Click go at the upper right of your desktop and go to utilities, and then open disk utility. You can run easytouse mac disk formatting software to. Aug 22, 2019 you might already know the consequences of formatting a hard drive. As both windows and mac provide native solutions to format hard drive, you should avoid using any unreliable thirdparty tool. So please back up your important files before you run super eraser for mac to format. Aborted lacie setup assistant while it was formatting. In the main interface, right click the partition on that need. In conclusion, we have introduced four methods to format a hard drive and one way to format a hard drive for mac.
Windows uses ntfs and mac os uses hfs and theyre incompatible with each other. 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. How to format external hard drives for mac and windows. The volume representing your startup disk is macintosh hd, unless.
Quickly format an external hard drive for mac and windows pc. Select your startup drive on the left typically macintosh hd, switch to the erase tab and choose mac os extended journaled from the format dropdown menu. These steps can be used for both internal and external drives. However, you can format the drive to work with both windows and mac by. Now enter the volume label as you need and change the file system for exfat and click ok. Hard drive format software for mac mac disk format software. How to share an external hard drive between mac and windows. 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 or linux. In the partition layout dropdown menu, select 1 partition. Select disk utility from the utilities window in macos recovery. Jul 24, 20 erase, formatting, os x installs on mac s. Click the icon for your external hard drive in the sidebar on the left.
You can use lacie setup assistant to format your lacie hard drive when it is first connected to a computer windows or mac. Feb 03, 2020 are you formatting the disk that came built into your mac. Lacie setup assistant helps you to quickly format the storage device according to your needs. It will automatically locate the connected drive, and you can load it. How to share an external drive between a mac and a pc. Find out how to recover formatted hard drive on mac. Run aweeraser for mac choose erase hard drive select hard drive click on erase button format the selected hard drive. While formatting, you would be asked to pick a file system for the disk. Format mac hard drive with time machine formatting an external hard drive with time machine is as easy as formatting it with disk utility. Feb 21, 2012 how to share an external drive between a mac and a pc. Click the erase button or tab, then complete these items. Disk utility shows the recommended mac format by default.
Are you about to install macos high sierra or later on the disk. If you are techy and use windows and mac computers frequently, then you might need to transfer data between mac and pc. If you need to erase your disk before installing high sierra or later for the first time on that disk, choose mac os extended journaled. How to format drive with compatible file system for mac and. Mar 22, 2012 the best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac. Mar 16, 2020 hence, unless you want to transfer the files from windows to mac, it is advised to not use these formats on mac. External hard drive is popular storage device and it can be used to store all kinds of digital information such as images, documents, apps, emails, etc. If you need to format a hard drive, try these methods. You can then rightclick in the empty space and select new simple volume to create a partition and format it with the windows ntfs or fat32 file systems. Both fat32 and exfat can be used on windows pc and mac. However, when you format your hard drive with super eraser for mac, all your data will be permanently lost. How to format external hard drive mac 2 simple methods. How to format external hard drive for pc, mac and linux. 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.
It is the reliable disk formatting tool for windowsmac. How to format wd external drive for mac apple community. Choosing the right format for your external hard drive b. How to format external hard drive to use on mac and pc. If the builtin disk came apfsformatted, dont change it to mac os extended.
Well show you everything you need to know about the. Compare the different options for formatting an external hard drive to work with windows and mac. Mar 31, 2020 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. First off if the machine is bootable to os x, head to the apple menu about this mac and note the os x version. How to format drive with compatible file system for mac. Now right click on the external drive and click on format option doublecheck the drive name and capacity to make sure you are going to format the right drive. Reformatting the drive will erase all data on the drive, so you should copy any data you want off the drive prior to formatting. Here are some other tips related to formatting mac that will come in handy. Therefore, make sure that the file system is supported by your mac or windows. Control panel, system and security, create and format hard disk partitions.
Formatting an external hard drive will delete any information on the device, likewise reformatting your system will essentially bring your mac back to a clean factory state, thus removing all. Today, we will talk about how to format or reformat ssd on mac. Remember that you should not install the application on the formatted drive. It will erase all the data stored in it, making it empty in one go. How to format or partition an external hard drive for mac. To use hfsexplorer, connect your macformatted drive to your windows pc and launch hfsexplorer. Once disk utility is open youll see the list of available drives on the left. The most important, you should decide which format to use. Feb 08, 2020 how to partition an external hard drive on mac. On the formatting window, select quick format option, choose file system format, and click start. You might already know the consequences of formatting a hard drive. That said, if you are using both a pc and mac in the workflow, youll need to use a different. Finally, formatting deletes all data stored on the drive.
Paragon disk wipe allows you to create a bootable usbflash drive or external hard drive that will help you to completely erase a whole hard disk, a separate partition or just clean free space. If youre lucky, you can just rightclick each partition on the mac drive and select delete volume to remove the partitions. However, if you want to convert ntfs to exfat to make external hard drive compatible with mac and pc, 3 steps are required. Therefore, before you format mac pc drive, make sure that you have taken a backup of your important data. 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. Click the file menu and select load file system from device.
You can choose to copy and paste those files to other external devices. If you want to recycle a ssd, formatting is the best way to remove all history data from the ssd. You have to set it up correctly before getting starting. Please note that once the hard drive is formatted by aweeraser for mac, all the data on the hard drive will be permanently erased, cant be recovered by data recovery software or. Time machine, however, gives you the possibility to create an automatic backup of the data on your hard drive before formatting it. 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. The 4 disk formatting software for mac above can help you easily format hard drive, usb flash drive, memory card, and other storage media under mac os. Select the readonly external hard drive on the left window. Enter a name for the external hard drive in the name field. How to format external hard drive mac 2 simple methods revealed. Open the disk utility app and highlight your external hard drive.
Jan 15, 2020 learn how to use macos recovery to reinstall the mac operating system on your builtin drive or an external drive. This thing is still unknown for many users but doesnt worry its not complex. For instance, is the hard drive internal or external. If you are going to sell, donate your mac device or just want to completely remove unwanted files and fix disk errors, super eraser for mac is the best mac disk formatting tool for you. To format external drive to file system compatible with mac and pc, connect the drive to your computer and follow the detailed steps given below take formatting hard drive to exfat in windows 7 for example. The macbook and macbook pros come with an ssd to store data and an os. The best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac. Click the erase tab, choose a volume format from the dropdown menu and then type a name for the drive. You can use the following guide to fix readonly external hard drive in disk utility without formatting. Apple may provide or recommend responses as a possible solution based on the information provided. Seagate backup plus is preformatted exfat for compatibility with both mac and windows computers. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac. How to reinstall macos from macos recovery apple support. Once it is done, you can do hard disk format for mac and pc to enjoy the following advantages.
Download disk formatting software for mac doyourdata. In the partition information box, enter an appropriate name for. For now wed advise against formatting in apfs because it wont be readable by macs that arent running high sierra, but this may not matter to you. Mac os journaled is the formatting option for mac and ntfs or msdoc is the formatting option for pc. You can run easytouse mac disk formatting software to easily format internal ssd or external ssd under mac os. If a wireless network is available, you can choose it from the wi. When you use a hard disk drive, time machine will take a while to back up your mac. Formatting seagate hdd in mac pro with 2 os window7 and mac. How to format a hard drive with ease in windows 1087. In this video we look at the process of formatting a hard drive, flash drive, or ssd on an apple computer. Mar 12, 2018 want to format a hard drive for mac and pc compatibility. The mac os x extended volume format is optimal for macs. If you want to create multiple partitions on your external hard drive in fact, you should for better file organization, heres a stepbystep guide. Choose to format the portable hard disk drive by clicking the format button in the small gray menu that pops up.
Choose either apfs or mac os extended journaled to format as a mac volume. As a precaution against the problem of accidentally formatting the wrong partition or disk, you should always create a backup before performing a format operation on your computers disks. Jun 02, 2017 in this video we look at the process of formatting a hard drive, flash drive, or ssd on an apple computer. Learn how to use macos recovery to reinstall the mac operating system on your builtin drive or an external drive. The following is based on the latest version of macos. Launch disk utility and then click to select the external hard drive listed on the left. Dec 29, 2015 how to format a hard drive for both windows and mac. How to format an external hard drive for mac and windows. Keep in mind that a mac can generally read other file formats, but for the best performance and to create a bootable disk, formatting exclusively for mac is required. From the volume format menu, choose mac os extended.
Highlight your drive and click partition in disk utility. Compare the different options for formatting an external hard drive to work with. Mac os journaled is the formatting option for mac and ntfs or msdoc is the. And if you have any problem about minitool partition wizard, please feel free to contact us via the email email protected. Apr 16, 2020 how to recover deleted files on mac mac data recovery from a formatted drive may take several minutes to several hours depending on the size of the drive and number of files and the drives condition. Also you can enter a name for the drive under volume. There will be no space wasted by protected mac partitions. Open disk management tool by rightclicking on start menu icon and then select disk management. Formatting seagate hdd in mac pro with 2 os window7 and.
Repair readonly external hard drive with disk utility. How to format external ssd for mac time machine mashtips. Enter a name that you want the volume to have after you erase it, such as macintosh hd. Format a usb drive as exfat for mac and windows compatibility. Should i reformat with apfs or mac extended journaled. This site contains user submitted content, comments and opinions and is for informational purposes only. This option is used for erasing deleted files and formatted files on your mac, without affecting the existing data. If you want to share files that you have backed up between mac and pc, now please transfer these files back to external hard drive. This is a great thing to do when you first purchase a drive or when you are looking to. Select your macs hard drive in the lefthand column, to reveal more options, then select the partition button. It is the only way to recover from formatting without using data recovery software. Confirm that you would like to format the portable hdd by clicking ok and begin the process of formatting by clicking the ok button on the next screen that.
Before you begin formatting the drive, there are a few things to do. How to format a hard drive windows 10, 8, 7, vista, xp. Formatting the drive will erase all data on the drive, so you should copy any data you want off the drive prior to formatting. Instructions for how to format your external drive so that it will be fully usable in macos. A vast majority of video production will be done on a mac or windows operating system, so we arent going to cover linux. If you are using an external hard drive, or even an sd card or a usb stick, make sure that it is properly connected to your computer via the appropriate port. Apr 14, 2020 finally, an exfat partition will be created on your external hard disk so that it could be shared between mac and windows pc.
Formatting a drive will erase it completely, so make sure you have everything backed up that you want to keep. Sep 26, 2018 need to format an external hard drive for mac and windows. Then do more information and write down all what you see there. Fortunately, you can take some actions to repair these minor disk errors with disk utility on your mac. Use the wizard to create a partition with the ntfs or fat32 file system. How to format a hard drive on mac and permanently erase the data information on the hard drive. How to convert a macformatted drive to a windows drive. The mac drive may have an efi system partition on it. May 29, 2018 to format external drive to file system compatible with mac and pc, connect the drive to your computer and follow the detailed steps given below take formatting hard drive to exfat in windows 7 for example. How to format external hard drivedisk on mac using disk utility. A solid state drive is primarily used on mac machine. Rightclick in the unallocated space on the initialized disk and select new simple volume.