How to format hard drive for mac compatibly in os x disk. If youre erasing an external drive, make sure that its connected. Next, we will head over to the mac, where we will need to prepare the mac portion of the external hard disk for use with the macos. How to format usb flash drive to fat32 in mac os x. Set the format to mac os extended journaled and the scheme to guid partition map. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac. The maximum individual file size for exfat is 16 eb. How to recover data from formatted external hard drive on mac.
For instructions on how to format a drive in mac os 10. If you already used your external hard drive on a pc, be sure to back. Here are the following most common reasons why would you like to format an external disk or a flash drive for mac under mac os extended journaled. Reformatting an external hard drive for use with mac osx is not as. Compare portable, usb and external hard drive models for office and home and shop online. How to format an external drive in os x make tech easier. Pick the drive you wish to use to start up the mac. How to format an external hard drive for mac os x youtube. Macs can only read but not write to a ntfs file system. Yet when you connect a mac formatted drive to windows, youll be informed that you need to format the disk in drive x. Step 2 follow the steps above to format the drive, and then you can use it with time machine on your mac system.
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. Many hard drives come preformatted with special utility software that largely is not needed, and may even be problematic or limiting at times. Msdos fat is the most popular format amongst external hard disks, as its both readable and writable by nearly all operating systems, windows and os x included. The usb drivers come with the fat format by default. The simplest way to install macos or os x on a new hard drive is by using internet recovery mode. To format an external hard drive for mac with time machine, you must follow the steps below. To format a usb flash drive to fat32 in mac os x follow these steps.
Because fat32 supports only up to 4 gb large files, it should be used only with flash drives. The previous defunct hd was also fat32, which i did not realize upon receiving and using. How to convert external hard drive to fat32 on mac os x for free using disk utility. Enter a name for the external hard drive in the name field. To change the volume format, click on the chosen format and select another. Using apples free disk utility app, you can easily format the drive, give it a label, or even partition it and create multiple volumes from a single. How to set up an external hard drive for use with os x.
One of the major limitations of this format is that its not able to write files larger than 4gb, which can be quite a setback. 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. Use disk utility to erase format a hard disk, ssd, flash drive, or other storage device. The best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac.
For apple mac users, the easier way to format usb flash drive to fat32 is using the disk utility. Reformatting the drive will erase all data on the drive, so you should copy any data you want off the drive prior to formatting. How to force a hard drive to unmount for formatting in mac. How to format external hard drives for mac and windows. If you need to format external hard drive mac or windows, you may also consider the exfat files system. Apple file system format or the older mac os extended format, and. If your mac is from before 2009 or never had os x lion, click here to jump to the next section. By this way, you can easily format an external hard drive for mac and pc without losing any data.
Dont click the format disk button or windows will erase the contents of the drive click cancel. How to reformat mac os x without a recovery disc or drive. Just select the one you want to format and click on the erase tab. Where, i am seeing instruction links, for mac operating system, for as far back as mac os x 10. I received a replacement 750gb external hard drive from western digital. For instructions on how to format a dr ive in mac os 10. You should create multiple partitions on your external hard drive, in order to have enhanced file organization.
If you have already written any data to the drive, back it up before proceeding to the next. Once you open the disk utility app, you can see all the drives on your mac are listed on the lefthand sidebar. The best format for your external hard drive the hellotech blog. The format apple support for mac owners for time machine is mac os extended journaled.
How to format or partition an external hard drive on mac. Once you have it, your first task is to pick a suitable file system for that drive depending on your intended usage. Fat32 is the crossplatform format for windows and mac os x. While os x is installing, your computer will restart a couple of times. You can use this format if you share the drive between mac os x and windows computers and have no files larger than 4gb. You can easily burn a bootable image of os x on a dvd by using disk utility. Which mac file system is best for an external drive. If you do not see the scheme option, then you have selected the volume and not the drive.
If it does not you will need to rightclick and delete the volume first. Exfat should basically only be used on drives that need to work with both windows and macos computers. The best external hard drives for mac in 2020 pcmag. I want to convert the hard drive s format so that its compatible with mac. Readwrite fat32 from both native windows and native mac os x. Connect the usb fash drive to the mac os x computer. Now in this interface, you will see a format option. As the default file system in windows, it can only read by mac os, writing to it is not available. Force an external mac drive to mount via command line terminal commands in mac os x. When trying to save large files in final cut pro, the hard drive would save numerous files with none over 2gb in size. Nowadays, external hard drives are a common solution for storing and transferring large amounts of data from one computer to another. You need to prepare your usb drive beforehand for this specific purpose. They might be different if your mac has a different version. Using your usb drive to boot mac is not as simple as you think.
How to format an external disk or a flash drive for mac. Click the erase tab, choose a volume format from the dropdown menu and then type a name for the drive. Fortunately disk utility, built right into macos, can help. Note that when it finally boots into os x, that is the version running off your external drive. Where and with working to reformat my new hd, i have been directed to base support and then knowledge base answer id 3865. Jan 31, 2016 this will demonstrate how to format a hard disk to be completely mac os x compatible, the entire process is handled through disk utility as demonstrated with an external hard drive attached to a. How to format external ssd for mac time machine mashtips. Go to applications utilities double click and open disk utility. It should only take a minute or two for the drive to be erased and reformatted. Formatting an external hard drive would erase everything on it. To format external hard drive on mac, all you have to do is plugin your hard drive and launch disk utility. How to format or partition an external hard drive for mac.
Apfs apple file system this is the new file system that apple bought to macs with high sierra and it. In order to get started and partition your external hard drive, follow the simple instructions below. How to format an external drive for mac compatibility. Then, you can share external hard drive between mac and pc. Step 1 open finder, applications, then go to utilities and disk utility. Format an external hard drive or usb flash drive for mac os x. The problem is that on macos, you cant work with files saved on an ntfs drive unless you use a paid app like paragon ntfs for mac. Best format for an external hard disk apple community. Install, boot, and run mac os x from an external hard drive. Launch disk utility and then click to select the external hard drive listed on the left. Luckily, there are thirdparty tools to help you do so.
Mar 25, 2018 i have recently bought a my passport external hd. I just bought a 300gig harddrive and bought the external casing separate. Mac os x can only be installed on a hard drive formatted in mac os extended journaled, filesystem. The easiest way to add storage to your mac is to buy an external hard drive. Best external hard drives for macs in 2020 techradar. For more advice about installing macos or mac os x read how to update the mac operating system and how to install old versions of os x on a mac. Best for external drives shared with windows computers. Format external hard drive for mac with disk utility. I have a back up of all my data i know it erases data when reformatting. Discover the world of external hard drives for mac. How to access mac osx extended formatted hard drive in. I need to reformated my wd 1tb external hard drive and was wondering what is the best file format to use ms dos fat32, mac os extended journalled etc all i store on it are all my videos, tv shows, and backups of all my work, documents etc, but i dont use it with time machine. How to set up an external hard drive for use with os x cnet. Or perhaps you are setting up an external drive for backups.
That said, if you are using smaller file sizes fat32 can suffice. How to format external hard drive mac 2 simple methods. Formatting would erase data completely, make sure that you have a data backup. How to convert external hard drive to fat32 on mac os x for. Mac os extended journaled will be the best format to choose for the external drive. Click on the view button in the upper lefthand side, change to show all devices. 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.
Apr 14, 2020 however, when we connect a ntfs formatted disk to mac, mac os x doesnt allow us to write files to the drive neither edit files, though it can read a ntfs drive. If the only format showing is msdos, click on the option button on the bottom of the window and choose the selection referring to apple. 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. Jan 02, 2016 msdos fat is the most popular format amongst external hard disks, as its both readable and writable by nearly all operating systems, windows and os x included. Ill also be using a time machine backup drive to backup this external ssd, so im not sure if using the apfs system on the new ssd would interfere with the backup drive. Format a flash drive for both mac os x and windows. Partition a hard drive for macos time machine and windows. How to format an external drive for mac from ntfs to mac os extended note. The format is good for handling the files between both os under 4gb size. Sep 20, 2019 apfs also doesnt work with time machine, so you should format any drive you want to use for backing up your mac using mac os extended. How to install and run mac os x from an external hard drive. Choosing the right format for your external hard drive b.
It can format your hard drive and erase all the data on your hard drive, beyond the scope of data recovery. There are two ways you can install os x on to your external hard disk. Yet when you connect a macformatted drive to windows, youll be informed that you need to format the disk in drive x. Quickly format an external hard drive for mac and windows pc. Sep 06, 2019 the simplest way to install macos or os x on a new hard drive is by using internet recovery mode.
Dont click the format disk button or windows will erase the contents of the driveclick cancel. Jan 07, 2005 how do i format an external harddrive. These steps can be used for both internal and external drives. Select the nonindented entry for your seagate drive. If you selected the drive name instead of its description you wont see the scheme option. How to install macos on an external drive macworld uk. From the volume format menu, choose mac os extended. I dont want to download any 3rd party side to run it. How to format external hard drive mac 2 simple methods revealed. Both mac os x and windows also support the fat32 file system, but we dont recommend it for hard drives. Nov 02, 2012 how to format an external hard drive for mac duration. Now i need to format the harddrive and i need detailed instructions since im not very computer literate.
Western digital my passport ultra features cloud storage and 256aes encryption. You have to format the usb drive and insert the proper operating system, which is os x. Select the drive you want to format and click erase button. Backup disks you can use with time machine apple support. Apfs apple file system is only for newer macs running macos. Instructions for how to format your external drive so that it will be fully usable in macos. Feb 08, 2020 the problem is that on macos, you cant work with files saved on an ntfs drive unless you use a paid app like paragon ntfs for mac. This is very easy to carry out, and only requires a few moments of your time. How to erase a disk for mac use disk utility to erase format a hard disk, ssd, flash drive, or other storage device. The mac os x extended volume format is optimal for macs.
So if you want your external hard drive to be backward compatible with both oss then you. If you want to permanently erase data on the hard drive, you can try the solution 3. How to install macos or os x on a new hard drive for your mac. Apr 30, 2020 to format an external hard drive for mac with time machine, you must follow the steps below. The tutorial and screenshots below are based on macos sierra 10. How to format external hard drives on a mac sweetwater. But, if you want to use an external hard drive on your mac that was mainly used on a windows computer, you might encounter a. However, if you want to convert ntfs to exfat to make external hard drive compatible with mac and pc, 3 steps are required.
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