Follow the steps to format your toshiba hard drive for mac step 1 connect your toshiba hard drive to your mac using a compatible medium and make sure the connection remains uninterrupted. These steps can be used for both internal and external drives. Drive speed is measured in revolutions per minute rpm, based on how fast the drive can spin. Switch on your mac system and connect the wd my password 1 tb drive to the system using a cable make sure you have given permission for external devices to be recognized on your system. How to format an external drive for mac compatibility. 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. If the drive wont eject, turning off the computer has always worked for me. How to format external hard drives for mac and windows. Reformatting the drive will erase all data on the drive, so you should copy any data you want off the drive prior to formatting. When i opened disk utility to try to reformat it, it shows up as read only so i cant make any changes. Your disk utility program lives within a folder called utilities. But in order for the computer and drive to talk to one another, the drive has to be formatted. I just got my 2tb drive and also got a mac so thanks for posting, this will help me too when i get off work. How to format seagate drive for mac and pc quickly and.
Here are two ways offered and you can choose on based on your own situation. How to format wd external drive for mac apple community. For apple mac users, the easier way to format usb flash drive to fat32 is using the disk utility. Apr 20, 2020 cannot format 2tb hard drive to fat32 in windows i have a 2tb external hard drive that i need to use at home with my windows 7 pc and at school where i use a mac.
Be sure to doublecheck this you could accidentally wipe the wrong drive if you select the wrong disk here. Find low everyday prices and buy online for delivery or instore pickup. Since formatting an external hard drive will erase all of its files if you wish to save them you must back them up copy. Jan 15, 2019 formatting usb flash drives and external hard drive to work on smart tv using your mac. This wikihow teaches you how to format a seagate hard drive on a mac computer. So, we suggest that its better to use a pc to partition an external hard drive for macos and windows. You can choose whatever name you want, and you should choose guid partition map for the. Open the disk utility app and highlight your external hard drive.
If you want to create multiple partitions on your external hard drive in fact, you should for better file organization, heres a stepbystep guide. Proceed with the following instructions to know how to format the wd my passport ultra 1tb setup drive on the mac computer. 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. Formatting actually reformatting a solid state drive ssd is a quick and simple process to restore the drive to a clean state, similar to when the drive was new. I know ntfs is for windows only and fat32 works on both windows and mac. For instructions on how to format your hard drive on a mac, please reference the following links. This reduced power draw helps preserve the battery life of the mac you plug the drive into.
If the drive is called no name, directly above that, you should see the drive capacity of xxxx. Establish a connection between the western digital my passport ultra 1tb and the mac computer. How to format a hard drive windows 10, 8, 7, vista, xp. Click go on the top tool bar, and select utilities. Jan 15, 2019 its exactly the same procedure if you need to reformat a flash drive on a mac. This site contains user submitted content, comments and opinions and is for informational purposes only. Select the capacity of the drive respective to the one containing the device you wish to format then click the erase tab. Apple may provide or recommend responses as a possible solution based on the information provided. 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.
If you have a mac lying around, you can plug the drive into a mac and back up the files. If yes, then the wd icon will be available in the menu bar. How to format 2tb or 1tb hard drive to fat32 successfully. The maximum individual file size for exfat is 16 eb. If it does not you will need to rightclick and delete the volume first. I just bought a wd elements 1tb external drive, and would like to use it with time machine. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac laptop mag.
Compare the different options for formatting an external hard drive to work with windows and mac. How to format or partition an external hard drive for mac. The next step of the setup procedure is to doubleclick on the. However, i have been unable to format 2tb hard drive to fat32. Select the drive you want to format and click erase button. Best external hard drives for macs in 2020 techradar.
I formatted it with msdos fat or whatever its called, it was the only. How to format wd external drive for mac more less apple footer this site contains user submitted content, comments and opinions and is for informational purposes only. Highlight your drive and click partition in disk utility. Wd my passport ultra 1tb setup and troubleshooting guide. How to convert a macformatted drive to a windows drive. Or clear off everything off the drive you can do that on your mac. For most reasons to erase, including when reformatting a disk or selling, giving away, or trading in your mac, you should erase your entire disk. Format an external hard drive or usb flash drive for mac os x. Step 6 once formatting completes, you can then use your drive in mac as a usual hard drive. Some people are asking for a way to format a hard drive for mac.
Before formatting any hard drive, its a good idea to backup any data or files you want to save before formatting. How to format 2tb or 1tb hard drive to fat32 successfully in. Aug 25, 2016 how to format a hard drive for a mac tech talk america. A hard drive can be used on any type of computer pc or mac. Connect the usb fash drive to the mac os x computer. I formatted it with msdos fat or whatever its called, it was the only fatlike option it gave me from disk utility, in mountain lion. Apr 21, 2020 then, connect the seagate drive to your pc and make sure that it can be detected by windows. Oct 09, 2019 this wikihow teaches you how to format a seagate hard drive on a mac computer.
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. On the left side of the window are the drives connected to the computer. Wd my passport for mac portable external hard drive. How to format an external hard drive for mac and pc. Wd 2tb my passport for mac portable external hard drive blue, usbcusba wdba2d0020bblwesn. However, when i connect it to my macbook pro, it says the disk you inserted was not readable by this computer and time machine doesnt recognize it. Heres how to format a drive if you are planning to use it with a mac. Feb 08, 2020 how to partition an external hard drive on mac. Seagate backup plus slim 1tb external hard drive portable hdd black usb 3. Here are the steps to partition an external hard drive for mac and windows pc, which is a little tricky. Instructions for how to format your external drive so that it will be fully usable in macos. Desktop external hard drives usually run at 7200 rpm to offer all the speed they can. For example, here wed type select disk 2 finally, type clean and press enter.
Use disk utility to erase format a hard disk, ssd, flash drive, or other storage device. I do stress, i buy the right format passport drive for my mac or pc. If you are looking to sell or donate your old drive, you will want to not only reformat your drive, but also erase all the data in a separate action. The following is based on the latest version of macos. How to format your hard drive seagate support canada. 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. 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. That said, if you are using smaller file sizes fat32 can suffice. Format external drive for backup of ps4 data, from a mac. How to format a usb flash drive on windows 10 windows. After realizing that you can reformat wd hard drive to fat32 or exfat to make it compatible with mac os x and still can be used under windows, it is time to check out how to reformat wd hard drive for mac and pc in windows successfully.
Dec 27, 2019 the external drive should be automatically detected and will prompt you to format the drive or keep it as a device used to store only photos, video and music. Formatting would erase data completely, make sure that you have a data backup. 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. Instead, well just be wiping the drive and starting over from scratch. How to format a hard drive using the command prompt toms. For what its worth, i did mine with a 1tb drive, connected via a sata cradle.
Open disk management, the hard drive manager included with all versions of windows. How to format wd elements 1tb for time ma apple community. How to format usb flash drive to fat32 in mac os x admfactory. Before using an external hard drive on a mac, you should format it using disk utility. Exfat formatting is a file system that both your mac and a windows pc can see and read and write to. The best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac. In this video we look at the process of formatting a hard drive, flash drive, or ssd on an apple computer. First, back up the data on the macformatted drive if you have anything important on it. And youll detailed tutorial on how to format seagate drive for mac and windows computer in the following text. Plug and play, easy to use, no software required, just connect the usb cable to your computer and start sending files. 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.
Formatting the drive will permanently erase all the data and files stored on the hard drive forever. This insures that you will have a compatible hard drive with. This process wont actually convert the file system. How to format usb flash drive to fat32 in mac os x. Heres how to format a dr ive using a mac including how to format a dr ive for windows and mac so the contents can be read on both platforms, and what format to use for time machine. 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 erase a disk for mac use disk utility to erase format a hard disk, ssd, flash drive, or other storage device. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac. Step 2 now, go to the applications folder on your mac, and launch the disk utility from the utilities folder. After your mac computer detects the wd my passport ultra 1tb hard drive, mount it on the computer. At the volume format select mac os journaledextended if you confirm to format your hard disk, click on erase button. Seagate expansion 1tb portable external hard drive usb 3. How to format external hard drives on a mac sweetwater.
How to format a hard drive to work on mac and pc duration. Oct 25, 2019 format samsung t5 for mac and windows. You can format a drive using the disk utility in mac. Apr 16, 2020 step 5 thereafter, click on the erase button and let the system erase everything on the drive and reformat wd elements for mac by exfat or fat32 format. Go to applications utilities double click and open disk utility. 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. This is a simple procedure and is achieved the same way for all drive types and through. To format a usb flash drive to fat32 in mac os x follow these steps. Erase and reformat a storage device in disk utility on mac. Select the external hard disk that at the left column i. How to format seagate drive for mac and pc quickly and securely. If the drive is called no name, directly above that, you should see. But, if for some reason you want to reformat your samsung t5.
A lot of people including you, storing important data on seagate external hard drive instead of on your pcmac hard drive. How to format a hard drive using the command prompt tom. This command erases the entire selected disk, including all its files and partitions whether. Usually, you can use windows builtin tools like diskpart to format seagate drive. The best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac compare the different options for formatting an external hard drive to work with windows and mac. For some mac models, the partition option would be greyed out in disk utility.
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