Once the formatting process is finished, you should be able to transfer files to the newly formatted flash drive. Format external hard drive for mac with disk utility. This insures that you will have a compatible hard drive with. 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. Apr 14, 2020 by this way, you can easily format an external hard drive for mac and pc without losing any data. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac. Since the pc and mac are two different operating systems, they use different file systems. External hard drive compatible with mac and pc without. Then, you can share external hard drive between mac and pc.
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. For windows, it offers quick format feature when you rightclick the hard drive on the computer. In this video i show you how to reinstall mac os x on your apple computer. If you are trying to format mac external hard drive, you can go over the process step by step. However, the formatted data can be recovered by data. All you need to have is the knowledge on how you can do. The first part is for mac users, and the second part is for pc users windows 10 based. Wahle entweder apfs oder mac os extended journaled. To format a drive on a mac, youll need the builtin disk utility application. Lets take a look at the different types of formats, and which are best for video production.
How to convert a macformatted drive to a windows drive. Quickly format an external hard drive for mac and windows pc. Formatting would erase data completely, make sure that you have a data backup. How to reinstall macos from macos recovery apple support. How to format wd external drive for mac more less apple footer this site contains user submitted content, comments and opinions and is for informational purposes only. Depending on the size and speed of your flash drive, it may take a minute or two. How to format a new or second hard drive in windows 10 formatting a drive may vary in terms of different operating systems, like windows and mac. Just like windows, macos also gives us a seamless option to format hard drive for mac and pc.
Choose view show all devices from the menu bar in disk utility. How to format an external drive for mac launch disk utility. Now, as you can see, formatting your flash drive on your mac is a very easy thing to do. The easiest way is to drag it from one drive to another. Get your flash drive formatted and set up for dashcam on v9 of tesla incar software. Jul 05, 2017 again, formatting a drive will erase it completely, so make sure you have everything backed up that you want to keep. Select disk utility, and then choose the drive to format. Flash drive formatting and setup on a mac pure tesla. First, back up the data on the macformatted drive if you have anything important on it. Turn on your macintosh notebook computer or desktop system and login. Tesla dashcam flash drive formatting and setup on a mac. Either way there is a solution to having an existing external hard drive for mac and pc.
Connect the hard drive or usb key to the mac launch disk utility, located in applications utilities locate the drive name from the left hand side of disk utility and click on it. The main reason for formatting a usb drive as fat32 on a mac is that you want to be able to use the drive on a windows pc, as well as a mac perhaps to transfer files between the two machines. Click on the erase option from the four options available in the main window. Jan 09, 2020 with everything set, you may click on the erase button to start the formatting process. The disk utility application is located in the utilities subfolder. You can select the exfat format when using the disk. By default, macs use hfs, while pcs use ntfs, which are not compatible with each other. To format your ps4s external hard disk to a different file system, all you need to do is plug your drive into your computer windows pc, mac and perform the formatting through the operating systems disk utility. Launch disk utility and then click to select the external hard drive listed on the left.
The following is based on the latest version of macos. Open disk utility open finder applications utilities disk utility. You can format an external hard drive or thumb drive to work seamlessly with both mac and windows by using the exfat file system. However, the new external hard drive comes as formatted drive, but, if you think the external drive should be formatted as another format filesystem. With everything set, you may click on the erase button to start the formatting process. However, if you want to convert ntfs to exfat to make external hard drive compatible with mac and pc, 3 steps are required. Many computer users who use a removable flash drive have the demand for formatting it to the fat32 file system. Apr 10, 2020 formatting a drive may vary in terms of different operating systems, like windows and 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.
Remember, this will erase all the files on the drive. 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. Note that using a drive frequently between windows and mac could increase the. How to format toshiba harddrive for mac apple community. A solid state drive is primarily used on mac machine. How to format a hard drive on windows or mac avast. How to format external hard drives on a mac sweetwater. Instructions for how to format your external drive so that it will be fully usable in macos. Solved formatting external drive for mac and pc spiceworks. This process wont actually convert the file system. Refer to detailed steps of using both tools for fat32 format.
I would like to format my external hard drive so that i can edit in on my macbook pro. Dec 08, 2016 in this video i show you how to reinstall mac os x on your apple computer. Format a usb drive as exfat for mac and windows compatibility. Your exfatformatted drive or partition can now be used for both windows and mac. Formatting a drive will erase all data and partitions on the disk.
Open the disk utility app and highlight your external hard drive. How to format drive with compatible file system for mac. Since formatting an external hard drive will erase all of its files if you wish to save them you must back them up copy. 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. How to format external hard drives for mac and windows. Just select the one you want to format and click on the erase tab. This will format the drive as exfat format and your drive is now compatible with both platforms. The below steps for formatting external drive is for windows 10 and also. These steps can be used for both internal and external drives. Mar 29, 2019 you can format an external hard drive or thumb drive to work seamlessly with both mac and windows by using the exfat file system.
How to format external hard drive on a mac latest version. You can run easytouse mac disk formatting software to easily format internal ssd or external ssd under mac os. Although in principal, formatting means to erase existing data and free up space for utilization, the procedures are not exactly the same for mac and windows. To format your external drive hard drive in windows which works with both platforms, first plugin your drive with windows machine. You may also be preparing the drive for use as, say, a storage device for a media player or to record tv programmes on a tv with a usb port. 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. Now, you can follow the steps to be highlighted below to get it successfully formatted. Some people are asking for a way to format a hard drive for mac. This method should work on all apple computers and with all recent versions of mac os.
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. Feb 21, 2020 for apple mac users, there are two ways to format usb flash drive to fat32, including disk utility and terminal command line. Whether you go the software or hardware route depends on your situation. Today, we will talk about how to format or reformat ssd on mac. Apr 20, 2012 mac illiterate here so please bear with me. Macs may also create a protected efi partition on these drives that you cant delete with the. How to format new or second hard drive on windows 10mac. 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. Compare with the other commonly used ntfs file system on a flash drive, fat32 has a compatibility advantage across many operating systems. You can use lacie setup assistant to format your lacie hard drive when it is first connected to a computer windows or mac. Most accessory manufacturers tend to build accessories for the more dominant platforms, which is why many computer peripherals tend to be more focused on.
And keep in mind that if you are going to format your flash drive, make sure that you choose the right format so that you can use it in any pc. Once you open the disk utility app, you can see all the drives on your mac are listed on the lefthand sidebar. How to format a usb drive as exfat for mac and windows compatibility. Mar 22, 2012 the best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac. How to erase a disk for mac use disk utility to erase format a hard disk, ssd, flash drive, or other storage device. This is a simple procedure and is achieved the same way for all drive types and through. If you want to use a different file system on your usb drive, youll need to format it. The operating system has an inbuilt tool, which is known as disk utility. 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. How to format external hard drive to use on mac and pc. You can run easytouse mac disk formatting software to. Give the drive a descriptive name and leave the default settings.
I hope you enjoyed my article on how to make an external hard drive compatible with mac and pc without reformatting. How to format or partition an external hard drive for mac. Learn how to use macos recovery to reinstall the mac operating system on your builtin drive or an external drive. Open finder and choose applications utilities disk utility to launch the app on your mac.
Using it, you can erase a hard drive, create new partitions, and even repair your disk as well. If you want to create multiple partitions on your external hard drive in fact, you should for better file organization, heres a stepbystep guide. Choose the exfat file system in the list and click start. Otherwise, you can only use data recovery software to recover data from a.
How to reformat mac os x without a recovery disc or drive. You can select the exfat format when using the disk utility to format the drive. Be absolutely sure you have your files off the drive and that youve selected the correct drive you want to format. If you have a mac lying around, you can plug the drive into a mac and back up the files. Now in this interface, you will see a format option. Formatting the hard drive a vast majority of video production will be done on a mac or windows operating system, so we arent going to cover linux. Download disk formatting software for mac doyourdata. Mar 03, 2020 also, since i dont know whether you are on a pc or mac to perform this operation, im here to break down this guide into two parts. My manager the mac guy is out today and i need to get one of these formatted. Highlight your drive and click partition in disk utility. 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.
Lacie setup assistant helps you to quickly format the storage device according to your needs. Formatting an external hard drive would erase everything on it. The below steps for formatting external drive is for windows 10 and also works the same with an old version of windows. If you want to recycle a ssd, formatting is the best way to remove all history data from the ssd. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac laptop mag. If a wireless network is available, you can choose it from the wi. Hard drive format software for mac mac disk format software.
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. How to format a hard drive on mac to work on mac and pc. How to install os x after formatting your hard drive. Go through this article and find out the easiest way to format your toshiba drive for mac. We purchased a pile of 500gb external drives that need to be formatted for both mac and pc, cross platformed if you will. Then select disk utility from the utilities window and click continue. In the main interface, right click the partition on that need. How to format usb flash drive to fat32 on mac os xmacos easeus. All is set, then you can go ahead to format the drive on your mac. Formatting a drive will erase it completely, so make sure you have everything backed up that you want to keep. Compare the different options for formatting an external hard drive to work with. Seagate backup plus is preformatted exfat for compatibility with both mac and windows computers. Formatting your drive will wipe out all the data in it.
Use disk utility to format an external drive after you connect an external drive to your mac, open the applications folder from the finder window. Why need to format external hard drive for mac and pc. The exfat format supports virtually any size hard drive and file, unlike the outdated fat32 format. Once disk utility is open youll see the list of available drives on the left. If you are using a mac, you can run the builtin disk utility to quickly format a hard drive or external hard drive under mac os. Jan 23, 2020 i hope you enjoyed my article on how to make an external hard drive compatible with mac and pc without reformatting. How to format an external drive for mac compatibility. Again, formatting a drive will erase it completely, so make sure you have everything backed up that you want to keep. You can mitigate that by formatting the drive for mac. Aug 27, 2019 now, as you can see, formatting your flash drive on your mac is a very easy thing to do. This option is used for erasing deleted files and formatted files on your mac, without affecting the existing data. Compare the different options for formatting an external hard drive to work with windows and mac. However, when you format your hard drive with super eraser for mac, all your data will be permanently lost. Paragon disk wipe allows you to create a bootable usbflash drive or external hard drive that will help you to completely erase a whole hard disk, a separate partition or just clean free space.
But both of them cant format the hard drive which the mac os is installed on because the mac system doesnt allow other software to destroy the system. The best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac. Reformatting the drive will erase all data on the drive, so you should copy any data you want off the drive prior to formatting. To format a hard drive on your mac, follow these instructions. If you work solely on a mac, but need to send files to someone working on a pc, your external hard drive needs to be set up for both operating systems. 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 format a hard drive windows 10, 8, 7, vista, xp. Both windows and mac os offer builtin disk formatting tool. Jan 15, 2019 the main reason for formatting a usb drive as fat32 on a mac is that you want to be able to use the drive on a windows pc, as well as a mac perhaps to transfer files between the two machines.
Hence, you must backup your important files before reformatting the drive if you want to save them. How to format usb flash drive on mac free mac data. When youre done, the drive should work on both windows pcs and macs with no problem. Instead, well just be wiping the drive and starting over from scratch. Apple may provide or recommend responses as a possible solution based on the information provided. For that, you might buy a new external hard drive and you connected with your mac computer or windows pc. How to format wd external drive for mac apple community. Thus, having an external hard drive will help you to save your files. Before using an external hard drive on a mac, you should format it using disk utility. If you were using boot camp, i would advise leaving it formatted as ntfs and purchasing ntfs for mac to access the drive on both oss. This mac hard drive formatting tool also can erase free disk space to permanently erase deletedlost data on the hard drive. The easiest way to do that is hit cmd and the spacebar at. As earlier stated, you need to first back up your usb drive before formatting the drive as you may not be able to recover the contents again.
How to format usb flash drive to fat32 on mac os xmacos. Nov, 2018 get your flash drive formatted and set up for dashcam on v9 of tesla incar software. This site contains user submitted content, comments and opinions and is for informational purposes only. Aborted lacie setup assistant while it was formatting. Go to open disk utility, which is located under applications in the finder menu. The two hard drive formatting software for mac can help you securely format hard drive or device under mac os. Formatting it for mac lets you use it, as i said, on both the parallels vm and the mac side. How to format drive with compatible file system for mac and. Feb 08, 2020 your advice on formatting the external hard drive is rather insightful.
1055 935 1113 230 641 840 728 61 1084 725 851 1229 1241 1240 516 812 45 1355 654 275 1434 1218 581 460 1172 1166 755 661 1244 102 558 1069 508