Formatting a hard drive for mac

If you want to format your external hard drive to work with mac and windows computers, you should use exfat. Apr 16, 2020 in conclusion, we have introduced four methods to format a hard drive and one way to format a hard drive for mac. Mar 29, 2019 how to format a hard drive on mac to work on mac and pc. Click on the erase option from the four options available in the main window. Lets take a look at the different types of formats, and which are best for video production. Click the erase tab, choose a volume format from the dropdown menu and then type a name for the drive. How to format a hard drive windows 10, 8, 7, vista, xp. Then, you can share external hard drive between mac and pc.

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. Each partition can be managed as a separate hard drive for organizing folders, storing backup files, or as a hybrid system containing mac and windowsformatted drives. Before using an external hard drive on a mac, you should format it using disk utility. I have already tried to format this hard drive and eventually had to return it as it did not work on mac or windows. This is a simple procedure and is achieved the same way for all drive types and through. But if youre only formatting your seagate drive for mac, youll see all you need to know in the first 3 minutes. Aborted lacie setup assistant while it was formatting. Your seagate external hard drive unless its one of seagates desktop drives. If you want to transfer files from a mac to windows pc and vice versa using an external portable hard drive then you have to have the external drive formatted in. Some people are asking for a way to format a hard drive for mac. This process wont actually convert the file system.

By this way, you can easily format an external hard drive for mac and pc without losing any data. Make sure your external hard drive is attached and mounted to. Moving files from macformatted external hard drive to pc. Note that using a drive frequently between windows and mac could increase the. Simply put, your ps4 isnt recognizing the file system of your drive, which is most probably. Are you about to install macos high sierra or later on the disk. 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.

Feb 21, 2012 looking to share an external hard drive between a mac and pc. Instead, well just be wiping the drive and starting over from scratch. Reformatting the drive will erase all data on the drive, so you should copy any data you want off the drive prior to formatting. How to format a hard drive with ease in windows 1087. You can use lacie setup assistant to format your lacie hard drive when it is first connected to a computer mac or windows.

File system formats available in disk utility on mac apple. And if you have any problem about minitool partition wizard, please feel free to contact us via the email email protected. How to reformat mac os x without a recovery disc or drive. Please see below on how to reformat your external hard drive on mac and windows. Heres how to format a drive if you are planning to use it with a mac. The following is based on the latest version of macos. How to format external hard drive to use on mac and pc. How to convert a macformatted drive to a windows drive. Compare the different options for formatting an external hard drive to work with. Open the disk utility app and highlight your external hard drive. How you format a mac hard drive is entirely dependent on what kind of drive you plan on formatting. How to format external hard drives on a mac sweetwater. Lacie setup assistant helps you to quickly format the storage device according to your needs. Disk utility shows the recommended mac format by default.

This is a simple procedure and is achieved the same way for all drive types and through all connections, be they usb, firewire, or thunderbolt. The zero out data option is the fastest formatting option and. Takes its juice, its power from your mac, along its usb cable and that means youll need enough battery power in your macbook pro or air to drive the seagate drive. Feb 08, 2020 how to partition an external hard drive on mac. This insures that you will have a compatible hard drive with your computer.

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. If you need to format a hard drive, try these methods. Oct 06, 2019 youtube video showing formatting a seagate hard drive for mac. If the builtin disk came apfsformatted, dont change it to mac os extended. In this article, we will introduce some mac disk formatting software tools to help mac users easily and securely format hard drive, usb flash drive, memory card or other device under mac os. It interprets what is on the external hard drive so that your mac or pc can read and write to the drive. Here is the step by step guide you need to follow to format the hard disk on mac. To put it simply, if you want to share external hard drive between mac and pc, you need to format an external hard drive for mac and pc. How to format drive with compatible file system for mac and. How to format external hard drives for mac and windows. Looking to share an external hard drive between a mac and pc. Launch disk utility and then click to select the external hard drive listed on the left.

Thus, when you are planning to use the same hard drive on any other os, particularly macos, it is always suggested to format your hard drive for mac. How to format an external drive for mac compatibility. Click on disk utility then continue first of all to get your macs hard drive wiped. To format your external drive hard drive in windows which works with both platforms, first plugin your drive with windows machine.

Using apples free disk utility app, you can easily format the drive, give it a label, or even partition it and create multiple volumes from a single. How to format wd external drive for mac apple community. External hard drive compatible with mac and pc without. Formatting a drive on macos is reasonably accessible as compared to other operating systems due to its incredible gui.

Dec 29, 2015 your exfatformatted drive or partition can now be used for both windows and mac. Once you open the disk utility app, you can see all the. Super eraser for mac best mac disk format software. If you are trying to format mac external hard drive, you can go over the process step by step. Mar 22, 2012 the best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac. It is the reliable disk formatting tool for windowsmac. Note that using a drive frequently between windows and mac could increase the chances of file corruption, so make. Mar 15, 2018 if you know youre going to use a drive on both mac and windows, you should use the exfat file system, which is compatible with both. Though this format has some limitations, it enjoys nearly universal support. Which mac file system is best for an external drive.

Compare the different options for formatting an external hard drive to work with windows and mac. This stepbystep guide will show you how to format an external hard drive on a mac, and how to partition a drive on a mac. However, if you want to convert ntfs to exfat to make external hard drive compatible with mac and pc, 3 steps are required. Quickly format an external hard drive for mac and windows pc. Before you start formatting any hard drives, make sure youve backed up your data. If you want to create multiple partitions on your external hard drive in fact, you should for better file organization, heres a stepbystep guide. 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 information youve stored on it. Click on disk utility then continue first of all to get your mac s hard drive wiped. How to format an external drive for mac launch disk utility. It is obviously that you can use seagate external hard drive or flash drive with mac and windows computer as long as you format seagate drive for mac and pc. 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. Formatting a drive will erase all data and partitions on the disk. Feb 03, 2020 are you formatting the disk that came built into your mac.

If you have a mac lying around, you can plug the drive into a mac and back up the files. Go through this article and find out the easiest way to format your toshiba drive for mac. Format external hard drive for mac with disk utility. Just keep in mind if you want to use your drive also for os xs time machine backups, we advise you to format your drive through mac because there is an additional step to make drive compatible with time machine backups. In conclusion, we have introduced four methods to format a hard drive and one way to format a hard drive for mac. Open finder and choose applications utilities disk utility to launch. Jan 23, 2020 options for having an external hard drive for mac and pc without formatting. If you work solely on a mac, but need to send files to someone working on a pc, your external hard drive needs to be set up for both operating systems.

Highlight your drive and click partition in disk utility. Since formatting an external hard drive will erase all of its files if you wish to save them you must back them up copy. How to format a hard drive for mac internal, external or. Create sections called partitions in a large external drive. Dec 25, 2016 if you want to transfer files from a mac to windows pc and vice versa using an external portable hard drive then you have to have the external drive formatted in a file system both oss can read. The easiest way is to drag it from one drive to another. And it also wipes out all the bugs and harmful files that might harm your mac. Choose either apfs or mac os extended journaled to format as a mac volume. 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.

The below steps for formatting external drive is for windows 10 and also works the same with an old version of windows. First, back up the data on the macformatted drive if you have anything important on it. How to format seagate drive for mac and pc quickly and. Whether you are trying to backup mac to an external hard drive, wipe out any personal information and sell the computer, or even use a new operating system, you need to format the hard drive on your mac or pc. Disk utility on mac supports several file system formats. Based on your specific needs and select a proper way to achieve your goal. Are you formatting the disk that came built into your mac. But if you didnt foresee that, you may have formatted your drive with apples hfs plus, which windows cant read by default. You should then a see it mount on the desktop, and b automatically get a prompt to use the drive for time machine if not, you can go into the time machine menu top right of the screen, go to tm preferences, and select it.

Format an external hard drive or usb flash drive for mac os x. How to format a hard drive for mac internal, external or flash. However, it just wont recognize it, even though the hard drive is showing up on your computer. Select your startup drive on the left typically macintosh hd, switch to the erase tab and choose mac os. Instructions for how to format your external drive so that it will be fully usable in macos. How to format a hard drive on mac to work on mac and pc. Formatting an external hard drive would erase everything on it. You can use lacie setup assistant to format your lacie hard drive when it is first connected to a computer windows or mac. 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. These steps can be used for both internal and external drives. This insures that you will have a compatible hard drive with. Apr 14, 2020 why need to format external hard drive for mac and pc. File system formats available in disk utility on mac. Your exfatformatted drive or partition can now be used for both windows and mac.

While formatting, you would be asked to pick a file system for the disk. 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. Apr 15, 2020 to format your ps4s external hard disk to a different file system, all you need to do is plug your drive into your computer windows pc, mac and perform the formatting through the operating systems disk utility. How to share an external drive between a mac and a pc. Once disk utility is open youll see the list of available drives on the left. You can format your external hard drive from either the pc or mac. Tips for formatting hard drive if you want to get positive results while formatting your hard drive on mac or pc, then consider following these steps. As both windows and mac provide native solutions to format hard drive, you should avoid using any unreliable thirdparty tool. Would you like to see a video showing you how to format your seagate drive. All is set, then you can go ahead to format the drive on your mac.

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. You just need to know how to format external hard drive for ps4. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac. Use a software solution you get a piece of software that sits on your mac. Each partition appears on your computer as a separate disk. Options for having an external hard drive for mac and pc without formatting. You can format an external hard drive or thumb drive to work seamlessly with both mac and windows by using the exfat file system. Since formatting will erase all the existing data on your hard drive, make sure you have taken its backup beforehand. The best format for your external hard drive the hellotech blog. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac laptop mag. The best way to do it is with a drive formatted as fat32. No need to worry or try to claim warranty because your new external hard drive is fine.

For instructions on how to format your hard drive on a mac, please reference the following links. You can repurpose any hard drive to work with your mac. Therefore, make sure that the file system is supported by your mac or windows. You can select the exfat format when using the disk. The best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac. Hence, you must backup your important files before reformatting the drive if you want to save them. The simple and easy steps to formatting your seagate drive on your mac 1.