itself. How to install macos or os x on a new hard drive for your mac.
Before using an external hard drive on a mac, you should format it. How to format external hard drive on a mac latest version. Time machine can back up to an external usb drive connected to an airport extreme base station 802. Three weeks ago, i bought a brand new 2tb seagate expansion to backup my macbook pro before i updated it to the latest macos. Apr 30, 2020 to format an external hard drive for mac with time machine, you must follow the steps below. Open disk management, the hard drive manager included with all versions of windows. Make sure that the usb drive is formatted for time machine connect the drive to a usb port on your airport base station, then turn it on. To format an external storage device, connect it to one of the ports on your mac.
Just select the one you want to format and click on the erase tab. In the value label field, type a descriptive name for the drive. If you want to know which format is currently in use, use any of these methods. Which mac file system is best for an external drive. How to format external hard drives for mac and windows. Use disk utility to erase format a hard disk, ssd, flash drive, or other storage device. Go through this article and find out the easiest way to format your toshiba drive for mac. Change the partition layout from current to 1 partition. If the drive is internal, it should already show up in.
Thunderbolt 3 and usb typec are the latest innovations in the external storage market, but before we get to them, we need to address a basic building block of hard drives that. Please remember that all data will be deleted from the drive, so make sure you have made a backup. How to format an external hard drive on windows formatting a hard drive on windows is a simple affair, especially if you leave everything as default. How to reformat mac os x without a recovery disc or drive. Select the external hard drive on the lefthand side. When you get a new hard drive, it may already be formatted for windows or mac. Apple is targeting a final release in 2017, and your macs system driveand the drives inside iphones, ipads, apple tvs, and apple watchesshould automatically convert to apfs at that point. External hard drive compatible with mac and pc without. It also erases the hidden recovery and efi partitions. Whether youre selling your computer, trying a new operating system, or setting up an external drive for backups, sometimes you need to completely erase and format a hard drive.
Jan 17, 2019 rightclick the new hard drive and select the format option. Heres how to format a drive using a mac including how to format a drive. Open disk utility the quickest way to do this is a simple spotlight search click the search icon on the upper. Both companies have tools that make an external hard drive compatible with mac and pc without formatting. Thats probably ok for most files, especially if youre using a thumb drive rather than an external hard drive. Backup disks you can use with time machine apple support. May 25, 2020 need to format an external hard drive for mac and windows.
Highlight your external drive and click erase make sure your drive is connected. This is a great thing to do when you first purchase a drive or when you are looking to. Use disk utility to erase format a hard disk, ssd, flash drive, or other. After du loads select your newly installed hard drive this is the entry with the mfgr. How to format an external hard drive for windows 10. Select disk utility from the main menu and click on the continue button. How to format an external hard drive with pictures wikihow. How to format an external hard drive on windows and mac youtube. Select the volume in the disk utility sidebar, then check the information shown on the right. Then, you can do it with the below easy stepbystep process. In the format partition section, select the file system.
That allows you to test out the paragon software and make sure its for you and your particular set up. But if you want the external hard drive to also work on a mac, you should choose exfat. Format an external hard drive or usb flash drive for mac os x. When prompted, select the mac os extended journaled format. If you see the drive is ntfs then youll either need to reformat the drive or use a ntfs driver. How to format a drive with the apfs file system on macos sierra.
How can i reformat the internal drive and install mountain. Step 2 follow the steps above to format the drive, and then you can use it with time machine on your mac system. Hi, yesterday i bought a new 8tb wd external hard drive, it came formatted as exfat, i tried to format it to hfs but after a few seconds it failed and i got the message drive failed to unmount, then the driver dissapeared, disk utility would display it as disk5s1 but every attempt at formatting. Storage devices such as external hard drives can also be available. Most external hard drives hd are sold in a format called ntfs, which is designed to work with windows. Formatting your toshiba hard drive for mac is important, as it makes the hard drive best suitable for the mac by formatting it with the osspecific file system and drivers. Highlight your drive and click partition in disk utility. 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.
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