If it says guid partition table, you can format the drive by selecting mac os x extended journaled in the format popup menu, giving the drive a name, and. How to format an external disk or a flash drive for mac you will be presented with a dropped down panel where you need to type a name for the volume and select the format type as mac os extended journaled and partition map scheme as guid. A hard drive or hard disk can be used in any type of computer, whether for pc windows or for mac. Then select the partition on the left hand side and format it using the filesystem of your choice. It is recommended to choose the compatible format that the system lists. You can format an external hard drive or thumb drive to work seamlessly with both mac and windows by using the exfat file system. My passport wont format external drives for mac wd.
File system formats available in disk utility on mac. Before starting the formatting hard drive in mac, you have to connect your mac system to external hard drive. How to fix a corrupted external hard drive on macmacbook. Jul 05, 2017 youll see the drives file system displayed to the right of format under the general heading. Erase and reformat a storage device in disk utility on mac. Click the scheme popup menu, then choose guid partition map. Under file system box, select exfat for this drive. Dec 22, 2019 how to format external hard drive mac.
Partition a hard drive for macos time machine and windows 10. Dec 29, 2015 give the drive a descriptive name and leave the default settings. For our purposes, make sure to select os x extended journaled for the volume format. Rightclick on the drive you want to format, click on format. Disk utility will begin to format your external hard drive. But its a good idea to also create a third partition on your disk that both macos and windows 10 can use. For the installation of mac, the hard disk partition should be in the gpt guid partition table scheme formatted.
The format is good for handling the files between both os under 4gb size. It probably refers to the partition map to use in your flash drive. The different partition format types on mac when you attach a storage disk to a mac with the purpose of erasing or repartitioning it, youll be presented with the option of selecting one of the three available partition maps. Just like windows, macos also gives us a seamless option to format hard drive for mac and pc. How to properly format reformat a hard drive for mac os. Connect the drive, select it in disk utility, and click the erase button in the toolbar. If you want to permanently erase data on the hard drive, you can try the solution 3. How to share an external drive between a mac and a pc. When you attach a storage disk to a mac with the purpose of erasing or repartitioning it, youll be presented with the option of selecting one of the three available partition maps. A popup box will appear, change the name of your ps4 hard drive and amend the format of the disk to exfat.
Disk utility on mac supports several file system formats. Lacie setup assistant helps you to quickly format the storage device according to your needs. This isnt a windowsonly standard, by the waymac os x, linux, and other operating systems can also use gpt. Format a usb drive as exfat for mac and windows compatibility. Aborted lacie setup assistant while it was formatting. 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. Select the nonindented entry for your seagate drive.
For partition scheme, there are three types available on mac. Once in the folder, youll see an application named disk utility, doubleclick on it to launch the program. Highlight your drive and click partition in disk utility. I cant edit external hard drives on macs your business. Next, select the drive you want to dualformat and choose the partition tab.
Click the erase button to bring up the erase media dialog. Click the scheme popup menu, then choose master boot record. The software you suggested does not find the volume. 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. You can use lacie setup assistant to format your lacie hard drive when it is first connected to a computer mac or windows. Wait as the os x utilities window appears on the screen. Click the format popup menu, then choose a choose a file system format. Change the partition scheme to mbr first, in disk utility.
If you want to use the flash drive only with macs, use guid partition map by default, but if you want to use it with other pcs or as a boot drive for old pcs, choose master boot record. How to format a new internal ssd in macos high sierra. You can select the exfat format when using the disk utility to format the drive. Alter the scheme of the disk to the guid partition map and hit erase. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac laptop mag. Wd my passport this time not untitled and then erase. How to format an external drive in os x by shujaa imran jan 2, 2016 mac most external drives ship in formats that are universally recognised amongst nearly all operating systems fat, im looking at you, but there may be times where you might want to completely wipe a drive andor set it up to be compatible with apples mac lineup only. Give the drive a descriptive name and leave the default settings.
Using it, you can erase a hard drive, create new partitions, and even repair your disk as well. The format apple support for mac owners for time machine is mac os extended journaled. Today were explaining the difference between gpt and mbr and helping you choose the right one for your pc or mac. In the format partition section, select the file system. You can, however, format a windows hard drive from a mac if you connect the windows hard drive to the mac and format it through disk utility, or the command line as described above. For pc and mac compatibility, select exfat format and master boot record scheme.
Format a disk for windows computers in disk utility on mac. Gpt brings with it many advantages, but mbr is still the most compatible and is still necessary in some cases. Click on the erase button, or rightclick the external hard drive and choose erase from the options. Whats the difference between gpt and mbr when partitioning a.
You can also open a finder window, select applications in the sidebar, and head to utilities disk utility. How to format an external drive in os x make tech easier. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac. It can format your hard drive and erase all the data on your hard drive, beyond the scope of data recovery. In this article we will explain what a partition scheme is and which one to pick when formatting a drive. Mac os x installation basics sata drive seagate support. Set the format to mac os extended journaled and the scheme to guid partition map. That should allow you to create a partition on the drive and set the partition scheme. Fat32 is the crossplatform format for windows and mac os x. For most reasons to erase, including when reformatting a disk or selling, giving away, or trading in your mac. Jun 20, 2019 for mac, the mac os extension is the file system included in mac os 10. If you would also like to enable encryption, you can also choose the journaled, encrypted option. How to format external hard drives on a mac sweetwater.
If you do not see the scheme option, then you have selected the volume and not the drive. Feb 08, 2020 how to partition an external hard drive on mac. Nov 10, 2018 for the installation of mac, the hard disk partition should be in the gpt guid partition table scheme formatted. Youll see the drives file system displayed to the right of format under the general heading. Verify that the correct hard drive is selected in the left column. Choose either apfs or mac os extended journaled to format as a mac volume. In the disk utility app on your mac, choose view show all devices. Aug 30, 2016 this is an article for mac, it is erasing a hard drive from a mac command line, it is not a windows tutorial. How to format external ssd for mac time machine mashtips. How to format an external hard drive for mac and pc. In the sidebar, select the storage device you want to erase, then click the erase button.
I dont know what else to do, i never had this issue before with my 2tb hard drive, i could format it any way i wanted to. Enter a name for the disk or volume, such as macintosh hd. Find the hard drive you want to format, and highlight it. However, regarding your inability to format the drive rather than the partition, try selecting the partition button along the top of disk utility. If you selected the drive name instead of its description you wont see the scheme option. The operating system has an inbuilt tool, which is known as disk utility. In the sidebar, select the disk you want to format to use with windows computers. How to properly formatreformat a hard drive for mac os. If you want to create multiple partitions on your external hard drive in fact, you should for better file organization, heres a stepbystep guide. I cant say for sure it never had a system installed, but i dont think so. Formatting a drive in disk utility is easy, though disk utility uses a different term.
Macos disk utility wont format new drive fix how to. It will erase all data from hard disk donate to support me. How to erase a disk for mac use disk utility to erase format a hard disk, ssd, flash drive, or other storage device. Choose os x extended journaled for the format, and, for the scheme, choose guid partition map. And apfs takes the advantages of strong encryption, space sharing, disk snapshots and is compatible with ssd on new mac. Guid partition map is for hard drive that used on intelbased mac computers. How to format a hard drive on mac to work on mac and pc. The best way to do it is with a drive formatted as fat32. Jan 02, 2017 at this point, you can proceed to the next section to format your mac backup partition. 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.
Open the disk utility app and highlight your external hard drive. Nov 19, 2009 the drive works fine if i use extended journaled but windows will not format it. Jan 02, 2016 how to format an external drive in os x by shujaa imran jan 2, 2016 mac most external drives ship in formats that are universally recognised amongst nearly all operating systems fat, im looking at you, but there may be times where you might want to completely wipe a drive andor set it up to be compatible with apples mac lineup only. You may also set a direct connection to your computer. High sierra wont format new drives fix macos disk utility erase process has failed fix disk utility unable to format erase hard drive fix music from youtube free music library. The drive was not bootable and did not have a system installed so im assuming it would not have a recovery partition either. Mac os x installation basics sata drive seagate support asean. In the screenshot below, the drive is formatted with the exfat file system.
When you use a hard disk drive, time machine will take a while to back up your mac. Erase mac hard drive when you erase a hard drive, you basically format ntfs on mac and change the format to a compatible one like afps or mac os x extended journaled. If you want to use a different file system on your usb drive, youll need to format it. Though this format has some limitations, it enjoys nearly universal support. Click on the view button in the upper lefthand side, change to show all devices. The exfat format supports virtually any size hard drive and file, unlike the outdated fat32 format. 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. Partition a hard drive for macos time machine and windows. Before you format the external hard drive for your mac, you need to notice those things when choosing file system and partition scheme.
Looking to share an external hard drive between a mac and pc. Please remember that all data will be deleted from the drive, so make sure you have made a backup. You were right, you did indeed have to select wd my passport screen shot 20170625 at 6. The usb drivers come with the fat format by default. Im just doing the simplest, twopartition scheme, with one mac and one windows partition, but you can certainly get more byzantine with it if youd like. How to format or partition an external hard drive for mac. Open disk utility go to the applications folder and then to another folder, known as utilities. Guid partition map, master boot record, and apple partition map. Enter a name, select the format and scheme, and click erase. Click the erase button or tab, then complete these fields.
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