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. This site contains user submitted content, comments and opinions and is for informational purposes only. Now in this interface, you will see a format option. The best format for your external hard drive the hellotech blog. Click on the first aid button, or rightclick the external hard drive and choose first aid from the options. 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. You can use lacie setup assistant to format your lacie hard drive when it is first connected to a computer mac or windows. If the drive is not formatted, you may get a message saying that the drive. Click go on the top tool bar, and select utilities. In the format partition section, select the file system. This insures that you will have a compatible hard drive with. So, if you want to use an external hard drive on both windows and mac, you need to format it to a filesystem that is compatible with windows pc and mac. Select the external hard drive on the lefthand side.
Connect the external drive or the usb drive to the mac. Open the start menu and search for disk management. 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 fix a corrupted external hard drive on macmacbook. How to format an external hard drive for use with a mac.
This process wont actually convert the file system. But compared with formatting, an ntfs for mac driver like iboysoft ntfs for mac is a better and feasible solution. The operating system has an inbuilt tool, which is known as disk utility. Aug 30, 2019 select the external hard drive in the left hand sidebar and click on the erase tab. All is set, then you can go ahead to format the drive on your mac. This will format the drive as exfat format and your drive is now compatible with both platforms. 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. The best format choice of external drive on mac using the external drive on mac is a good idea as it provides additional storage. How to format an external drive to work with mac from ntfs to mac os extended.
You should create multiple partitions on your external hard drive, in order to have enhanced file organization. The following is based on the latest version of macos. Either way there is a solution to having an existing external hard drive for mac and pc. From what i understand, windows doesnt always like the way macs 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. Most external hard drives you buy will come out of the box pre formatted for a windows computer ntfs. Formatting a hard disk drive hdd in an external hard drive enclosure is done the same way like an internal drive. These steps can be used for both internal and external drives.
Click the apply button to set up the partitioned hard drive. Instructions for how to format your external drive so that it will be fully usable in macos. 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. You can now edit, read, and write files, as you wish.
By this way, you can easily format an external hard drive for mac and pc without losing any data. Hence, you must backup your important files before reformatting the drive if you want to save them. Make sure your external hard drive is attached and mounted to. If you see the messages telling you that the first aid failed, the external hard drive is too corrupted to be fixed by first aid. 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. 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. To format an external hard drive for mac with time machine, you must follow the steps below.
Open disk utility go to the applications folder and then to another folder, known as utilities. Choosing the right format for your external hard drive b. Formatting your drive will wipe out all the data in it. You may also set a direct connection to your computer. Connect the empty external hd to your mac and launch disk utility. How to format external hard drive to use on mac and pc. On the formatting window, select quick format option, choose file system format, and click start. Before starting the formatting hard drive in mac, you have to connect your mac system to external hard drive. This is not hard to do, and will take you only about a minutes effort. How to format external hard drives on a mac sweetwater. Change the partition layout from current to 1 partition. And it also wipes out all the bugs and harmful files that might harm your mac. Step 2 follow the steps above to format the drive, and then you can use it with time machine on your mac system.
Download disk formatting software for mac doyourdata. If you want to format your external hard drive to work with mac and windows computers, you should use exfat. Please see below on how to reformat your external hard drive on mac and windows. System prompts formatting removes all data and asks confirmation for the action. A drive can be formatted with exfat using either a windows or a mac computer. In the disk utility, select the external drive from the list on the left and then click the partition tab.
How to format seagate drive for mac and pc quickly and. First, lets see how to format an external hard drive or usb drive in macos which works with both mac and pc platforms, first plugin your drive in macos machine. Also you can enter a name for the drive under volume label. Quickly format an external hard drive for mac and windows pc.
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. Start the disk utility, located under applications utilities. Mac os x and windows can both read and write to disks in the fat or exfat format. 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. Feb 21, 2012 the drive should automatically mount on your mac s desktop if the finder preferences are set to show external drives. While drives are sold as plugandplay, formatting prior to use will give you optimal performance and. How to format or partition an external hard drive for mac. How to convert a macformatted drive to a windows drive.
Once you open the disk utility app, you can see all the drives on your mac are listed on the lefthand sidebar. Open the disk utility app and highlight your external hard drive. How to format an external hard drive for mac and windows. Instead, well just be wiping the drive and starting over from scratch. The best ways to format an external drive for windows and. After disk utility loads select the external hard drive this is the outdented entry with the mfgr. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac laptop mag.
Because mac os x mountain lion does not natively support writing to an external ntfs drive, you must erase your hard disk and format it using a compatible file system. 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. Heres how to format a drive if you are planning to use it with a mac. Aborted lacie setup assistant while it was formatting. Select the drive from the left sidebar, then click the partition tab. 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 22, 2019 how to format external hard drive mac.
How to format an external hard drive with pictures wikihow. Format an external hard drive or usb flash drive for mac os x. Feb 08, 2020 how to partition an external hard drive on mac. Transferring data from a mac to pc via an external hard drive. I hope you enjoyed my article on how to make an external hard drive compatible with mac and pc without reformatting. How to format a hard drive windows 10, 8, 7, vista, xp.
Moving files from macformatted external hard drive to pc. 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. Apr 14, 2020 by this way, you can easily format an external hard drive for mac and pc without losing any data. Formatting iomega external hard drive apple community. You can run it on your mac, and use it to format external hard drive or device on your mac. How to format an external hard drive on windows and mac. Step 1 open finder, applications, then go to utilities and disk utility.
To sum up, it is easy to format an external hard drive for both mac and windows pc. Under the volume scheme heading set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to one. The below steps for formatting external drive is for windows 10 and also. Apple may provide or recommend responses as a possible solution based on the information provided. Youve formatted your external drive to be compatible with mac os x, and have confirmed that the formatting process was successful.
Oct 22, 2018 formatting a hard disk drive hdd in an external hard drive enclosure is done the same way like an internal drive. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac. Please remember that all data will be deleted from the drive, so make sure you have made a backup. Just select the one you want to format and click on the erase tab. Apr 30, 2020 to format an external hard drive for mac with time machine, you must follow the steps below. Format external hard drive for mac with disk utility. First, back up the data on the macformatted drive if you have anything important on it. 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.
Compare the different options for formatting an external hard drive to work with windows and mac. Before a hard drive can read or write data, it must first be formatted, or erased and reconfigured. Reformatting a hard drive is often done just to erase all of its contents. 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. The easiest way is to drag it from one drive to another. Reformatting the drive will erase all data on the drive, so you should copy any data you want off the drive prior to formatting. Lacie setup assistant helps you to quickly format the storage device according to your needs. Sep 26, 2018 need to format an external hard drive for mac and windows. How to share an external drive between a mac and a pc. Highlight your drive and click partition in disk utility. How to share an external hard drive between mac and windows. If you have a mac lying around, you can plug the drive into a mac and back up the files. Just like windows, macos also gives us a seamless option to format hard drive for mac and pc. How to format an external hard drive the easy way in 2020.
Use disk utility to erase format a hard disk, ssd, flash drive, or other. The quickest way to do this is a simple spotlight search. Find the name of the drive in the left side of the utilities window and select it. But it is hard to pick the suitable format as it depends on your usage. When formatting a hard drive with disk utility, make sure to. Simply connect the external drive via thunderbolt, usb, firewire or esata to your computer, turn on the power and then use the native disk utility of the operating system or a 3rd party program. To format a drive on a mac, youll need the builtin disk utility application. I know mac operating system doesnt fully supports ntfs formatted drive. Jan 23, 2020 i hope you enjoyed my article on how to make an external hard drive compatible with mac and pc without reformatting. On mac computers, use the finder app to browse and manage files on your computer and external hard drives. May 01, 2020 how to erase a disk for mac use disk utility to erase format a hard disk, ssd, flash drive, or other storage device. If you want to create multiple partitions on your external hard drive in fact, you should for better file organization, heres a stepbystep guide. The drive should automatically mount on your macs desktop if the finder preferences are set to show external drives. Need to format an external hard drive for mac and windows.
Give your drive a name and select the file system you want from the format dropdown. Dec, 2019 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. 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 external hard drives for mac and windows. Because mac os x mountain lion does not natively support writing to an external ntfs drive, you must erase your hard disk and format it. 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. Whether you go the software or hardware route depends on your situation. Apr 14, 2020 select the external hard drive at the left side. I have purchased a 1tb portable external seagate hard drive and i would like to use it with both my mac and windows computer. Macclean360 is one of the best disk cleaning and management software for mac os. How to format an external hard drive for mac and pc.
If you have a mac you should format the drive for your mac first thing, before you start using it. Select the external hard drive in the left hand sidebar and click on the erase tab. Formatting an external hard drive would erase everything on it. External hard drive compatible with mac and pc without. This is a simple procedure and is achieved the same way for all drive types and through. How to format or partition an external hard drive on mac. Again, formatting a drive will erase it completely, so make sure you have everything backed up that you want to keep. If it does not you will need to rightclick and delete the volume first.
Bonus tip data recovery from formatted hard drive on mac. Well show you everything you need to know about the. It is the fastest way to format an external hard drivedevice under mac os. Select the number of sections or partitions you want to set up on the hard drive and type a name for each partition. Simply connect the external drive via thunderbolt, usb, firewire or esata to your computer, turn on the power and then use the native disk. Then, you can share external hard drive between mac and pc. How to format wd external drive for mac apple community. How to format an external drive for mac compatibility. However, if you want to convert ntfs to exfat to make external hard drive compatible with mac and pc, 3 steps are required. So, it is better that you know your options and understand which format is right for you. Using it, you can erase a hard drive, create new partitions, and even repair your disk as well. Format your external drive with exfat for both mac and. Before using an external hard drive on a mac, you should format it using disk utility. How to format usb drive or external hard drive on mac.