However, it just wont recognize it, even though the hard drive is showing up on your computer. Formatting an external hard drive would erase everything on it. How can i reformat my external hard drive without losing. 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. Heres how to format a drive using a mac including how to format a drive. How to format an external drive to work with mac from ntfs to mac os extended. 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. How to format external hard drives on a mac sweetwater. If you want to use a different file system on your usb drive, youll need to format it.
In the volume format list, select mac os extended journaled. Which mac file system is best for an external drive. All is set, then you can go ahead to format the drive on your mac. Buying and using an external hd is one thing, getting the most out of it is quite another. How to reformat mac os x without a recovery disc or drive. How to format an external hard drive focus photo school. By default its the disk built into your mac, named macintosh hd. If you own a windows computer, the hard drive in your system is probably running the ntfs format, which stands for new technology file system. It is time to learn how to format your external hard drive or other external drives to a common file system for mac and windows. May 09, 2019 the best external hard drives for mac in 2020. However, if you want to use the mac to format your external hard drive to exfat, youll face the problem that the external hard drive may not be compatible with the windows pc. Lacie rugged mini 4tb external hard drive portable hdd usb 3. Please see below on how to reformat your external hard drive on mac and windows. Feb 04, 2015 because now the hard drive is running as an external hard drive and the format is exactly how it should be for me to install the operating system.
I have a mac and downloaded and formatted my 3tb hard. The best ways to format an external drive for windows and. Steps on how to format an external drive on macos with exfat. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac laptop mag. How to format an external hard drive on windows and mac.
Choosing the right format for your external hard drive b. Formatting is a very simple procedure which is operated in a similar way for all sorts of storage media. Click erase button, the external hard drive will be formatted. How to share an external hard drive between mac and windows. And we usually perform formatting in our usb or external hard drive when we want to get rid of viruses, or we want to clean the disk as it was when we purchased it. Its easy to reformat your hard drive using disk utility in macos or os x. Step 1 open finder, applications, then go to utilities and disk utility step 2 follow the steps above to format the drive, and then you can use it with time machine on your mac system. Disk utility can be used to format external drives as well.
How to format external hard drive mac 2 simple methods. By default, windows computers will choose ntfs new technology file system for you because thats the native microsoft filing system. The easiest way is to drag it from one drive to another. If it does not you will need to rightclick and delete the volume first. It is very annoying to have it connected through an usb, so i am wondering if there is any way for me to change the internal format of the hard drive through an usb connection. Jun 02, 2017 in this video we look at the process of formatting a hard drive, flash drive, or ssd on an apple computer. Everytime i go into disc utilities, select the new harddrive, go to the erase tab and select msdocfat i get a notification that says disc erase fail. Since exfat formatted external hard disk are readable and writable by both the operating systems. How can i reformat the internal drive and install mountain lion from an external drive. So, you just bought a new external hard drive or a portable ssd and wanted to use it on your mac.
To format a drive on a mac, youll need the builtin disk utility application. I am trying to format my new 3tb harddrive for my mac computer. 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. Also, if your current hard drive is more than 5 years old, it probably is nearing the end of its service life and needs to be replaced. Do not format this external hard drive before you get your data back. External hard drives use either spinning disks or solid memory to save your files. How to format an external drive for mac compatibility. Because now the hard drive is running as an external hard drive and the format is exactly how it should be for me to install the operating system. Three weeks ago, i bought a brand new 2tb seagate expansion to backup my macbook pro before i updated it to the latest macos. For pc and mac compatibility, select exfat format and master boot record scheme. The best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac.
Format external hard drive for mac with disk utility. Oct 16, 2019 the best format for external hard drives. This is a great thing to do when you first purchase a drive or when you are looking to. How to format an external drive for mac launch disk utility. How to format an external hard drive the easy way in 2020. Sep 06, 2019 disk utility can be used to format external drives as well.
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 both windows and mac. Enter a name, select the format and scheme, and click erase. Dec 29, 2015 follow these instructions if you plan to share an external hard drive between pc and mac computers. How to format external hard drive mac 2 simple methods revealed. Jan 17, 2019 starting clean how to format new hard drive on windows 10 formatting is an essential task before starting to use a new drive, and in this guide, well show you how to do it on windows 10. I have backed up all my data i dont have enough hard drive space to make a time machine backup. When you get a new hard drive, it may already be formatted for windows or mac. 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. 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. This is a native windows file format that can be read by mac os x, but is not ideal for use with aperture. How to use toshiba external hard drive on mac solved.
Before using an external hard drive on a mac, you should format it. 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. If you want to format your external hard drive to work with mac and windows computers, you should use exfat. The maximum individual file size for exfat is 16 eb. If youre using an imac, you may find the usb ports on the side of your keyboard or on the back of the imacs screen. If your mac doesnt work, you can do this using a second mac and an external hard drive caddy. How to format drive with compatible file system for mac. Again, formatting a drive will erase it completely, so make sure you have everything backed up that you want to keep. Thats all because its been initialized with windows nt file system ntfs, which is primarily for pcs. How to format or partition an external hard drive for mac. Fortunately disk utility, built right into macos, can help. For instructions on how to format your hard drive on a mac, please reference the following links.
Before a hard drive can read or write data, it must first be formatted, or erased and reconfigured. The best external hard drives for mac in 2020 pcmag. It also erases the hidden recovery and efi partitions. From all above, you can have a general idea of fat32 and exfat file system. Also when we buy a new usb or hard drive, it often comes with windows compatible not the mac so formatting it even needed in this case. To format external hard drive for mac with time machine, you must follow the steps below. Looking to add storage, or for a smart way to back up your mac.
Here is the step by step guide you need to follow to format the hard disk on mac. Jul 12, 2017 the new apple file system is currently experimental. Format external drives to mac os extended before using. Step 1 open finder, applications, then go to utilities and disk utility step 2 follow the steps above to format the drive, and then you can use it with time machine on your mac system part 3. How to format external hard drives for mac and windows. Feb 08, 2020 so, you just bought a new external hard drive or a portable ssd and wanted to use it on your mac.
Youll want to do it before you sell your machine, for sure, but its also one of the steps you take when youre setting up a new external hard drive or looking to stuff a new hard drive in. Or perhaps you are setting up an external drive for backups. Well show you everything you need to know about the. Now that you know which format to use, check out our guide on how to format your hard drive on. In this guide, well show you how to format an external hard drive so you can not only get rid of the. While the new is originally referring to the year 1993, it has since been improved and updated over the years. Heres what you need to know, along with our toprated applefriendly drives. Follow these instructions if you plan to share an external hard drive.
Mar 22, 2012 the best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac. Once you open the disk utility app, you can see all the drives on your mac are listed on. Open finder and choose applications utilities disk utility to launch. While its convenient to purchase the hard drive that will work with your computer right out of the box, most external hard drives can also be reformatted so youre not limited to your initial choice.
In this video we look at the process of formatting a hard drive, flash drive, or ssd on an apple computer. Once disk utility is open youll see the list of available drives on the left. How can i reformat the internal drive and install mountain. 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. How to format an external hard drive on windows and mac youtube. Its a good idea to backup your data for your mac using time machine. Backup disks you can use with time machine apple support.
Simply put, your ps4 isnt recognizing the file system of your drive, which is most probably. Otherwise, you can skip this step and do it from the utilities page during the macos or os x installation. 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. Well then, how to format an external hard drive to exfat with windows pc. Do not save new things to this drive, or perform other operations like deletion, file removal, etc. Apfs apple file system this is the new file system that apple bought to macs with high sierra and it will. Follow these instructions if you plan to share an external hard drive between pc and mac computers. Then, click erase at the bottom to format the drive. Some people are asking for a way to format a hard drive for mac.
If you see the drive is ntfs then youll either need to reformat the drive or use a ntfs driver. It will likely already be formatted, either for use. Format an external hard drive or usb flash drive for mac os x. For now, the only reason to format a drive with apfs is to experiment with it. How to format an external hard drive with pictures wikihow. Rightclick on the external hard drive and click format. Thus, youd better use the windows machine to format your external hard drive. That said, if you are using smaller file sizes fat32 can suffice. Now, lets go into details about the external hard drives not mounting on mac issue. How to format a drive with the apfs file system on macos.
The new apple file system is currently experimental. The quickest way to do this is a simple spotlight search. How to make the external hard drive compatible with mac. Starting clean how to format new hard drive on windows 10 formatting is an essential task before starting to use a new drive, and in this guide, well show you how to. Bonus tip data recovery from formatted hard drive on mac. So, whether you wish to format the internal hard drive, external drive, or a usb flash drive, the procedure is the same for all. Oct 15, 2015 i am trying to format my new 3tb harddrive for my mac computer. How to format a drive with the apfs file system on macos sierra. Compare the different options for formatting an external hard drive to work with windows and mac. Click go on the top tool bar, and select utilities. Formatting a drive will erase all data and partitions on the disk. Before you begin to use your new external hard drive with aperture, reformat it to the mac os extended file system. Use disk utility to erase format a hard disk, ssd, flash drive, or other.
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. 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. How to format a hard drive windows 10, 8, 7, vista, xp. 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. How to format an external hard drive for mac youtube. Master boot record is appropriate for external drives used with a pc or boot camp. Give your drive a name and select the file system you want from the format dropdown. Right click on your toshiba external hard drive icon and pick get info from the menu.
But if you want the external hard drive to also work on a mac, you should choose exfat. Then, select your hard drive from the left sidebar. Your first step to using your toshiba external drive on your mac is to plug your toshiba drive in. How to format your hard drive seagate support australia. Sep 26, 2018 however, if you want to use the mac to format your external hard drive to exfat, youll face the problem that the external hard drive may not be compatible with the windows pc. No need to worry or try to claim warranty because your new external hard drive is fine. Hence, you must backup your important files before reformatting the drive if you want to save them. Once youve unboxed your new drive, connect it to your mac. How to format new hard drive on windows 10 windows central. Select the new untitled partition so we can format it as exfat for use with. How to format drive with compatible file system for mac and. With exfat, you can store files of any size, and use it with any computer made in the last 20 years. Dual formatting if you are a user who prefers to have both apfs and ntfs file system on a single external hard disk, you can partition and dual format the hard drive.
Many external hard drives come preformatted as fat 32. Click on the erase option from the four options available in the main window. The best format for your external hard drive the hellotech blog. 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 an external hard drive for mac and windows. Now, how can i reformat and install os x from the installer placed in the external hard drive. How to format a hard drive for mac internal, external or. You just need to know how to format external hard drive for ps4. Any hard drive can be formatted for mac and here is how you do it.
How to fix external hard drive not mounting on mac computer. I have just saved necessary files and also the installer for os x 10. Insert the drives usb cable into one of the thin, rectangular slots in your computers casing. How to format an external hard drive for windows 10.
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