Smaller external hard drives, ssds, and usb flash keys format quickly, while a larger hard drive may take a while longer. Understanding hard drive partitioning with disk management. You can, however, format a windows hard drive from a mac if you connect the windows hard drive to the mac and format it through disk utility, or the command line as described above. To format external hard drive for mac with time machine, you must follow the steps below. Hard drive format software for mac mac disk format software. Formatting a hard drive or ssd is the same as buying a new hard drive since the process erases all the data in one fell swoop. Run mac os x on an appletv with an external hard drive how to. How to reinstall macos from macos recovery apple support. How to format a startup drive for a mac if you want to format a drive that will be used as your macs startup disk, the procedure is a little different from formatting it for use as a secondary.
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. Compare the different options for formatting an external hard drive to work with windows and mac. Verify that the correct hard drive is selected in the left column. If you are having a hard time using the command line, try the disk utility app, which is simpler and uses the gui. Jun 30, 2018 you will learn how to format the external hard disk which has deafult ntfs format, to make it compatible with mac os. Format external hard disk drive for mac os and windows. Apple file system format or the older mac os extended format, and it automatically chooses a compatible format for you. If you selected the drive name instead of its description you wont see the scheme. Select your macs hard drive in the lefthand column, to reveal more options, then select the partition button. Use the security options to format a previously used hard drive. This is an article for mac, it is erasing a hard drive from a mac command line, it is not a windows tutorial. The best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac.
Fortunately, there are some mac hard drive format software or smart disk formatting applications can help you securely and easily format, reformat, or erase hard drive under mac os. Disk utility shows the recommended mac format by default. Once you enter in the command, youll get a list of your connected external hard disks to your mac. 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 do i install and format new hard drive in mid2012 macbook pro. External hard drives use either spinning disks or solid memory to save your files. You cannot format the whole hard drivedoing so would erase your operating systembut you can format a portion of the hard drive after creating a partition. How to format external hard drives on a mac sweetwater. Quickly format an external hard drive for mac and windows pc. By default, they format disks with the mac only os x extended file system.
How to format drive with compatible file system for mac and. Once you open the disk utility app, you can see all the. Whether youre selling your computer, trying a new operating system, or setting up an external drive for backups, sometimes you need to completely erase and format a hard drive. How to format a hard drive windows 10, 8, 7, vista, xp. Jan 02, 2016 formatting a drive on your mac is quite easy. When done, quit disk utility to return to the utilities window. This drive will only be used for audio and i was told to format the drive in mac os extended with journaling disabled and a single partition. Blank new hard drive cant install os apple community.
If a wireless network is available, you can choose it from the wi. How to format external hard drive mac 2 simple methods. To put it simply, if you want to share external hard drive between mac and pc, you need to format an external hard drive for mac and pc. Follow the instructions that appear on screen, license agreements and all, and choose the hard drive to use in. Mac can read all the file system formats including windows msdos, fat, fat32.
Once disk utility is open youll see the list of available drives on the left. Wait as the os x utilities window appears on the screen. Quit out of the disk utility app, and this time choose reinstall os x and continue. You will learn how to format the external hard disk which has deafult ntfs format, to make it compatible with mac os. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac.
How to format external ssd for mac time machine mashtips. As complicated as that might sound, its not really difficult to format a hard drive in any version of windows. The videos below demonstrate the complete process of formatting an external hard drive for full mac os x compatibility, this uses the. Even though most people associate formatting with system installation, there are many other reasons why you might want to format your hard drive. If you have more than one partition, on the hard drive, you may wish to remove these and return the hard drive to a single partition, first. The operating system has an inbuilt tool, which is known as disk utility. Instructions for how to format your external drive so that it will be fully usable in macos.
Thus, when you are planning to use the same hard drive on any other os, particularly macos, it is always suggested to format your hard drive for mac. A hard drive when being used on a particular os contains the drivers and dictionaries of that os, and it also runs the file system best suited for the same os. Enter a name for the disk or volume, such as macintosh hd. 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. Apr 14, 2020 why need to format external hard drive for mac and pc. This wikihow teaches you how to format your computers builtin hard drive. Bonus tip data recovery from formatted hard drive on mac. Feb 08, 2020 how to partition an external hard drive on mac. Both mac os x and windows allow users to format their hard drives using builtin utilities. When the formatting has completed quit du and return to the installer. You can format an external drive in os x using disk utility and terminal. In the main interface, right click the partition on that need. If you want to format a hard drive or usb flash drive on your computer, disk formatting tool is the best choice. Apr 18, 2019 heres how to wipe the data off a hard drive, ssd, or external drive in windows 10 and macos.
Some people are asking for a way to format a hard drive for mac. If you want to use a different file system on your usb drive, youll need to format it. Three solutions to format a hard drive under macos 10. Format an external hard drive or usb flash drive for mac os x. The 4 disk formatting software for mac above can help you easily format hard drive, usb flash drive, memory card, and other storage media under mac os. Aug 22, 2019 just like windows, macos also gives us a seamless option to format hard drive for mac and pc. When the driver is installed, you format your ntfs disks with disk utility where you select windows nt filesystem as the format.
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. Erase mac hard drive when you erase a hard drive, you basically format ntfs on mac and change the format to a compatible one like afps or mac os x extended journaled. Choose either apfs or mac os extended journaled to format as a mac volume. Open the disk utility app and highlight your external hard drive. How to format drive with compatible file system for mac.
Dec 22, 2019 how to format external hard drive mac. You can, however, format a windows hard drive from a mac if you connect the windows hard drive to the mac and format it through disk utility, or. Apr 17, 2020 to format external hard drive for mac with time machine, you must follow the steps below. How to format a hard drive using the command prompt tom. You can repurpose any hard drive to work with your mac. Heres how to format a drive if you are planning to use it with a mac. Fortunately, there are also several ways to do it, ranging from internet recovery to installation discs. Jun 02, 2017 in this video we look at the process of formatting a hard drive, flash drive, or ssd on an apple computer. Now im not too sure how to set this new hard drive up as in putting an os on it and formatting it correctly im not concerned with getting any of my old data back on it, i just want to set it up as a new macbook. Make sure to select the parent hard disk in the sidebar. While you have bought this drive, you will find the drive already formatted for your mac or windows system.
On mac computers, use the finder app to browse and manage files on your computer and external hard drives. But, if you plan on using an external drive with both macs and pcs, you should format the disk with the exfat file system instead. If you are trying to format mac external hard drive, you can go over the process step by step. In this article, we will introduce 5 disk formatting tools for windows and mac to help you securely format hard driveusb flash drive or memory card on a pc or a mac. Dec 29, 2015 follow these instructions if you plan to share an external hard drive between pc and mac computers. Jul 05, 2017 macs support a variety of file systems. Again, formatting a drive will erase it completely, so make sure. Sep 06, 2019 choose a new name for your macs hard drive.
However, when you format your hard drive with super eraser for mac, all your data will be permanently lost. Here are two outstanding mac hard drive format software tools you can rely on. How to format a hard drive in mac os x connecting external hard drives. So please back up your important files before you run super eraser for mac to format. Heres how to wipe the data off a hard drive, ssd, or external drive in windows 10 and macos. Highlight your drive and click partition in disk utility. Open finder and choose applications utilities disk utility to launch. These steps can be used for both internal and external drives. Heres how to format a drive using a mac including how to format a drive for windows and mac so the contents can be read on both platforms, and what format to use for time machine. When you use a hard disk drive, time machine will take a while to back up your mac. How to format or partition an external hard drive for mac. Set the format to mac os extended journaled and the scheme to guid partition map. If you have known how to format a hard drive under macos 10.
When you format your hard drive, you can clean internal as well as. However, if you want to use part of the drive for os xs time machine backups, you should do this from the mac, since theres an extra step to make the drive compatible for time machine. Why need to format external hard drive for mac and pc. To learn how to format in mac your hard drive, follow these steps. Open the disk utility and select the external drive. How to reformat mac os x without a recovery disc or drive. I will offer three simple solutions to help mac users to forma hard drive under macos 10. Click the erase button or tab, then complete these fields. In this video we look at the process of formatting a hard drive, flash drive, or ssd on an apple computer. How to format external hard drive mac 2 simple methods revealed. 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. Buying an external hard drive is one of the best options for adding the storage space to the mac computer system. The hard drive was formatted as a boot drive before i installed it.
Mac os x installation basics sata drive seagate support us. Aug 30, 2016 this is an article for mac, it is erasing a hard drive from a mac command line, it is not a windows tutorial. Learn how to use macos recovery to reinstall the mac operating system on your builtin drive or an external drive. To format external drive to file system compatible with mac and pc, connect the drive to your computer and follow the detailed steps given below take formatting hard drive to exfat in windows 7 for example. Make your mac feel like new again with a fresh install of os x.
The macbook and macbook pros come with an ssd to store data and an os. There are several reasons you might need to install a new copy of macos or os x on the hard drive in your mac or macbook. Using it, you can erase a hard drive, create new partitions, and even repair your disk as well. Download disk formatting software for mac doyourdata.
May 29, 2018 to format external drive to file system compatible with mac and pc, connect the drive to your computer and follow the detailed steps given below take formatting hard drive to exfat in windows 7 for example. In the screenshot below, the drive is formatted with the exfat file system. Jan 15, 2020 learn how to use macos recovery to reinstall the mac operating system on your builtin drive or an external drive. How to install macos or os x on a new hard drive for your mac.
Create a bootable install usb drive of mac os x 10. But before you can do anything, you need to make it clear that the hard. How to wipe a hard drive in windows 10 and macos techradar. I havent tried this one, but it should also do the job. Use disk utility to erase format a hard disk, ssd, flash drive, or other storage device. To format a hard drive means to erase any information on the drive and to set up a file system so your operating system can read data from, and write data to, the drive. Mar 22, 2012 the best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac. Just like windows, macos also gives us a seamless option to format hard drive for mac and pc.
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