Next, open a command prompt window as administrator. Create a bootable usb drive for ubuntu using mac or windows how to. 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. Some people are asking for a way to format a h ard drive for mac. Copy a data disk uing one optical drive using disk utility on os x how to. Why need to format external hard drive for mac and pc. Before continuing, make sure that you have a backup of any files that you want to keep. Feb 27, 2018 before using an external hard drive on a mac, you should format it using disk utility. How to format a h ard drive in windows follow these easy steps to format a h ard drive in windows 10, windows 8, windows 7, windows vista, or windows xp. For instructions on how to format your hard drive on a mac, please reference the following links. Formatting a drive will erase all data and partitions on the disk.
This post will teach you how to format your mac s hard disk and fix common errors. When the driver is installed, you format your ntfs disks with disk utility where you select windows nt filesystem as the format. How to format external hard drive for pc, mac and linux. 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. Gebruik schijfhulpprogramma om een harde schijf, ssd, usbstick of ander opslagapparaat te wissen formatteren. How to format a h ard drive on mac to work on mac and pc. How to format an external hard drive for mac and windows. Apr 14, 2020 why need to format external hard drive for mac and pc. Using it, you can erase a hard drive, create new partitions, and even repair your disk as well. During the formatting process, it will format the mac hard drive partition first, then overwrite the disk space with blank data. The best format for your external hard drive the hellotech blog.
External hard drive is popular storage device and it can be used to store all kinds of digital information such as images, documents, apps, emails, etc. 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. Before using an external hard drive on a mac, you should format it using disk utility. Years ago, i used to format my hard disks casesensitive option format. This tool can help in formatting hard drive, usb flash drive, memory card and other storage media under windows or mac os. Format usb or external hard drive for mac using mac disk utility format usb or external hard drive for mac on windows pc using thirdparty usb format tool. Now, you can follow these two solutions to format any hard drive, flash drive, usb drive, ssd or any other external storage drive so as to make them work on your mac now.
Mar 10, 2020 how to format hard drive and fix disk format errors on your mac errors can damage your hard disk and prevent it from functioning properly. Formatting an external hard drive would erase everything on it. Feb 03, 2020 use disk utility to erase format a hard disk, ssd, flash drive, or other storage device. It will erase all the data stored in it, making it empty in one go. How to use disk utility to format a hard drive on a mac.
First, note the number of the disk in the disk management window. How to format an external drive for mac compatibility. In fact, it is the operating system itself that allows you to format the entire hard disk, except for the system partition. 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. How to format hard drive and fix disk format errors on your mac errors can damage your hard disk and prevent it from functioning properly. Click the erase tab, choose a volume format from the dropdown menu and then type a name for the drive. Format external hard drive for mac with disk utility. Its a goto shop thatll enable you to check, repair, tweak and backup your hard drives.
Its easy to use only if you know the right way to do it. How to format a hard drive on mac to work on mac and pc. Hence, you must backup your important files before reformatting the drive if you want to save them. How to format external hard drives on a mac sweetwater. Highlight your drive and click partition in disk utility. This insures that you will have a compatible hard drive with.
This process erases everything on the disk, including its files and all its partitions. If you want to format a hard drive or usb flash drive on your computer, disk formatting tool is the best choice. This is a great thing to do when you first purchase a drive or when you are looking to. 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. While the bios detects the hard drive and allows you to boot the operating system from it, it doesnt let you format the disk. You can do that by typing disk format or disk management in windows search or going to control panel administrative tools create and format hard disk partitions. How to format transcend hard drive for mac and windows. Compare the different options for formatting an external hard drive to work with windows and mac.
But before you can do anything, you need to make it clear that the hard. How to format a drive with the apfs file system on macos. Here ill show you how you can erase and format a disk using the comma. How to format transcend hard drive for mac and pc in windows. This may be apfs, or it may be mac os extended journaled depending on how the drive is currently formatted and whether you using macos.
Download disk formatting software for mac doyourdata. 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. How to format a startup drive for a mac if you want to format a drive that will be used as your mac s startup disk, the procedure is a little different from formatting it for use as a secondary. How to format external hard drive mac 2 simple methods. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac. Verify that the correct hard drive is selected in the left column. Here ill show you how you can erase and format a disk. Launch disk utility and then click to select the external hard drive listed on the left. For example, in the screenshot below, the macformatted drive is disk 2. Format external hard drive or usb drive for mac easeus. I havent tried this one, but it should also do the job.
If your mac is using apfs, select apfs from the format list. Therefore, before you format mac pc drive, make sure that you have taken a backup of your important data. Its usually at the bottomleft corner of the screen. Now, even if it is impossible to format hard drive from bios, you shouldnt despair. The operating system has an inbuilt tool, which is known as disk utility. 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. Fat 32 is the most compatible disk format which is why its the most widely used on usb thumb drives its compatible with both mac and windows. Luckily, there are thirdparty tools to help you do so. How to format usb flash on mac or how to format hard disk on mac with best usb drive formatting software download for mac or hp usb disk storage format tool mac edition download and free hard disk format tool mac to format usb flash drive fat32 on mac os or to create bootable usb or format usb in mac. Now that you know which format to use, check out our guide on how to format your hard drive on. How to convert a macformatted drive to a windows drive. How to reformat mac os x without a recovery disc or drive. Although the erasure process is a bit difficult, the tool to format the hard drives is builtinto the macos. To format as a mac disk, choose either apfs or mac os extended journaled.
Erasing a disk or volume permanently deletes all of its files. Open the disk management by typing disk management in. 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. In this video we look at the process of formatting a hard drive, flash drive, or ssd on an apple computer. This article shows you how to format an external hard drive via different methods, and you can follow these methods to format external hard drive for pc, mac or linux. How to format hard drive and fix disk format errors on mac. Both fat32 and exfat can be used on windows pc and mac. Also, its useful for removable disks like microsd cards or usb flash drives. Once it is done, you can do hard disk format for mac and pc to enjoy the following advantages. Disk utility will automatically choose the format for you. Just launch the disk utility, rightclick or controlclick the drive containing your apfs partition, and select erase. Open disk management, the hard drive manager included with all versions of windows.
The disk utility application is located in the utilities subfolder. For example, in the screenshot below, the mac formatted drive is disk 2. Erase and reformat a storage device in disk utility on 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. Download paragon partition manager free if you have not already, then install the software. Open the disk utility app and highlight your external hard drive.
This is a simple procedure and is achieved the same way for all drive types and through. Open finder and choose applications utilities disk utility to launch the app on your mac. After you connect an external drive to your mac, open the applications folder from the finder window. Convert casesensitive formatted hard disk without re. 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.
Quickly format an external hard drive for mac and windows pc. You might already know the consequences of formatting a hard drive. Here are two outstanding mac hard drive format software tools you can rely on. While the program loads, it will scan the disks attached to the system and present a list. 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. Disk utility the best free mac format and erase tool that is provided by apple inc.
In this article, we will introduce some mac disk formatting software tools to help mac users easily and securely format hard drive, usb flash drive, memory card or other device under mac os. With exfat, you can store files of any size, and use it with any computer made in the last 20 years. You can format the drive from either the mac or the windows machine. 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. Bonus tip data recovery from formatted hard drive on mac. Enter a name for the file to be destroyed like macintosh hd or something. Click on erase from the buttons at the top of the disk utility window.
How to format external hard drive mac 2 simple methods revealed. Format an external hard drive or usb flash drive for mac os x. Hard drive format software for mac mac disk format software. When you use a hard disk drive, time machine will take a while to back up your mac. According to some users, transcend hard drive cannot be detected in mac sometimes. How to format external ssd for mac time machine mashtips. Mac os x installation basics sata drive seagate support us.
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. Just like windows, macos also gives us a seamless option to format hard drive for mac and pc. Feb 08, 2020 how to partition an external hard drive on mac. 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. This is a simple procedure and is achieved the same way for all drive types and through all connections, be they usb, firewire, or thunderbolt. This hard disk formatting software can help you formatwipe your entire hard drive in a single step. How to erase a disk for mac partition a physical disk in disk utility on mac file system formats available in disk utility on mac format a disk for windows computers in disk utility on mac encrypt and protect a storage device with a password in disk utility on mac. This wikihow teaches you how to format your computers builtin hard drive. Jun 02, 2017 in this video we look at the process of formatting a hard drive, flash drive, or ssd on an apple computer. Besides, aomei partition assistant also enables you to make bootable media, create partition, and many more.
Now you will need to select the disk you wish to format. The easiest way is to drag it from one drive to another. The mac os x extended volume format is optimal for macs. Mac data eraser doyourdata super eraser for mac can easily format mac hard drive partition and erase all data permanently on the hard drive partition. Heres how to format a drive if you are planning to use it with a mac. How to format a hard drive windows 10, 8, 7, vista, xp. Proceed based on whether youre erasing your startup disk or some other disk. How to format or partition an external hard drive for mac.
Hello folks, have you heard of disk utility well, as the name implies, its your solution for pretty much any driverelated issue. This is an article for mac, it is erasing a hard drive from a mac command line, it is not a windows tutorial. Even though most people associate formatting with system installation, there are many other reasons why you might want to format your hard drive. Mar 29, 2019 how to format a hard drive on mac to work on mac and pc. You can select the exfat format when using the disk. Before beginning the formatting approach for your mac, let me tell you that the drive is able to read wiki data only when it is formatted to wbfs with a usb loader. If you want to format your external hard drive to work with mac and windows computers, you should use exfat. The best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac. Sep 26, 2018 windows pc and mac use different filesystems. You can format your hard drive on both windows and mac.
Aug 22, 2019 just like windows, macos also gives us a seamless option to format hard drive for mac and pc. How to install macos or os x on a new hard drive for your mac. Super eraser for mac best mac disk format software. To format external hard drive for mac with time machine, you must follow the steps below. Mar 22, 2012 the best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac laptop mag. 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. As the default file system in windows, it can only read by mac os, writing to it is not available. To do that, the only thing you need is a bit of precise syntax to make sure that you are erasing the proper disk. This wikihow teaches you how to restore your windows or macos computers hard drive to its original factory settings.
Oct 25, 2018 how to format transcend hard drive for mac and pc in windows. Both mac os x and windows allow users to format their hard drives using builtin utilities. If you are trying to format mac external hard drive, you can go over the process step by step. Most users use disk utility to erase a disk or hard drive. Use disk utility to erase format a hard disk, ssd, flash drive, or other storage device. If youre erasing your startup disk, you might be prompted to enter your apple id. Once disk utility is open youll see the list of available drives on the left. Apr 17, 2020 to format external hard drive for mac with time machine, you must follow the steps below. You can format an external hard drive or thumb drive to work seamlessly with both mac and windows by using the exfat file system. To format transcend hard drive for mac and pc, you can choose either exfat or fat32 depending on your requirement for the drive. If you are wondering how to wipe a hard drive or format disk terminal mac you are just at the right place. Since formatting an external hard drive will erase all of its files if you wish to save them you must back them up copy.
But some mac users might need to erase them from the command line on mac os. This insures that you will have a compatible hard drive with your computer. To learn how to format in mac your hard drive, follow these steps. This post will teach you how to format your macs hard disk and fix common errors. Add virtual cd and dvd drives to your pc with alcohol. To erase this partition, well have to wipe the entire disk.