For example, you might want to reformat a new or used removable storage device to make sure it doesnt contain any malicious code. How to format drive with compatible file system for mac. Sep 12, 2019 easy and fast, the question, how to reformat a hard drive, has been solved completely. Reformatting 3tb wd my book for mac to windows wd community.
Formatting a disk or volume erases all the files on it. Jan 15, 2020 macos recovery makes it easy to reinstall the mac operating system, even if you need to erase your startup disk first. Reformatting a drive on windows is a pretty straightforward process. How to format a flash drive to work on os x and windows. I can find it under device manager and disk management but thats it. Before you can use it though, you need to properly format or reformat a hard drive so that it will become compatible or readable with the operating system that you are using.
Macs may also create a protected efi partition on these drives that you cant delete with the. How to format a mac formatted drive to ntfs for it to work on windows 10 and other versions of windows that read ntfs. With aomei partition assistant, you can reformat to fat32 or reformat to ntfs file system as well. How to format an external hard drive for windows 10. A quick format only deletes the organizational structure of the files on the drive, without removing the actual files.
Pc youll have to format the drive so that it can be read by the windows operating. After realizing that you can reformat wd hard drive to fat32 or exfat to make it compatible with mac os x and still can be used under windows, it is time to check out how to reformat wd hard drive for mac and pc in windows successfully. The operating system is pretty userfriendly and will let you access the connected pen drive without any trouble. You can select the exfat format when using the disk. Are you formatting the disk that came built into your mac. Fat32 and exfat can be compatible with mac and windows and you can choose one after realizing their respective merits and defects based on your demands. Mar 22, 2012 the best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac. Format a disk for windows computers in disk utility on mac apple. Dec 05, 2019 the windows system uses a hard drive with a different file system than the mac systems.
Click the erase button click the scheme popup menu, then choose master boot record. Formatting and reformatting a drive erases everything. That said, if you are using both a pc and mac in the workflow, youll need to use a different. However, you need to reformat external hard drive or internal ssdhdd if it was partitioned before. For instructions on how to format your hard drive on a mac, please reference the following links. Meanwhile, the performance of the hard disk greatly affects the computer operation and the users experience. Sep 16, 2019 the data stored in the hard disk obviously overvalues the disk itself. The windows system uses a hard drive with a different file system than the mac systems. Such a scenario arises if you want to use a mac based disk with a windows computer, you would need to reformat it using a windows compatible file system that would be the fat32.
If you are a windows 10 user, do you know how to reformat an internal or external hard drive. Mar 19, 2020 how to format a hard drive in windows follow these easy steps to format a hard drive in windows 10, windows 8, windows 7, windows vista, or windows xp. Thus in order to make the hard drive windows formatted, you have to convert the file system to ntfs or fat32. Format a disk for windows computers in disk utility on mac. Open the disk utility app and highlight your external hard drive. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac. This also allows you to restore time machine backups on windows. Please see the link below for instructions on how to format the drive on a windows computer.
How to format external hard drive mac 2 simple methods revealed. But if you want to use it with an older mac, or a windows machine, you would reformat it as hfs older mac format or exfat windows, etc. If a wireless network is available, you can choose it from the wifi menu in the menu bar. How to share an external hard drive between mac and windows. How to format external hard drive to use on mac and pc. Convert formatted drive from mac to windows info remo.
If the builtin disk came apfsformatted, dont change it to mac os extended. How to format a windows disk drive for a mac i get this question a lot i have an external hard drive that is ntfs formatted windows format, and i want to reformat it for my mac hfs. How to format a windows disk drive for a mac seagate blog. But dont forget to back up your important data in the drive into a safe place before formatting. Moving files from macformatted external hard drive to pc. 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. No matter what optionos or procedures i do i cant get a disk to format without failing on windows 10. First of all, as i said before, reformating will erase all your data that stored on the hard drive permanently. How to format a usb flash drive on windows 10 windows central.
Time machine, however, gives you the possibility to create an automatic backup of the data on your hard drive before formatting it. Today this video will show you how to format an external hard drive on windows and mac. Some people are asking for a way to format a hard drive for mac. Both mac os x and windows also support the fat32 file. Yes, its recommended to format the drive on a windows computer. However, you can format the drive to work with both. Oct 29, 2019 by now, you must be able to reformat thumb drive on mac without any trouble. 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. You can format a hard drive or usb flash disk specifically so that it will be compatible with both mac os x and windows pc computers. If you run into the issue of not having enough space format it to be the ex fat as.
Starting clean how to format new hard drive on windows 10 formatting is an essential task before starting to use a new drive, and in this guide, well show you how to do it on windows 10. If you want to use a different file system on your usb drive, youll need to format it. In this video tutorial, i show you how to easily format an external hard drive to work on both a mac and a pc. How to format external hard drive mac 2 simple methods. Format external hard drive for mac with disk utility. You might want a drive that works with macs and pcs, or maybe you want to partition it, which will split it up into two different formats. A vast majority of video production will be done on a mac or windows operating system, so we arent going to cover linux. How to format a hard drive windows 10, 8, 7, vista, xp. So if you are formatting a drive that has already been used, be sure to copy any files you will ever want to see again onto a computer or backup drive. 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. Again, formatting a drive will erase it completely, so make sure you have everything backed up that you want to keep. 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.
How to format or partition an external hard drive for mac. But if you try to use an external hard drive thats been formatted for mac os. In specific, if you want to know how to format a new or second hard drive in windows 10, dont. How to format usb drive on windows 10 using command prompt. 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. People might need to format a hard drive or an external hard drive in windows 10 for various reasons. I took these correupted drive to a windows 7 machine and they formatted right away. In this video i help you guys convert your mac only external hdd into a windows compatible one. How to format a hard drive on mac to work on mac and pc. How to convert an external hard drive from apple to pc. Open disk management, the hard drive manager included with all versions of windows. But you occasionally might need to format one yourself.
Here are two ways offered and you can choose on based on your own situation. However, mac os x also creates an efi system partition or gpt protective partition at. This partition is necessary, and you shouldnt try to remove it. Oct 15, 2015 please note that reformatting the drive will erase all the information on the drive. How to convert mac only external hdd to windows compatible. To save important data on the hard drive, please backup disk beforehand.
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. For instance, if you have one formatted apfs then it only works on recent macs with recent versions of the os that know apfs. Highlight your drive and click partition in disk utility. The reason is perhaps that seagate external hard drive has been well known for a long time as one of the most reliable drives for storing data. Format a usb drive as exfat for mac and windows compatibility. But unfortunately it bit the dust and i decided to get a pc. Macos external drive not showing not reformatting fix. Add virtual cd and dvd drives to your pc with alcohol how to.
Now that you know which format to choose, its time to learn how to format external hard drive for mac. Compare the different options for formatting an external hard drive to work with windows and mac. If you are finding it hard to access the pen drive content on mac, then dont worry. Mar 15, 2018 windows cant normally read macformatted drives, and will offer to erase them instead. Yes, if you use boot camp on your mac and boot into windows, youll see an efi system partition at the start of your mac s internal drive. Reformatting is the method of erasing the used space of a disk drive or the entire storage device.
If you only use a mac computer, you can format your thumb drive so it can work on windows systems. How to remove an efi system partition or gpt protective. Windows formatted hard drives have either ntfs file system of an fat32 file system. Formatting an external hard drive would erase everything on it. As the default file system in windows, it can only read by mac os, writing to it is not available.
Convert formatted drive from mac to windows info remo software. I cant format a drive on windows 10 microsoft community. While most external hard drives are already designed to work for windows computers, there are times when you need to reformat one. How to reformat an internal or external hard drive on windows. For example, formatting typically removes most of the data on a drive, making it a quicker way to erase a large drive than simply deleting everything on it. Apr 17, 2020 typically, there is no reason to choose this option unless youre planning to use the external hard drive on a windows xp or earlier machine. You can format an external hard drive or thumb drive to work seamlessly with both mac and windows by using the exfat file system. Its not at all common to set a custom allocation unit size when formatting a hard drive in windows. Are you about to install macos high sierra or later on the disk.
Copy a data disk uing one optical drive using disk utility on os x how to. How to format a hard drive to work on mac and pc youtube. How to reformat mac os x without a recovery disc or drive. So the first step you must do is move all of your important data to your pc mac, or to cloud storage service. Format mac hard drive with time machine formatting an external hard drive with time machine is as easy as formatting it with disk utility. No matter what motivation you have, the question, how to reformat a hard drive, is much more important now. We reformat a hard drive if we are switching from one platform to another windows to mac and vice verse back to the main topic, below is a step by step instruction on how to format reformat a hard drive for mac os. If you want to make your drive compatible with mac and windows, you need to format it with a common file system for mac and windows. However, you need to make doubly sure that you complete a quick format. On windows 10, the ability to format a usb flash drive can come in handy in a number of scenarios. Mar 29, 2019 how to format a hard drive on mac to work on mac and pc. Should i just wait until i get the new laptop and attempt to reformat the drive on it.
Aug 30, 2019 how to format an external hard drive on windows. How to reformat an external hard drive without losing your. A hard drive or hard disk can be used in any type of computer, whether for pc windows or for mac. How to format an external hard drive with pictures wikihow. In the disk utility app on your mac, choose view show all devices in the sidebar, select the disk you want to format to use with windows computers. How to convert a macformatted drive to a windows drive. Plug your hd into the mac and open disk utility, which can be accessed by searching for it in spotlight. Most hard drives come preformatted and ready to use these days. How to format an external hard drive on windows and mac. This is a detailed tutorial on how to format a hard drive in windows 10, windows 8, windows 7, windows vista, and windows xp.
Aug 16, 2019 how to format a usb flash drive on windows 10. How to format a usb flash drive on windows 10 windows. In fact, aomei partition assistant has more powerful features, such as migrate os to ssd, resizemove partition, command line partition etc. How to convert a mac formatted drive to a windows drive. Neither mac os nor windows recognize each others volume formats.
Ive tried formatting multiple flash drives and had a 4 tb drive go work and say it needed to be formated. How to reformat my external hard drive for windows 10. How to properly format reformat a hard drive for mac os. You will learn the easiest way to format drive on mac and windows as exfat. Erase or format your mac s drives using disk utility. Heres how to wipe the data off a hard drive, ssd, or external drive in windows 10 and macos. How to reinstall macos from macos recovery apple support. Note that using a drive frequently between windows and mac could increase the chances of file corruption, so make sure you have backups of. The best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac cnet. How to format the hard disk drive in windows 7 computer. A lot of people including you, storing important data on seagate external hard drive instead of on your pc mac hard drive.
Mac os x uses the hfs plus file system, while windows uses the ntfs file system. The best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac. Formatting a drive may vary in terms of different operating systems, like windows and mac. Windows cant normally read mac formatted drives, and will offer to erase them instead.
Luckily, there are thirdparty tools to help you do so. How to properly format a new hard drive on windows 10. How to wipe a hard drive in windows 10 and macos techradar. Typically, you want to do it when you have a different use for the drive. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac laptop mag. Dec 29, 2015 how to format a hard drive for both windows and mac. How to format new or second hard drive on windows 10mac. Dec, 2019 you can format the external hard drive or usb drive to make it compatible with both mac and windows machines. Apr 30, 2016 now, lets take a look at some ways you can format your usb drive on windows 10. If you are techy and use windows and mac computers frequently, then you might need to transfer data between mac and pc. If you need to erase your disk before installing high sierra or later for the first time on that disk, choose mac os extended journaled. Locate your drive partition which has mac format file system. If disk utility is not working to reformat the drive, this command will work for you.
How to format external hard drives for mac and windows. If you want to create multiple partitions on your external hard drive in fact, you should for better file organization, heres a stepbystep guide. This thing is still unknown for many users but doesnt worry its not complex. Great fix for sd cards, flash drives and all other external hard drives that are not working with your mac system.
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