Formatting an external hard drive would erase everything on it. All is set, then you can go ahead to format the drive on your mac. If you re erasing an external drive, make sure that its connected directly. This means its the format of choice for system drives on windows computers. How to format your hard drive seagate support canada. Under file system, choose the file system you want to use. If youre looking for a macfriendly external hard drive thats built for durability, take a look at lacies rugged thunderbolt usbc portable hard drive. Whether you go the software or hardware route depends on your situation. Select the external hard drive on the lefthand side. Discover the world of external hard drives for mac.
How to format external hard drive mac 2 simple methods revealed. Click go on the top tool bar, and select utilities. Change the partition layout from current to 1 partition. In order to get started and partition your external hard drive, follow the simple instructions below. Even though most people associate formatting with system installation, there are many other reasons why you might want to format your hard drive. The best format for your external hard drive the hellotech blog. This is a simple procedure and is achieved the same way for all drive types and through. Formatting your drive will wipe out all the data in it. Dec 22, 2019 how to format external hard drive mac. The best ways to format an external drive for windows and. Format external hard drive for mac reformat external hard. 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.
Which mac file system is best for an external drive. Desktop external hard drives usually run at 7200 rpm to offer all the speed they can. Even though mac computers are capable of reading hard drives that are formatted for windows, if you intend on using your external hdd as a bootable disk or want to use it to backup files with your macs time machine, you must format it to be entirely mac compatible. How to format an external hard drive on windows and mac youtube. Oct 16, 2019 the best format for external hard drives. Feb 08, 2020 how to partition an external 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. This insures that you will have a compatible hard drive with. If you want to make use of your macs thunderbolt port, then this is the best external hard drive for macs. So if you re trying to connect an external hard drive to a mac, you might.
How to format an external hard drive on windows and mac. 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. Most external hard drives are designed to work for windows computers. Hence, you must backup your important files before reformatting the drive if you want to save them. This reduced power draw helps preserve the battery life of the mac you plug the drive into. How to format an external hard drive with pictures wikihow. If it does not you will need to rightclick and delete the volume first. Lets see how to format transcend hard drive for mac and pc in a windowsbased computer. This is very easy to carry out, and only requires a few moments of your time. Just select the one you want to format and click on the erase tab. Format an external hard drive or usb flash drive for mac os x. 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. Usb drives and external hard drives on macos catalina are used for storing and backing up important data such as photos, videos, audios, images, notes, messages, music. Open disk utility go to the applications folder and then to another folder, known as utilities.
If you already used your external hard drive on a pc, be sure to back up any files on it. How to format or partition an external hard drive for mac. Best external hard drives for macs in 2020 techradar. Now in this interface, you will see a format option. The higher a disks rpm, the faster its working speed. Mac hard drives typically spin at rates of 5,400 to 7,200 rpm.
So if youre trying to connect an external hard drive to a mac, you might. With exfat, you can store files of any size, and use it with any computer made in the last 20 years. How to fix a corrupted external hard drive on macmacbook. It is not as complicated to reformat an external hard drive for use with mac os x as it may look. Sep 05, 2011 very easy way to format an external hard drive into fat32 with a mac using the disk utility. Compare the different options for formatting an external hard drive to work with windows and mac. 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. 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. Select the external hard drive in the left hand sidebar and click on the erase tab.
How to format an external drive for mac compatibility. Jan 23, 2020 i hope you enjoyed my article on how to make an external hard drive compatible with mac and pc without reformatting. Open the disk utility app and highlight your external hard drive. Before a hard drive can read or write data, it must first be formatted, or erased and reconfigured. Format usb drive, external hard drive on macos catalina. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac laptop. Hard drives advertised as being compatible with windows and mac os may have misled you into thinking you could actually use one hard drive for both computers. Now that you know which format to use, check out our guide on how to format your hard drive on. Use disk utility to erase format a hard disk, ssd, flash drive, or other storage device. Drive speed is measured in revolutions per minute rpm, based on how fast the drive can spin. How to format usb driveexternal hard drive on macos catalina. Quickly format an external hard drive for mac and windows pc. Highlight your drive and click partition in disk utility. Either way there is a solution to having an existing external hard drive for mac and pc.
You should create multiple partitions on your external hard drive, in order to have enhanced file organization. Formatting is a very simple procedure which is operated in a similar way for all sorts of storage media. 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 to format an external drive to work with mac from ntfs to mac os extended. Some external hard drives need to be plugged into an outlet to work. You are ready to go in a few quick measures, so you can transfer your backup data to the hard disk, keep your documents safe so give you peace of mind. Wondering what the best format for your new external hard drive is. Give your drive a name and select the file system you want from the format dropdown. If youre erasing an external drive, make sure that its connected directly. On mac computers, use the finder app to browse and manage files on your computer and external hard drives. Format external hard drive for mac with disk utility. If you want to format your external hard drive to work with mac and windows computers, you should use exfat. After youre done, dont forget to remove the external hard. Like other models, this external hard drive requires reformatting for mac, with a few simple steps as listed.
Here are your macos file system options and how to pick the best one for you. Heres how to format a drive if you are planning to use it with a mac. How to format an external hard drive the easy way in 2020. How to format an external hard drive for mac and pc. Oct 18, 2019 this wikihow teaches you how to change an external usb hard drive s format on windows and mac computers.
How to format or partition an external hard drive on mac. I hope you enjoyed my article on how to make an external hard drive compatible with mac and pc without reformatting. External hard drive, portable hard drive typec slim external hard dive 1tb 2tb compatible with pc, desktop, laptop, mac 2tb, black 5. With its distinctive rubber bumpers and brushed aluminum chassis, the drive offers drop resistance up to 5 feet, crush resistance that can withstand up to a 1ton car, and ip54 water. May 21, 2020 by this way, you can easily format an external hard drive for mac and pc without losing any data. Since formatting an external hard drive will erase all of its files if you wish to save them you must back them up copy. Traditional hard disks are the most common options of external drives for mac, but you can also use them as laptop internal hard drives. For some mac models, the partition option would be greyed out in disk utility. How to format an external hard drive focus photo school.
Right click the transcend hard drive which needs formatting and select format partition. Ever run out of storage space and start wondering if it would be possible to take a crowbar to your new unibody macbook pro to pry it open and put another hard. You may also set a direct connection to your computer. Download, install and launch aomei partition assistant. Compare portable, usb and external hard drive models for office and home and shop online. 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. Apr 30, 2020 to format an external hard drive for mac with time machine, you must follow the steps below. Open finder, click the go dropdown menu, and select utilities.
Both mac os x and windows allow users to format their hard drives using builtin utilities. Before starting the formatting hard drive in mac, you have to connect your mac system to external hard drive. Ntfs has quite a lot of strong advantages, which may actually make it a good format choice for certain external hard drives, depending on the circumstances. Once you open the disk utility app, you can see all the drives on your mac are listed on the lefthand sidebar. How to format external hard drive mac 2 simple methods. The best external hard drives for mac in 2020 pcmag. Its the most secure, robust file system that a windows user could wish for. Before using an external hard drive on a mac, you should format it using disk utility. Aug 30, 2019 select the external hard drive in the left hand sidebar and click on the erase tab.
The easiest way is to drag it from one drive to another. Formatting a hard drive for mac isnt rocket science, but i wouldnt let your neighbors firstgrader do it for you, either. How to format external hard drives on a mac sweetwater. So, we suggest that its better to use a pc to partition an external hard drive for macos and windows. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac laptop mag. Step 1 open finder, applications, then go to utilities and disk utility. Yes, connecting an external hard drive or usb flash key to a mac will generally read and work fine as is because the mac can easily read other filesystem formats, including windows msdos, fat, fat32, exfat, and ntfs formats, but unless you intend on using the drive between a windows and mac machine, formatting it to be entirely mac compatible filesystem is highly recommended, and necessary for time machine and to make disks bootable. How to format transcend hard drive for mac and windows. How to format external hard drives for mac and windows.
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. How to format a hard drive for mac internal, external or flash. The best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac. Step 2 follow the steps above to format the drive, and then you can use it with time machine on your mac system. Lacie mobile drive 5tb external hard drive portable hdd moon silver usbc usb 3. External hard drive compatible with mac and pc without.
May 21, 2020 if you want to make use of your mac s thunderbolt port, then this is the best external hard drive for macs. Then, you can share external hard drive between mac and pc. Find low everyday prices and buy online for delivery or instore pickup. External hard drives use either spinning disks or solid memory to save your files. Here are the steps to partition an external hard drive for mac and windows pc, which is a little tricky. By this way, you can easily format an external hard drive for mac and pc without losing any data. The quickest way to do this is a simple spotlight search. Select the fat32 or exfat as its file system and enter a partition label if you like.
Buying an external hard drive for your mac is not all that different from buying one for your windows pc, except for one very important complication. The 8 best external hard drives and ssds for mac and pc users. Unformat mac hard drive recover formatted hard drive on mac. To format an external hard drive for mac with time machine, you must follow the steps below. 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. Dec 31, 2019 partition external hard drive on mac os x. Click on the erase button, or rightclick the external hard drive and choose erase from the options.
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