Some people are asking for a way to format a hard drive for mac. Heres how to format a drive if you are planning to use it with a mac. Sep 12, 2019 format drive to exfat in windows 10 so it is readandwrite in mac os as well. How to format usb drive external hard drive on macos catalina. Follow these instructions if you plan to share an external hard drive between pc and mac computers. 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. Expand the disk drives menu and the universal serial bus menu to see if your external drive appears in either set.
If succeeded, you can use the usb drive with fat32 file system to store data again. How to format an external hard drive with pictures wikihow. Usb drives and external hard drives on macos catalina are used for storing and backing up important data such as photos, videos, audios, images, notes, messages, music. Please keep in mind that reformatting will result in the loss of. No worry, actually it is not impossible to realize it no matter you use an external or internal drive of your windows system. Format a usb drive as exfat for mac and windows compatibility.
Well show you everything you need to know about the. If you never formatted a usb drive then dont worry it is effortless. Connect the usb fash drive to the mac os x computer. The easiest way is to drag it from one drive to another. However, if you want to use the mac to format your external hard drive to exfat, youll face the problem that the external hard drive may not be compatible with the windows pc. Find out how to format an external drive or usb disk making the drive work with both windows pc and mac can read and write. How can i reformat my external hard drive without losing. Here, we are going to learn the procedure to format a usb drive and an external hard drive on mac. From all above, you can have a general idea of fat32 and exfat file system.
Most external hard drives and usb drives are compatible for use on mac computers as long as you format the devices for use with mac os x. Click on the article to learn how you can format usb or external hard drive with ease. Here is the step by step guide you need to follow to format the hard disk on mac. Unless a device offers to format a usb drive to the necessary format when connected if necessary, having a computer will be necessary in order to accomplish this process.
Find low everyday prices and buy online for delivery or instore pickup. How to use toshiba external hard drive on mac solved. Discover the world of external hard drives for mac. Sep 17, 2019 your toshiba external hard drive comes with a usb type a connection on the end that plugs into your mac. How to format or partition an external hard drive for mac.
Please keep in mind that reformatting will result in the loss of all the data on the hard. The best external hard drives for mac in 2020 pcmag. First, lets see how to format an external hard drive or usb drive in macos which works with both mac and pc platforms, first plugin your drive in macos machine. Of course, if you have a backup already, ignore this step. Most but not all mac computers and will have at least one usb port that supports external memory. This tool allows you to manage the partitions on drives connected to your computer internal ones or external ones connected via usb. This is a common connection type for many external hard drives. To format or reformat an external hard drive on mac, youll need the builtin disk management tool called disk utility. How to convert a macformatted drive to a windows drive. 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. Open the disk utility app and highlight your external hard drive. Just transfer all useful files out from the external hard drive to other devices on mac.
Compare portable, usb and external hard drive models for office and home and shop online. Oct 29, 2019 even if you try to format fat32 drive on mac, you might end up causing more issues. An external hard drive that connects using the usb, firewire, or thunderbolt port on your mac. Feb 08, 2020 how to partition an external hard drive on mac. Its exactly the same procedure if you need to reformat a flash drive on a mac. Lacie rugged usb c 2tb external hard drive portable hdd usb 3. 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.
Format external driveusb exfat in windows 10 in simple steps. Again, formatting a drive will erase it completely, so make sure you have everything backed up that you want to keep. Easily format external hard driveusb under macos 10. Usb drives can be formatted on your mac using the disk utility application. Formatting is a very simple procedure which is operated in a similar way for all sorts of storage media. This is the easiest way and simply requires you to plug in your usb drive, open the windows file explorer and right click your drive to view a number of actions that you can perform. 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. If you want to use a different file system on your usb drive, youll need to format it. How to format a hard drive for mac internal, external or flash. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac. So, if you have got your hands on a drive which is formatted as fat32 of any other format instead of mac os extended or apfs, then you should go through this article.
Please see below on how to reformat your external hard drive on mac and windows. Usb drives can be formatted on your mac using the disk. The type of file system that is needed on your usb or external hard drive will vary depending on the type of device it is being plugged into or used with. How to recover lost data after formatting a usb drive to fat32 on mac. How to format an external drive for mac compatibility. In the screenshot below, the drive is formatted with the exfat file system. So in this post, i will tell you how to format usb on mac. The best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac. Even if you try to format fat32 drive on mac, you might end up causing more issues. This wikihow teaches you how to change an external usb hard drive s format on windows and mac computers. 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. Quickly format an external hard drive for mac and windows pc. Formatting a hard drive can change the file system to make it compatible with your computers. Usb is very compatible with mac machines, especially those with older versions.
Formatting an external hard drive would erase everything on it. Drive speed is measured in revolutions per minute rpm, based on how fast the drive can spin. How to format drive with compatible file system for mac and. The 8 best external hard drives and ssds for mac and pc users. Connecting the external hard drive to the usb port on an airport extreme base station on your network. Click erase button, the external hard drive will be formatted. To set up time machine, you need to start by buying an external storage solution such as. Understanding hard drive partitioning with disk management. This reduced power draw helps preserve the battery life of the mac you plug the drive into. How to format usb drives on windows 10 make tech easier. Use disk utility to erase format a hard disk, ssd, flash drive, or other. Replug your external hard drive to another port or try another usb cable.
Thus, youd better use the windows machine to format your external hard drive. Before using an external hard drive on a mac, you should format it using disk utility. External hard drives, thumb drives, usb drives, flash memory cards, and devices like ipod are examples of storage devices that you can connect to your mac using thunderbolt, usb, or firewire cables, or connect wirelessly using bluetooth. If it does not you will need to rightclick and delete the volume first. While its convenient to purchase the hard drive that will work with your computer right out of the box, most external hard drives can also be reformatted so youre not limited to your initial choice. How to format external hard drive and usb drive under. Jul 05, 2017 in the screenshot below, the drive is formatted with the exfat file system. Do not format this external hard drive before you get your data back. This tutorial explains how to format external hard drive usb flash drive exfat in windows 10. Looking to add storage, or for a smart way to back up your mac. Someday when we are going to resell, donate or throw away our external hard drive, usb drive, memory card, we should not only format the external hard drive usb but also destroy and wipe all personal data on our device. Desktop external hard drives usually run at 7200 rpm to offer all the speed they can. 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.
Now, lets take a look at some ways you can format your usb drive on windows 10. Be sure youve identified the mac drive if you accidentally delete partitions from another drive, you could damage your windows installation or lose your files. Many people think it is hard to format the windows drive on macintosh. Dec 29, 2015 follow these instructions if you plan to share an external hard drive between pc and mac computers. Your toshiba external hard drive comes with a usb type a connection on the end that plugs into your mac. Most external hard drives and usb drives are compatible for use on mac. How to format an external hard drive for mac and windows. Hence, you must backup your important files before reformatting the drive if you want to save them. All is set, then you can go ahead to format the drive on your mac. Master boot record is appropriate for external drives used with a pc or boot camp. Format external hard drive or usb drive for mac easeus. Format usb drive, external hard drive on macos catalina. However, if you want to convert ntfs to exfat to make external hard drive compatible with mac and pc, 3 steps are required.
How to share an external hard drive between mac and windows. Also when we buy a new usb or hard drive, it often comes with windows compatible not the mac so formatting it even needed in this case. To access the disk management tool, click the windows icon and type disk management. To format a usb flash drive to fat32 in mac os x follow these steps. Nov 21, 2017 also when we buy a new usb or hard drive, it often comes with windows compatible not the mac so formatting it even needed in this case. How to format external hard drives on a mac sweetwater. Heres what you need to know, along with our toprated applefriendly drives. So, whether you wish to format the internal hard drive, external drive, or a usb flash drive, the procedure is the same for all. How to format an external hard drive on windows and mac youtube. Continue below to format an external hard drive or learn more about disk utility.
How to format usb drive or external hard drive on mac. Mar 22, 2012 the best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac. Apr 14, 2020 by this way, you can easily format an external hard drive for mac and pc without losing any data. You will learn the easiest way to format drive on mac and windows as exfat. People might need to format a hard drive or an external hard drive in windows 10 for various reasons. For apple mac users, the easier way to format usb flash drive to fat32 is using the disk utility. Now, you can follow the steps to be highlighted below to get it successfully formatted. The usbc lacie drive i mentioned can be found here. Highlight your drive and click partition in disk utility. Backup disks you can use with time machine apple support.
Choosing the right format for your external hard drive. If you want to create multiple partitions on your external hard drive in fact, you should for better file organization, heres a stepbystep guide. Format external hard drive for mac with disk utility. Some hard drives may also include drivers, firmware, or format wizards so be sure to check the user manual before formatting the hard drive. Then, you can share external hard drive between mac and pc.
How to format an external hard drive on windows 10. How to format external hard drive to use on mac and pc. Formatting would erase data completely, make sure that you have a data backup. Your mac computer comes with a handy utility appropriately called disk utility, which can be used to. Format drive to exfat in windows 10 so it is readandwrite in mac os as well. The best ways to format an external drive for windows and. Thats all there is to it, the drive will now format and erase everything on it. What to do when your external hard drive wont show up. It is time to learn how to format your external hard drive or other external drives to a common file system for mac and windows. How to format an external hard drive for mac and pc. Compare the different options for formatting an external hard drive to work with windows and mac. How to convert a mac formatted drive to a windows drive. Youll see the drive s file system displayed to the right of format under the general heading.
We here will show you the full guides on how to format fat32 and ntfs drives on mac as an example. Formatting a drive will erase all data and partitions on the disk. May 09, 2019 the best external hard drives for mac in 2020. Lacie rugged mini 4tb external hard drive portable hdd usb 3. Only after formatting it, they would realize that they had lost important data. How to format external hard drive mac 2 simple methods revealed. Use external storage devices with mac apple support. A faulty connection, though it is foolproof, is often the key to fix. Then, you need to choose the best file system for your external hard drive and follow these steps. Choosing the right format for your external hard drive b. 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. Sep 05, 2011 very easy way to format an external hard drive into fat32 with a mac using the disk utility. How to format usb flash drive to fat32 in mac os x. Formatting usb or hard drive on mac must be done carefully.
Storage devices such as external hard drives can also be available. 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. How to format an external hard drive on windows and mac. Give your drive a name and select the file system you want from the format dropdown.
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. By default its the disk built into your mac, named macintosh hd. Format an external hard drive or usb flash drive for mac os x. How to fix external hard drive not mounting on mac computer. 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. To format external hard drive for mac with time machine, you must follow the steps below.
1187 1565 1157 643 267 387 1 759 240 563 1500 126 1424 1176 294 1103 866 705 515 1461 1233 976 1407 1373 432 1439 615 1067 380 623 1056 1360 454 816 906 1186 419