We here will show you the full guides on how to format fat32 and ntfs drives on mac. Moving files from macformatted external hard drive to pc. Right click on the partition and select delete volume this will remove the partition. Enter a name for the external hard drive in the name field. It is not as complicated to reformat an external hard drive for use with mac os x as it may look. If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation. This also allows you to restore time machine backups on windows. Select the external hard drive on the lefthand side. How to reformat an external hard drive without losing your.
Click go on the top tool bar, and select utilities. Apr 30, 2016 now, lets take a look at some ways you can format your usb drive on windows 10. Open your mac and connect your external hard drive with it. 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. But if you try to use an external hard drive thats been formatted for mac os. In disk utility on your mac, you can format an external disk for a windows computer. How to format a windows disk drive for a mac seagate blog.
It is possible to reformat the drive and keep your files by formatting your drive and then using a data recovery tool to restore your information. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac. Now either because of time, corruption or because it may have been formatted for a mac when i plug it into my pc i cant access it. With disk utility open, locate the hard drive you want to partition and select partition. How to format external hard drives for mac and windows. Whenever an external storage device gets infected, it is highly recommended to format the device to make it operable.
How to convert mac only external hdd to windows compatible. The best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac. To use hfsexplorer, connect your mac formatted drive to your windows pc and launch hfsexplorer. You can use your toshiba canvio drive as a destination for your time machine backups but you can only use drives formatted as mac os extended journaled file system for a time machine backup. People might need to format a hard drive or an external hard drive in windows 10 for various reasons.
If you are techy and use windows and mac computers frequently, then you might need to transfer data between mac and pc. To start, your first step will be to find disk utility. A drive can be formatted with exfat using either a windows or a mac computer. First, back up the data on the macformatted drive if you have anything important on it. How to erase and format an external hard drive on mac and windows.
How to reformat my external hard drive for windows 10. Therfore, you can connect backup plus desktop to a windows pc without formatting the hard drive. The mac drive may have an efi system partition on it. Pc youll have to format the drive so that it can be read by the windows operating. You can also reformat hard drives, which is often done to erase all of its contents.
That said, if you are using both a pc and mac in the workflow, youll need to use a different format. The reason is perhaps that seagate external hard drive has been well known for a long time as one of the most reliable drives for storing data. If you arent sure, look at the available space listed under capacity in disk management. When youre asked to confirm, click the delete button. A vast majority of video production will be done on a mac or windows operating system, so we arent going to cover linux. Find the name of the drive in the left side of the utilities window and select it. The below steps for formatting external drive is for windows 10 and also. 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.
There are specific thirdparty systems, like digital camcorders, and sony playstation 3, which need the drives to be formatted in either fat32 or exfat format to perform read from and. A fat32 partition can reach up to 32gb when formatted on a windows pc. Look for a data volume with the same name, such as macintosh hd data. 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. It interprets what is on the external hard drive so that your mac or pc can read and write to the drive. Your backup plus desktop is formatted as ntfs for compatibility with windows out of the box. How to share an external drive between a mac and a pc. In this video i help you guys convert your mac only external hdd into a windows compatible one. Rightclick on windows icon, select disk management.
How to format an external hard drive for windows 10. Mar 29, 2019 how to format a hard drive on mac to work on mac and pc. How to format external ssd for mac time machine mashtips. If you are a windows 10 user, do you know how to reformat an internal or external hard drive. How to format external hard drive mac 2 simple methods. Rightclick the disk that says offline, then select initialize disk.
As the default file system in windows, it can only read by mac os, writing to it is not available. How to format or partition an external hard drive for mac. Apr 17, 2020 to format external hard drive for mac with time machine, you must follow the steps below. Meanwhile, the performance of the hard disk greatly affects the computer operation and the users experience. Windows, macos, and linux can all read and write to fat32 drives without an. How to format an external hard drive for mac and windows. Buying an external hard drive is one of the best options for adding the storage space to the mac computer system. Options for having an external hard drive for mac and pc without formatting. How to format external hard drive mac 2 simple methods revealed. How to format usb drives on windows 10 make tech easier. How to format usb drive or external hard drive on mac. Select the mac drive from the list of drives make sure this is the drive you want to work on, if you do it for the windows formatted drive in the list, it may cost you a lot of important data.
From what i understand, windows doesnt always like the way mac s do the formatting on some larger drives, though, so give it a try and if your windows machines dont like it, just format the drive with windows. The best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac cnet. How to format a hard drive windows 10, 8, 7, vista, xp. Thats all because its been initialized with windows nt file system ntfs, which is primarily for pcs. Sometimes, users need to use the same external hard drive interchangeably on mac and pc. Rightclick in the unallocated space on the initialized disk and select new simple volume. How to reinstall macos from macos recovery apple support. In the create partition window, choose exfat under the file system tab. After that, you can use your external hard drive on both mac and windows machine. Now in this interface, you will see a format option. First to format your wd elements external drive to mac os extended journaled file system.
Find out how to format an external drive or usb disk making the drive work with both windows pc and mac can read and write. For instance, users want to write data to and read data from, to do a clean installation of the windows system, to get rid of a virus or malware, to erase the data before giving the drive to someone else or throwing it away, or some other reasons. Format a disk for windows computers in disk utility on mac apple. 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. Sep 12, 2019 what you need to do first is wiping hard drive. Extended file allocation table designed by microsoft, the exfat is a good choice if you plan to use the external hard drive with both macos and windows systems. The ssds are fast, dont need any external power supply, and have more resistance to shock and vibrations. Of course, if you have a backup already, ignore this step. Dec, 2019 you can format the external hard drive or usb drive to make it compatible with both mac and windows machines. How to format an external hard drive with pictures wikihow. Format external hard drive for mac with disk utility.
So, it is better that you know your options and understand which format is right for you. Windows 10 typically lists an external drive as disk 2 along with the next. Apple mac machines support a different file system. Formatting an external hard drive would erase everything on it. Both mac os x and windows allow users to format their hard drives using builtin utilities. Well show you everything you need to know about the. Then choose edit delete apfs volume from the menu bar, or click the delete volume button in the disk utility toolbar. Just select the one you want to format and click on the erase tab.
There will be no space wasted by protected mac partitions. Learn how to use macos recovery to reinstall the mac operating system on your builtin drive or an external drive. 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. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac laptop mag. However, you need to make doubly sure that you complete a quick format. But unfortunately it bit the dust and i decided to get a pc. Select the drive from the left sidebar, then click the partition tab. How to reformat an internal or external hard drive on windows.
You might want a drive that works with macs and pcs, or maybe you want to partition it, which will split it up into two different formats. Connect the empty external hd to your mac and launch disk utility. You can get to know how to reformat wd hard drive for mac and pc from this post, if you need to use a western digital external hard drive, like wd elements both under mac and pc. Once you open the disk utility app, you can see all the drives on your mac are listed on the lefthand sidebar. Developed by microsoft, this modern file system is optimized for situations where the ntfs file system is not a feasible solution, and the file size limit of the standard fat32 file system is unacceptable. When performing a format, make sure to select the correct drive. To make it compatible with both macos and windows, you need to reformat the external hard drive. Mar 15, 2018 windows cant normally read macformatted drives, and will offer to erase them instead.
If you need to format external hard drive mac or windows, you may also consider the exfat files system. Choosing the right format for your external hard drive b. Formatting an external hard drive for the first time is a twostep process. Aborted lacie setup assistant while it was formatting. Start the disk utility, located under applications utilities. If the external drive is greater than 2tb, select gpt. Feb 08, 2020 so, you just bought an external hard drive or a portable ssd and wanted to use it on your mac. Format a usb drive as exfat for mac and windows compatibility. Sep 16, 2019 the data stored in the hard disk obviously overvalues the disk itself.
If your external hard drive is unallocated, you can rightclick the unallocated space, choose create partition. The best way to do it is with a drive formatted as fat32. In this post, lets talk about how to erase and format external hard drives on mac and windows. This thing is still unknown for many users but doesnt worry its not complex. Compare the different options for formatting an external hard drive to work with windows and mac. However, fat32 is a legacy file system designed for low capacity hard drives and it is not recommended for modern hard drives or operating systems. How to format an external hard drive on windows 10.
The best ways to format an external drive for windows and. This is the easiest way and simply requires you to plug in your usb drive, open the windows file explorer and right click your drive to view a number of actions that you can perform. This will format the drive as exfat format and your drive is now compatible with both platforms. However, you need to reformat external hard drive or internal ssdhdd if it was partitioned before. Its worth noting that reformatting a drive will erase everything stored on the drive, so make sure you transfer important files before you follow the. Its worth noting that reformatting a drive will erase everything stored on the drive, so make sure you transfer important files before you follow the below steps. How to format a hard drive on mac to work on mac and pc. Luckily, there are thirdparty tools to help you do so. 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. Next, under the partition layout column, specify the number of partitions you.
Reformatting a drive on windows is a pretty straightforward process. Under file system box, select exfat for this drive. How to format external hard drive to use on mac and pc. You will learn the easiest way to format drive on mac and windows as exfat. Click the file menu and select load file system from device. Many people think it is hard to format the windows drive on macintosh. You can format an external hard drive or thumb drive to work seamlessly with both mac and windows by using the exfat file system. I can find it under device manager and disk management but thats it. Connect the external drive or the usb drive to the mac. So, you just bought an external hard drive or a portable ssd and wanted to use it on your mac. The drive will now be formatted for use by windows systems. Follow these steps to initialize and format the hard drive. But somehow, macos doesnt allow you to write data to the drive. If youre lucky, you can just rightclick each partition on the mac drive and select delete volume to remove the partitions.
Use the wizard to create a partition with the ntfs or fat32 file system. Format wd elements for mac and pc have your drive for both. No matter what motivation you have, the question, how to reformat a hard drive, is much more important now. While most external hard drives are already designed to work for windows computers, there are times when you need to reformat one. Using your toshiba external hard drive to backup to. Format your external drive with exfat for both mac and. Format your western digital my passport external hard drive to fat32 or exfat format so to transfer the data between a mac and windows system conveniently.
A lot of people including you, storing important data on seagate external hard drive instead of on your pc mac hard drive. If the disk shows not initialized and the new simple volume grayed out, right click the disk and select initialize disk. Now enter the name for the external drive which will be used after formatting and also select exfat for format option and click on the erase. Mar 22, 2012 the best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac. 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. How to use toshiba external hard drive on mac solved. How to format an external hard drive on windows and mac. Open the start menu and search for disk management. No worry, actually it is not impossible to realize it no matter you use an external or internal drive of your windows system.
External hard drive compatible with mac and pc without. While you have bought this drive, you will find the drive already formatted for your mac or windows system. You can right click the unallocated space and select new simple volume. It will automatically locate the connected drive, and you can load it. How to share an external hard drive between mac and windows. Though this format has some limitations, it enjoys nearly universal support.
Use the exfat file system and never format your external. Thankfully, reformatting an external drive on a mac is a relatively straightforward process apple even ships macs with a builtin utility to do so. Formatting a disk or volume erases all the files on it. Quickly format an external hard drive for mac and windows pc. To use hfsexplorer, connect your macformatted drive to your windows pc and launch hfsexplorer. About how to format external hard drives for both macs and windows pcs, and what is the best format for using usb external drives on mac. If you have already written any data to the drive, back it up before proceeding to the next step. A quick format only deletes the organizational structure of the files on the drive, without removing the actual files. Formatted external hard drive without backup and want to recover the data.
However, you have to reformat the drive to make it functional with your mac computer. Reformatting an external hard drive for mac step 1. Use a software solution you get a piece of software that sits on your mac. How to format a windows disk drive for a mac i get this question a lot i have an external hard drive that is ntfs formatted windows format, and i want to reformat it for my mac hfs. Change the partition layout from current to 1 partition. How to format an external hard drive for mac and pc. Rightclick on the drive you want to format, click on format. But it is hard to pick the suitable format as it depends on your usage. Feb 21, 2012 looking to share an external hard drive between a mac and pc.
When you use a hard disk drive, time machine will take a while to back up your mac. The best format choice of external drive on mac using the external drive on mac is a good idea as it provides additional storage. 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. Then your western digital external hard drive is ready to use on your mac and on your windows pc.
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. How to convert a macformatted drive to a windows drive. You can use lacie setup assistant to format your lacie hard drive when it is first connected to a computer windows or mac. To save important data on the hard drive, please backup disk beforehand. Dec 05, 2019 rightclick on windows icon, select disk management. If a wireless network is available, you can choose it from the wi. Format external hard drive for mac reformat external hard. Lacie setup assistant helps you to quickly format the storage device according to your needs.
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