If you dont want to format the external hard drive for mac exclusively, you can choose msdos fat or exfat. A small drive will take a small amount of time to format and a very large drive will take a very long time to format. The instructions below are for windows 10, but other versions of windows from windows 7 and up can also format an external drive as exfat for use with mac as. Mar 19, 2020 to format a hard drive means to erase any information on the drive and to set up a file system so your operating system can read data from, and write data to, the drive. Please keep in mind that reformatting will result in the loss of all the data on the hard drive so make sure you back up your data elsewhere before starting. Today this video will show you how to format an external hard drive on windows and mac. Windowsformatted hard drives have either ntfs file system of an fat32 file system. The easiest way to do that is hit cmd and the spacebar at. Formatting a disk or volume erases all the files on it.
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 convert a macformatted drive to a windows drive back up the drive s data first. Compare the different options for formatting an external hard drive to work with windows and mac. 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. Before a hard drive can read or write data, it must first be formatted, or erased and reconfigured. 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 a drive for mac and pc compatibility macyourself. The maximum individual file size for exfat is 16 eb. You can select the exfat format when using the disk. External hard drives use either spinning disks or solid memory to save your files.
Nov 22, 2019 i have an old external 1 tb hard drive id like to format for use with apple time machine backup. Windows formatted hard drives have either ntfs file system of an fat32 file system. How to format a hard drive on mac to work on mac and pc. The mac drive may have an efi system partition on it. From all above, you can have a general idea of fat32 and exfat file system. How to format a hard drive on windows or mac avast. Format an external hard drive or usb flash drive for mac os x.
Click go on the top tool bar, and select utilities. How to wipe a hard drive in windows 10 and macos techradar. Choose a file type and formatting option and click on the start button to format the disk. How to format external hard drive on windows or mac. To format the primary drive the hard disk where the operating system resides you need to boot into the setup program on windows 7 or windows 10 and use it to format your drive. While you have bought this drive, you will find the drive already formatted for your mac or windows system. 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. Thus in order to make the hard drive windows formatted, you have to convert the file system to ntfs or fat32. Choosing the right format for your external hard drive b. To format the drive in windows, rightclick it in the file explorer window and select format. In this video i help you guys convert your mac only external hdd into a windows compatible one. How to format an external hard drive on windows 10.
Insert the flash drive or hard drive you want to format for windows compatibility. Neither mac os nor windows recognize each others volume formats. How to format your hard drive seagate support canada. Therefore, it is necessary to present a tutorial guide here to format or partition a hard drive within mac os. Dec 05, 2019 the windows system uses a hard drive with a different file system than the mac systems. A hard drive or hard disk can be used in any type of computer, whether for pc windows or for mac. Format a disk for windows computers in disk utility on mac apple. How to format a hard drive using the command prompt toms.
How you format a mac hard drive is entirely dependent on what kind of drive you plan on formatting. Open file explorer and locate your drive in the sidebar. Buying an external hard drive is one of the best options for adding the storage space to the mac computer system. Some people are asking for a way to format a hard drive for mac. Every major version of the operating system provides a dedicated solution to format hard drive as well as external storage units.
Some hard drives may also include drivers, firmware, or format wizards so be sure to check the user manual before formatting the hard drive. Windows also lets us format an external device like sd card, pen drive, etc. Even though most people associate formatting with system installation, there are many other reasons why you might want to format your hard drive. How to format drive with compatible file system for mac. How to format an external hard drive on windows and mac. If youre lucky, you can just rightclick each partition on the mac drive and select delete volume to remove the partitions.
How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac laptop mag. The best ways to format an external drive for windows and. To format external hard drive for mac with time machine, you must follow the steps below. How to format an external hard drive for mac and pc. Select the external hard drive on the lefthand side. Moving files from macformatted external hard drive to pc. Read this stepwise tutorial and learn how to format hdd for mac and windows like a pro. On mac computers, use the finder app to browse and manage files on your computer and external hard drives. 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 part 3. Also, you can manage the internal partitions, merge them, create new. You can format an external hard drive or thumb drive to work seamlessly with both mac and windows by using the exfat file system.
It is a quick way to format external hard drive on mac. Jan 17, 2019 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. How to convert a macformatted drive to a windows drive. Bonus tip data recovery from formatted hard drive on mac. How to format external hard drives for mac and windows. How to format drive with compatible file system for mac and. The problem is that the disk is currently formatted as ntfs and is not readable with time machine. Mac os x uses the hfs plus file system, while windows uses the ntfs file. You may need to reformat it to work with both computers. Sep 26, 2018 need to format an external hard drive for mac and windows. To format or reformat an external hard drive on mac, youll need the built in disk management tool called disk utility.
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. Save any files you need to another volume before formatting. For instructions on how to format your hard drive on a mac, please reference the following links. Mac os journaled is the formatting option for mac and ntfs or. I had information from a broken mac backed up at best buy, but because my mac broke, now i only have a windows computer. How to convert mac only external hdd to windows compatible. Simply rightclick its icon from my computer and from the context menu, click on the format option. Quickly format an external hard drive for mac and windows pc. How to format new or second hard drive on windows 10mac. Easily format external hard drive on windows or mac.
On the displayed window, choose mac os extended for the volume format menu and you may name the hard drive on the name box. The windows system uses a hard drive with a different file system than the mac systems. Need to format an external hard drive for mac and windows. How to format a flash drive for mac and pc compatibility. Macs may also create a protected efi partition on these drives that you cant delete with the usual diskpartitioning tools. How to format external hard drive mac 2 simple methods revealed. 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. How to format a drive for mac and pc compatibility posted by ant on march 11th, 2012 43 comments if you have an external hard drive or usb flash drive that youd like to use on both macs and windows pcs, choosing the right file system to format the drive can be confusing. But to get a hard drive to be compatible for both mac and pc, you have to. Convert formatted drive from mac to windows info remo. 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. Then, you need to choose the best file system for your external hard drive and follow these steps. How to use mac formatted external hard drive on windows.
Go to the applications folder on your macs hard drive, then go to the utilities folder, and launch disk utility. Choose the exfat file system in the list and click start. How to format an external hard drive on windows and mac youtube. How to format hard drive for mac and pc on windows. Apr 18, 2019 how to wipe a hard drive in windows 10 and macos. How to format new hard drive on windows 10 windows central. Both mac os x and windows allow users to format their hard drives using builtin utilities. 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. How to format external hard drives on a mac sweetwater. File system formats available in disk utility on mac. If you chose the standard format, which we suggested, the time it takes the drive to format will depend almost completely on the size of the drive. Securely format external hard drive on windows and mac with super eraser. How to format a new or second hard drive on mac mac is obviously a very much different operating system from windows, let alone their features and steps to format a hard drive.
Of course, if you have a backup already, ignore this step. You can then rightclick in the empty space and select new simple volume to create a partition and format it with the windows ntfs or fat32 file systems. Disk utility on mac supports several file system formats. How to format an external hard drive for mac and windows. 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. Please see below on how to reformat your external hard drive on mac and windows. To access the disk management tool, click the windows icon and type disk management.
First and foremost, you need to decide which file system to use. Compare the different options for formatting an external hard drive to work with. File system formats available in disk utility on mac apple. How to convert mac hard drive to windows without losing. 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. Rather than use a macformatted drive, you should get the important files off of it and use exfatformatted drives for moving data between macs and pcs. Change the partition layout from current to 1 partition. It seems they formatted the drive to the mac format, but i have no way to access the data, at least i think. Format a disk for windows computers in disk utility on mac. Dec 22, 2019 how to format external hard drive mac. 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. Follow these instructions if you plan to share an external hard drive between pc and mac computers.
Then, click the erase button below to kick off the process, which will take a few minutes only. You cant format the hard disk on which windows is stored while windows is running, for the same reasons that you cant work on a cars engine while you. Plug in the external hard drive into the system and open. As complicated as that might sound, its not really difficult to format a hard drive in any version of windows. How to share an external hard drive between mac and windows. Windows uses nfts file format while mac drives use hfs, this means macs cant write to ntfs drives while windows cant read or write hfs. 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. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac. Erase the mac partitions, including the efi system partition. Dec 29, 2015 the instructions below are for windows 10, but other versions of windows from windows 7 and up can also format an external drive as exfat for use with mac as well. The formatted files erased by disk utility also can be recovered by free mac data recovery software. Both mac os x and windows allow users to format their hard drives using built in utilities. People might need to format a hard drive or an external hard drive in windows 10 for various reasons. The best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac.
If you chose a quick format, your hard drive should only take several seconds to format. How to format a hard drive windows 10, 8, 7, vista, xp. How to format external hard drive mac 2 simple methods. Aug 22, 2019 how to format hard drive on mac and pc. Well show you everything you need to know about the. Just transfer all useful files out from the external hard drive to other devices on mac. Give the drive a descriptive name and leave the default settings. Plug your drive into the computer and, if necessary, into a wall outlet. Mar 15, 2018 rather than use a macformatted drive, you should get the important files off of it and use exfatformatted drives for moving data between macs and pcs. Formatting an internal or external drive under windows 7 or windows 10.
If your mac or pc has a windows os installed, then you wont face any trouble managing it. For instance, is the hard drive internal or external. In order to regain the full storage of external hard drive or wipe all sensitive data before sellingdonatingthrowing giveaway old external hard drive, we should format the external hard drive to clean up all data. Aug 30, 2019 how to format an external hard drive on windows. Mar 22, 2012 the best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac. The two solutions above can help you format external hard drive on windows or mac.
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