Smaller external hard drives, ssds, and usb flash keys format quickly, while a larger hard drive may take a while longer. How to format an external hard drive for mac and windows. How to install macos or os x on a new hard drive for your mac. But if you want the external hard drive to also work on a. Do i need to format my external hard drive macrumors. How to format a drive with the apfs file system on macos. One hurdle youll face is that, by default, these platforms. Apr 30, 2020 to format an external hard drive for mac with time machine, you must follow the steps below. Step 2 follow the steps above to format the drive, and then you can use it with time machine on your mac system. Step 1 open finder, applications, then go to utilities and disk utility. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac youtube. Click go on the top tool bar, and select utilities. Need to format an external hard drive for mac and windows.
Lacie mobile drive 5tb external hard drive portable hdd moon silver usbc usb 3. Format an external hard drive or usb flash drive for mac os x. Apple is targeting a final release in 2017, and your macs system driveand the drives inside iphones, ipads, apple tvs, and apple watchesshould automatically convert to apfs at that point. The 8 best external hard drives and ssds for mac and pc users. Hence, you must backup your important files before reformatting the drive if you want to save them. It will likely already be formatted, either for use. However, if youre having problems accessing the files and the issue is due to formatting, you will need to connect it to a device it can be read on, and then format the files correctly for the computer you are going to use. Change the partition layout from current to 1 partition.
Make sure that the usb drive is formatted for time machine connect the drive to a usb port on your airport base station, then turn it on. Rightclick on the external hard drive and click format. Bonus tip data recovery from formatted hard drive on mac. Also, if your current hard drive is more than 5 years old, it probably is nearing the end of its service life and needs to be replaced. How to fix a corrupted external hard drive on macmacbook. Jul 12, 2017 the new apple file system is currently experimental. 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. Now in this interface, you will see a format option. Once you open the disk utility app, you can see all the drives on your mac are listed on the lefthand sidebar. Aug 30, 2019 plug in the external hard drive into the system and open windows explorer by clicking on the computer section in the side bar, you will see your external hard drive get attached to your system. How to format an external hard drive the easy way in 2020. Once youve unboxed your new drive, connect it to your mac. After du loads select your newly installed hard drive this is the entry with the mfgr.
If you are transferring data from an os 10 system to an os 9 computer, or trying to access the data through os 9 with a drive formatted through os 10, you will need to have installed os. With exfat, you can store files of any size, and use it with any computer made in the last 20 years. Discover the world of external hard drives for mac. After youre done, dont forget to remove the external hard. However, the mac os does not allow you to write data to the drive. How can i reformat my external hard drive without losing. Fortunately disk utility, built right into macos, can help. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac. 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. Backup disks you can use with time machine apple support. How to format a hard drive for mac internal, external or. How to share an external hard drive between mac and windows. Right click on your toshiba external hard drive icon and pick get info from the menu. If youre not erasing the disk your mac started up from, you dont need.
Now that you know which format to use, check out our guide on how to format your hard drive on. How to format an external hard drive on windows formatting a hard drive on windows is a simple affair, especially if you leave everything as default. 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. Use the disk utility application to erase the drive. Oct 16, 2019 the best format for external hard drives. For mac users, buying an external hdd already formatted for your system makes getting started much easier. If you need to format external hard drive mac or windows, you may also consider the exfat files system. Three weeks ago, i bought a brand new 2tb seagate expansion to backup my macbook pro before i updated it to the latest macos. When you format your external hard drive, it should be formatted for mac os extended. How to format a drive with the apfs file system on macos sierra. How to format external hard drive mac 2 simple methods revealed. In the value label field, type a descriptive name for the drive.
Heres how to format a drive using a mac including how to format a drive. Select the external hard drive on the lefthand side. How to format external hard drives on a mac sweetwater. Yo just got a new external hard drive and want to use it on your mac. Ever run out of storage space and start wondering if it would be possible to take a crowbar to your new unibody macbook pro to pry it open and put another hard. How to format an external hard drive for windows 10. On a windows computer, i can plug in any external hard drive i have here and slide over folders of info on to it, easy peazy. Rightclick the new hard drive and select the format option. If you want to format your external hard drive to work with mac and windows computers, you should use exfat.
How to format an external hard drive on windows and mac. Enter a name, select the format and scheme, and click erase. To format an external hard drive for mac with time machine, you must follow the steps below. Mar 15, 2017 plug the drive into pc and just delete the partition so you have the whole drive an unallocated space. Plug in the external hard drive into the system and open windows explorer by clicking on the computer section in the side bar, you will see your external hard drive get attached to your system. Time machine can back up to an external usb drive connected to an airport extreme base station 802. If you desire encryption, then select mac os extended journaled, encrypted format instead. Moving data between two systems using an external hard. It is possible to format a hard drive so it can be read on mac and windows computers, providing you format using exfat. This is because when you initially connect an external hdd made for mac to a mac computer, you wont be required to format it before you begin transferring files. 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. How to format an external hard drive focus photo school. For now, the only reason to format a drive with apfs is to experiment with it.
For instance, users want to write data to and read data from, to do a clean installation of the windows system, to get rid of a virus or malware, to erase the data before giving the drive to someone else or throwing it away, or some other reasons. Your first step to using your toshiba external drive on your mac is to plug your toshiba drive in. The new apple file system is currently experimental. The best format for your external hard drive the hellotech blog. The best ways to format an external drive for windows and. The easiest way is to drag it from one drive to another. It also erases the hidden recovery and efi partitions. Apfs apple file system this is the new file system that apple bought to macs with high sierra and it will. How to format a hard drive windows 10, 8, 7, vista, xp. Select disk utility from the main menu and click on the continue button.
How to format new hard drive on windows 10 windows central. Feb 08, 2020 how to partition an external hard drive on mac. The videos below demonstrate the complete process of formatting an external hard drive for full mac os x compatibility, this uses the. Use disk utility to erase format a hard disk, ssd, flash drive, or other storage device. The best external hard drives for mac in 2020 pcmag. May 21, 2018 with this method anyone can use one external drive for both your windows pc and your mac. Jan 17, 2019 rightclick the new hard drive and select the format option. 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.
Lacie mobile drive 2tb external hard drive hdd moon silver usbc usb 3. How to format or partition an external hard drive for mac. How to format a hard drive for mac internal, external or flash. Click on the erase button, or rightclick the external hard drive and choose erase from the options. How to format external hard drive mac 2 simple methods. Moving data between two systems using an external hard drive. If it does not you will need to rightclick and delete the volume first. Jun 24, 2017 i was a windows guy, who moved over the mac but only recently started saving things to the mac file system on my macbook pro. Under file system, choose the file system you want to use. 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. But if you want the external hard drive to also work on a mac, you should choose exfat. If you want to insure full mac compatibility of a new external hard drive or flash disk, youll want to format the drive to the mac os extended. 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. If you are transferring data from an os 10 system to an os 9 computer, or trying to access the data through os 9 with a drive formatted through os 10, you will need to have installed os 9 driverswhen you erase the drive.
One hurdle youll face is that, by default, these platforms use different file systems. Choosing the right format for your external hard drive b. Regardless of brand or model, the very first thing that you must do when you buy a brand new external hard drive is to format it properly for your system. How to format an external hard drive with pictures wikihow. With this method anyone can use one external drive for both your windows pc and your mac. How to format external hard drives for mac and windows.
Seagate backup plus portable 5tb external hard drive hdd red usb 3. Just select the one you want to format and click on the erase tab. Every time you click this plus sign, a new partition will be created. If you want to create multiple partitions on your external hard drive in fact, you should for better file organization, heres a stepbystep guide. Or perhaps you are setting up an external drive for backups. All is set, then you can go ahead to format the drive on your mac.
People might need to format a hard drive or an external hard drive in windows 10 for various reasons. Formatting an external hard drive would erase everything on it. When prompted, select the mac os extended journaled format. Do i need to format my external hard drive macrumors forums. When you get a new hard drive, it may already be formatted for windows or mac. How to use toshiba external hard drive on mac solved. Well show you everything you need to know about the. Likewise, the mac os x operating system can read from, but cannot write to, an external drive that has been formatted for a pc using the ntfs file system without additional software. Formatting is a very simple procedure which is operated in a similar way for all sorts of storage media.
How can i reformat the internal drive and install mountain. Format external hard drive for mac with disk utility. Compare portable, usb and external hard drive models for office and home and shop online. If you see the drive is ntfs then youll either need to reformat the drive or use a ntfs driver. Sep 06, 2019 select your new hard drive from the sidebar.
Error message when formatting a new drive external drives. 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. 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. For pc and mac compatibility, select exfat format and master boot record scheme. Compare the different options for formatting an external hard drive to work with windows and mac. Use the file system dropdown menu, and select ntfs recommended.
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. Error message when formatting a new drive external. Before using an external hard drive on a mac, you should format it. Which mac file system is best for an external drive. Highlight your drive and click partition in disk utility. So, whether you wish to format the internal hard drive, external drive, or a usb flash drive, the procedure is the same for all. If youre erasing an external drive, make sure that its connected. By default, windows computers will choose ntfs new technology file system for you because thats the native microsoft filing system. Open the disk utility app and highlight your external hard drive. I was a windows guy, who moved over the mac but only recently started saving things to the mac file system on my macbook pro. Developed by microsoft, this modern file system is optimized for situations where the ntfs file system is not a feasible solution, and the file size. Open disk utility, select the drive not the macintosh hd volume, open the erase tab, set the format to mac os extended journaled, and press the erase button. The best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac.