Formatting is a very simple procedure which is operated in a similar way for all sorts of storage media. Formatting an external hard drive for my apple community. Oct 22, 2018 formatting a hard disk drive hdd in an external hard drive enclosure is done the same way like an internal drive. So, whether you wish to format the internal hard drive, external drive, or a usb flash drive, the procedure is the same for all.
Both fat32 and exfat can be used on windows pc and mac. Therfore, you can connect backup plus desktop to a windows pc without formatting the hard drive. Using disk utility, you can erase and reformat your external hard drive to work on both mac and windows computers. External hard drive compatible with mac and pc without. Once you open the disk utility app, you can see all the drives on your mac are listed on the lefthand sidebar. The drive should automatically mount on your mac s desktop if the finder preferences are set to show external drives. Smaller external hard drives, ssds, and usb flash keys format quickly, while a larger hard drive may take a while longer. Feb 03, 2020 use disk utility to erase format a hard disk, ssd, flash drive, or other storage device. Mar 20, 2018 1 you should only format a hard drive in apfs if it is a ssd. To sum up, it is easy to format an external hard drive for both mac and windows pc. Some people are asking for a way to format a hard drive for mac. 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. How to format a hard drive windows 10, 8, 7, vista, xp.
As the default file system in windows, it can only read by mac os, writing to it is not available. Partitioning an external drive in macos isnt quite so annoying. Rightclick the new hard drive and select the format option. Mar 22, 2012 the best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac. The drive s formatting can be seen in the information window as well as in disk utility, and clicking the check box at the bottom of the. Lets take a look at the different types of formats, and which are best for video production.
But compared with formatting, an ntfs for mac driver like iboysoft ntfs for mac is a better and feasible solution. If nothing works, use remo mac data recovery software and recover data from it before reformatting the drive. To format your external drive hard drive in windows which works with both platforms, first plugin your drive with windows 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. How to format a hard drive to work on mac and pc youtube. Feb 08, 2020 now your external drive has been formatted to be fully compatible with apple macos, and you can edit, read, and write files to it as you want. Apr 23, 2014 its a good idea to backup your data for your mac using time machine. Sep 26, 2018 windows pc and mac use different filesystems. The hard drive is already formatted in mac os extended.
Please see below on how to reformat your external hard drive on mac and windows. Sep 19, 2014 she has a mac mini and a wd passport external hard drive. 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 h ard drive. Luckily, there are thirdparty tools to help you do so.
How to format an external hard drive for mac and windows. Its a good idea to backup your data for your mac using time machine. Buying and using an external hd is one thing, getting the most out of it is quite another. I have been trying to walk her through reformatting it but nothing is working. Youll find this 11 minute 36 second video a cool run through of how you can format your toshiba external hard drive for mac. Which is useful if you plan on using your toshiba drive with both a mac and pc. If you want to create multiple partitions on your external hard drive in fact, you should for better file organization, heres a stepbystep guide. Using an external hard drive on mac without formatting. How to format a hard drive on mac to work on mac and pc. May 21, 2018 in this video tutorial, i show you how to easily format an external hard drive to work on both a mac and a pc. However, ntfs is not fully compatible with mac computers. How to format new hard drive on windows 10 windows central. Any hard drive can be formatted for mac and here is how you do it. Formatting a hard drive can change the file system to make it compatible with your computers.
If you don t have a backup for data, then you can recover lost data from formatted usb drive on mac with this trusted data recovery software imyfone anyrecover. Under file system, choose the file system you want to use. How to recover from external hard drive readonly error on mac. Reformatting a hard drive is often done just to erase all of its contents. How to format an external hard drive the easy way in 2020.
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. If you see a warning says the device is only being mounted in readonly mode while connecting, your hard disk is diagnosed to have formatting errors that prevent you from writing files to it. If your external hard drive is read only on mac because it was formatted with microsoft ntfs file system, you can free download iboysoft ntfs for mac and feel free to copywriteeditdelete and transfer files on this drive without formatting it. Feb 21, 2020 another common cause for the external hard drive read only problem on mac is the formatting errors of the storage device itself. This wikihow teaches you how to change an external usb hard drive s format on windows and mac computers. Open the disk utility app and highlight your external hard drive. You can now recover all kinds of data from formatted usb. Simply connect the external drive via thunderbolt, usb, firewire or esata to your computer, turn on the power and then use the native disk utility of the operating system or a 3rd party program. The best ways to format an external drive for windows and. I would really like to know what the best solution is in formatting external hard drives to run on my.
When formatting a hard drive with disk utility, make sure to. Erasing a disk or volume permanently deletes all of its files. 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. How to format an external hard drive for mac youtube. Well show you everything you need to know about the. The disk utility gives no options for formatting under the erase. The best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac. You can select the exfat format when using the disk utility to format the drive. After youre done, dont forget to remove the external hard. On mac computers, use the finder app to browse and manage files on your computer and external hard drives. When the disk utility recognizes it the drive is read only. Format external hard drive with multiple partitions easeus.
Use the file system dropdown menu, and select ntfs recommended. How to format external hard drive to use on mac and pc. Solving readonly conditions for external hard drives cnet. Or it might be that you bought a drive to use with your mac only to discovered it is pre formatted for windows. Proceed based on whether youre erasing your startup disk or some other disk. How to share an external hard drive between mac and windows. To use my old external hard drive without formatting it, on my new mac.
Now in this interface, you will see a format option. How to format an external hard drive with pictures wikihow. Solving read only conditions for external hard drives. Before continuing, make sure that you have a backup of any files that you want to keep. This is because when you initially connect an external hdd made for mac to a mac computer, you wont be required to format it before you begin transferring files. Here well assume that your external drive has no partitions, so well need to create two. How to format or partition an external hard drive for mac. Format an external hard drive or usb flash drive for mac os x. Highlight your drive and click partition in disk utility. Aborted lacie setup assistant while it was formatting.
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. How to remove read only on mac external hard drive without formatting updated on april 4, 2020. How to format a hard drive for mac internal, external or flash. I cant edit external hard drives on macs your business. You can use lacie setup assistant to format your lacie hard drive when it is first connected to a computer windows or mac. Remove write protection from read only mac external hard drive either by editing preference file or using fuse package. How to share an external drive between a mac and a pc. Back up the files on the mac external hard drive before erasing it. In this guide, well show you how to format an external hard drive so you can not only get rid of the. Regardless of the physical size, capacity and medium your external drive. The below steps for formatting external drive is for windows 10 and also works the same with an old version of windows. The videos below demonstrate the complete process of formatting an external hard drive for full mac os x compatibility, this uses the.
Format external hard drive for mac with disk utility. This solves the problem of your external hard drive. Lacie setup assistant helps you to quickly format the storage device according to your needs. Be aware that formatting a hard drive erases the drive s contents. How to format an external hard drive for mac and pc. How to format external hard drives on a mac sweetwater. Mar 29, 2019 how to format a hard drive on mac to work on mac and pc.
It interprets what is on the external hard drive so that your mac or pc can read and write to the drive. Compare the different options for formatting an external hard drive to work with windows and mac. Choosing the right format for your external hard drive b. Jun 19, 20 solving read only conditions for external hard drives. To expand the storage capacity of your mac, you can connect one or more external drives, including solidstate or traditional movingplatter mechanisms as well as flashmemorybased thumb drives. How to resolve mac external hard drive read only error. Before a hard drive can read or write data, it must first be formatted, or erased and reconfigured. Trouble formatting external hard drive macrumors forums.
Jan 23, 2020 options for having an external hard drive for mac and pc without formatting. The exfat format supports virtually any size hard drive and file, unlike the outdated fat32 format. How to format external hard drives for mac and windows. Methods to recover read only external hard drive on mac. If the external hard drive is not erased correctly and has formatting errors, then macos may mount the drive but may not allow writing data on to it. Only after formatting it, they would realize that they had lost important data. Use a software solution you get a piece of software that sits on your mac. For mac users, buying an external hdd already formatted for your system makes getting started much easier. So, if you want to use an external hard drive on both windows and mac, you need to format it to a filesystem that is compatible with windows pc and mac. Formatting a hard drive can change the file system to make it compatible with your computers operating system, as well as fix any nonphysical errors on the drive itself.
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