How to format an external hard drive with pictures wikihow. They wanted to hook up an external hard drive, so that they could transfer files and free up disk space. This hard disk was setup and formatted by friend under windows xp ntfs partition. If you want yours to seamlessly work with both macs and pcs, your external drive needs to use a filesystem that is supported by both platforms. And there you have it one read and writable disk ready for osx. How to format an external hard drive for mac and windows. How to select a different startup disk apple support. Most external hard drives are designed to work for windows computers. If you want to create multiple partitions on your external hard drive in fact, you should for better file organization, heres a stepbystep guide. Some mac users may require the ability to erase a disk or erase a hard drive from the command line on mac os. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac. Find it quickly with spotlight, click on magnifying glass and start typing disk utility.
You can apply the thirdparty solution to format fat32 in windows 10 even when there is no fat32 option in. Formatting can be done with the mac os x disk utility, found in the applicationsutilities folder. Even though most people associate formatting with system installation, there are many other reasons why you might want to format your hard drive. Mar, 2020 follow the windows 10 fat32 format tutorial to format hdd to fat32 or format external hard drive to fat32 in windows 10. How to format external hard drives on macs running os.
In this post, youll learn how to format an external drive to a mac compatible. Formatting a hard drive can change the file system to make it compatible with your computers. Master boot record is appropriate for external drives used with a pc or boot. The problem i have is how to install ubuntu in a very tricky environment. Connect your external hard drive to your windows 10 pc. Need to replace a hard drive in a macbook ask different. Nov 29, 2016 people using windows 87 can format external hard drive to fat 32 with disk management, or using diskpart to format usb and any other external hard drive.
For instructions on how to format your hard drive on a mac, please reference the following links. 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. In disk utility on your mac, you can format an external disk for a windows computer. The volume representing your startup disk is macintosh hd, unless. Apr 14, 2020 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. I have an external new hard drive connected using usb port under red hat fedora core linux. Disk management and a thirdparty format external hard drive software. In the disk management, youll see your external hard drive as partition or. Buy toshiba hdtb440xk3ca canvio basics 4tb portable external hard drive usb 3. Sadan formaterer du en harddisk internekstern pa en mac. Both mac os x and windows allow users to format their hard drives using builtin utilities. The problem is that by default windows uses nfts, and macs use hfs. Jan 02, 2016 formatting a drive on your mac is quite easy.
All external usb disks can be formatted to work on mac osx, but not always straight out of the box. But unfortunately it bit the dust and i decided to get a pc. While drives are sold as plugandplay, formatting prior to use will give you optimal performance and compatibility with your mac. It doesnt matter how the drive is formatted out of the box, since you can reformat any way you like. 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. All options, including format, is greyed out except to delete volume.
Usually, when you want to connect an external hard drive to your computer, you just plug it in and thats it. Your backup plus desktop is formatted as ntfs for compatibility with windows out of the box. This mac propriety file system and is used in ios and mac. Step 1 connect the external hard drive you want to format to your mac, then start the disk utility app that you can find under applications utilities. If you have an external drive you only use with windows computers, you may wonder how to format an external hard drive to ntfs effortlessly.
How to format external hard drive mac 2 simple methods. Make sure that the sidebar in disk utility shows the name of your startup disk. In the sidebar, select the disk you want to format to use with. With highly interactive graphical user interfaces, this mac formatting software is very useful for all mac users, who face difficulty in formatting volumes with disk utility. Any external hard drive will work with pcs or macs, as long as the connectors are there firewire, usb, etc. This will work in all modern versions of apple mac osx including 10. Step 2 on the left side of the utilities screen, find the name of the external hard drive you want to format and select it. Heres how to format a drive using a mac including how to format a drive for. How to reformat my external hard drive for windows 10. Toshiba hdtb330xk3cb canvio basics 3tb portable external hard. If i put in a new hard drive, will i have to reinstall an operating system. However, ntfs is not fully compatible with mac computers. 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. So if you re trying to connect an external hard drive to a mac, you might.
What you need to note down is the specific disk identifier for the external disk youll be formatting. Dec 29, 2015 how to format a hard drive for both windows and mac. However, if you are using a macbook pro or any mac computer, the hard drive. People using windows 87 can format external hard drive to fat 32 with disk management, or using diskpart to format usb and any other external hard drive. You can then follow the steps in this article to start up. You will learn how to format external hard drives on a mac running os high sierra 10. In this tutorial we look at formatting disks via the gui app called disk utility and its equivalent command line tool diskutil. Hard drive format software for mac mac disk format software. How to format an external drive to work seamlessly. Jan 27, 2019 external drives allow you to quickly moves large files between computers.
How to format an external hard drive the easy way in 2020. How can i format this drive in windows 7 home premium. Therfore, you can connect backup plus desktop to a windows pc without formatting the hard drive. The best external hard drives for mac in 2020 pcmag. Select disk utility from the utilities window in macos recovery. Buy toshiba hdtb330xk3cb canvio basics 3tb portable external hard drive usb 3. Heres what you need to know, along with our toprated apple friendly drives. Formatting a hard drive can change the file system to.
Fortunately, here will introduce you two ways to format external hard drive to fat 32 on windows 10. Stellar partition manager is a powerful as yet easyto use utility for formatting mac hard drivevolume. 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. Unformat mac hard drive recover formatted hard drive on mac. The best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac. Quickly format an external hard drive for mac and windows pc. Here is how you can format your hard drives and flash drives on windows, mac and linux. Format an external hard drive or usb flash drive for mac os x. Here are two outstanding mac hard drive format software tools you can rely on. Buying and using an external hd is one thing, getting the most out of it is quite another. How to format your hard drive seagate support asean. Disques durs externes ou cles usb sous mac os, os x et macos. In the disk utility app on your mac, choose view show all devices.
How to format external hard drive to fat 32 on windows 1087. Highlight your drive and click partition in disk utility. Formatting a disk or volume erases all the files on it. Apr 19, 2012 any external hard drive will work with pcs or macs, as long as the connectors are there firewire, usb, etc. However, when we connect a ntfs formatted disk to mac, mac os x doesnt allow us to write. For pc and mac compatibility, select exfat format and master boot record scheme.
The easiest way to do that is hit cmd and the spacebar at the same time and type in disk utility to find the program. You may wonder how to reformat an external hard drive on mac. Still with the external disk selected in disk utility go to the erase tab, select mac os extended journaled from the format dropdown, choose to name the disk and then click erase. Looking to add storage, or for a smart way to back up your mac. Im able to physically swap out the drive, but i have no idea how mac software works. Save any files you need to another volume before formatting. Mac os x and testing applications on case sensitive file systems. In the disk utility, erase tab, i can only choose between these formats. All is set, then you can go ahead to format the drive on your mac. However, to use it on windows you can hfs explorer read only. Format external hard drive for mac with disk utility. It doesnt matter how the drive is formatted out of the box, since you can re format any way you like. When you buy a mac, do they give you a copy of the os on disc like buying a windows pc.
Hence, you must backup your important files before reformatting the drive if you want to save them. In this guide, well show you how to format an external hard drive so you can not only get rid of the. While dban is free to use, theres no guarantee your data is completely sanitized across the entire drive. Aug 30, 2016 how to erase a disk from command line in mac os x aug 30, 2016 47 comments some mac users may require the ability to erase a disk or erase a hard drive from the command line on mac os, a task which is typically performed through the disk utility application from the gui. Before you go messing around in the disk utility application, make sure you know what the drive is going to be used for. Since my mac pro only has a 256 gb hdd, i would like to install ubuntu on an external disk, so i went ahead and bought a usb3. The easiest way is to drag it from one drive to another. By default, your mac starts up from its builtin hard disk, but a startup disk can be any storage device that contains an operating system compatible with your mac. This is a default file system for linux os including raspberry pi. Compare the different options for formatting an external hard drive to work with windows and mac. However, you will find that windows 10s format command only offers ntfs and exfat. The best format for your external hard drive the hellotech blog. Open the disk utility app and highlight your external hard drive.
Feb 08, 2020 how to partition an external hard drive on mac. For example, if you install macos on an internal or external drive, your mac can recognize that drive as a startup disk. How to format external hard drive to ntfs in window1087. Or perhaps you are setting up an external drive for backups. In disk utility on your mac, format disks or volumes using apple file system apfs, mac os extended, msdos fat, and exfat.
May 06, 2018 format external hard drive mac instructions i had a recent customer that was running out of hard drive space on their macintosh computer. Before using an external hard drive on a mac, you should format it using disk utility. To format external hard drive on mac, all you have to do is plugin your hard drive and launch disk utility. If i want to send a flash driveflashstick to someone who has a macbook with video files from a msbased laptop already on the drive, will that. I have been asked to replace a hard drive in a macbook. Formatting an external hard drive would erase everything on it. Format external hard drive with windows builtin tool. Format a disk for windows computers in disk utility on mac. How to format hard drives on windows, mac and linux.
Now i want to format and use one partition continue reading linux format external usb hard disk partition. How to format or partition an external hard drive for mac. How to format an external drive to work seamlessly with macs and pcs without third party software. Theres also the option of macos extended journaled, encrypted which is a good choice if you are likely to be carrying your laptop or external. Follow the windows 10 fat32 format tutorial to format hdd to fat32 or format external hard drive to fat32 in windows 10. I need to format an external hard disk on a macbook pro usb connection. This wikihow teaches you how to change an external usb hard drives format on windows and mac computers. Mac osx disk file format closed ask question asked 6 years. Use disk utility to erase format a hard disk, ssd, flash drive. This insures that you will have a compatible hard drive with. If you format your external hard drive to hfs, you can use it on mac and linux by removing journaling. Format mac drive partition formatting external hard drive.
Plus, remove virusesspyware from microsoft windows installations. Three weeks ago, i bought a brand new 2tb seagate expansion to backup my macbook pro before i updated it to the latest macos. How to format hard drives on windows, mac, linux and android by mrinal saha november 19, 2015. Linux format external usb hard disk partition nixcraft. Most external hard drives hd are sold in a format called ntfs, which is designed to work with windows. Open the disk management tool by rightclicking this pc manage disk management. So if youre trying to connect an external hard drive to a mac, you might. It cannot detect or erase ssds and does not provide a certificate of data removal. External hard drives free delivery possible on eligible purchases. You can apply the thirdparty solution to format fat32 in windows 10 even when there is no fat32 option in windows 10 explorer or disk management. I originally thought of using fat 32 as its compatible with both and windows but it has a 4 gig file size limit. How to format mac volume using stellar partition manager. Format external hard drive mac instructions i had a recent customer that was running out of hard drive space on their macintosh computer. You can format an external drive in os x using disk utility and terminal.
Toshiba hdtb330xk3cb canvio basics 3tb portable external. How to format a usb external disk for mac osx using disk. Mar 22, 2012 the best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac. File system formats available in disk utility on mac. Aug 27, 20 using external drives to save space on your mac. Out of the box, windows can not read or write hfs drives. Format mac drive partition formatting external hard. Delete information stored on hard disk drives hdds in pc laptops, desktops or servers.
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