Developed by microsoft, this modern file system is optimized for situations where the ntfs file system is not a feasible solution, and the file size limit of the standard fat32 file system is unacceptable. Step 2 follow the steps above to format the drive, and then you can use it with time machine on your mac system. How can i reformat the internal drive and install mountain. How to format external hard drive and usb drive under. How to format an external hard drive for mac youtube.
When you get a new hard drive, it may already be formatted for windows or mac. The best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac. However, if you want to use this hard drive on both mac and windows or any other operating system, then there are other workarounds. Discover the world of external hard drives for mac. I bought it hoping that it would a fast way to back up my promise pegasus thunderbolt r4 4 tb thunderbolt 1 raid 5 configured. Now you would be able to use the external hard disk on both the computers. How to set up an external hard drive for use with mac os x. That said, if you are using smaller file sizes fat32 can suffice. So the first thing you want to do is connect the external hard. Traditional hard disks are the most common options of external drives for mac, but you can also use them as laptop internal hard drives. Click ok to confirm that you are aware of data elimination. Consider how youll be saving and transferring files, such as photos, videos, files from tablets, files from pc laptops, or photos from toprated cell phones. Create a dualformat drive for mac and windows malcontent.
Click go on the top tool bar, and select utilities. This small compact ssd drive from samsung comes with both a usb. If you have need for a dual format drive, this should be pretty easy for you. How to partition, format external hard drive on mac for mac and windows, how to set up time machine duration. The best ways to format an external drive for windows and. I saw there were ways to view and copy the data from the. May 08, 2010 i bought a new 1tb external hard drive. To format an external hard drive for mac with time machine, you must follow the steps below.
The maximum individual file size for exfat is 16 eb. The formatting decides the way the files are stored on your hard disk. How to reformat my hard drive using my macbook air quora. Now connect the external hard drive to windows 8 computer and format it in fat32 file system.
The western digital external hard drive scored high marks in every category and is our top pick. External hard disk online at low price buy hard disk drive with storage capacities of. Mar 22, 2012 the best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac. Open the disk utility app and highlight your external hard drive. Feb 08, 2020 how to partition an external hard drive on mac. Well show you everything you need to know about the. Dec 10, 20 to format the drive, attach the external hard drive to your system and open disk utility, and then perform the following steps. The external mac hard drives are available in different capacities to accommodate large data as well as users who do not require much space on their mac hard drives. External hard drives are handy tools in storing files, data and documents. If youre erasing an external drive, make sure that its connected directly to your mac using a cable that you know is good. How to format external hard drives for mac and windows. I rarely have files over 2gb and my mac is running on snow leopard. Hard disk buy 1tb,2tb external hard disk drive online upto 65.
Select the external hard disk that you want to format, and click erase. How to use mac formatted external hard drive on windows. Select that disk and click the erase button, the one highlighted in red in the screenshot below. 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. What is the benefit of purchasing a mac formatted external. How to format external hard drives on a mac sweetwater. If you dont plan on using the drive for time machine, skip steps 5 to 11 below and continue with step 12. After youre done, dont forget to remove the external hard.
Before continuing, make sure that you have a backup of any files that you want. Jan 09, 2020 if you need to format external hard drive mac or windows, you may also consider the exfat files system. Compare portable, usb and external hard drive models for office and home and shop online. Files were unknowingly hidden somewhere, and you lost the entrance.
Regardless of the physical size, capacity and medium your external drive. How to format external hard drive for mac and pc iskysoft. If your machine is still useable and can boot to mac os, you can create a bootable usb drive out of the image using the links from below and then proceed with the install from the drive. External usb hard drives are lightweight, portable and inexpensive. Format an external hard drive or usb flash drive for mac os x. Compare the different options for formatting an external hard drive to work with. By default, the 4tb hard drive uses the ntfs format for windows pcs, but theres a help file included on the drive that provides information for mac users so that you can reformat the drive and. Select your drive device in the list of devices in the lefthand pane, which is the item above any. Connect the external drive to the mac via usb or thunderbolt port. Aug 14, 2011 how to partition, format external hard drive on mac for mac and windows, how to set up time machine duration.
Connect the external hard drive to your mac and copy the important data to the mac pc. How to format an external hard drive for mac and windows its good to have an external hard drive which can be used for backup and other purpose. Shop our selection of mac external hard drives at staples. Unformat mac hard drive recover formatted hard drive on mac. In case you cant boot to mac you can still take help from a friend who has a mac with the procedure. To find your best external hard drive for mac, youll want to decide how quickly you want to save and retrieve data. There are various reasons why you might need to format external hard drives. To format the drive, attach the external hard drive to your system and open disk utility, and then perform the following steps. Use disk utility to erase format a hard disk, ssd, flash drive. Drive speed is measured in revolutions per minute rpm, based on how fast the drive can spin. Under file system, choose the file system you want to use. If you want to create multiple partitions on your external hard drive in fact, you should for better file organization, heres a stepbystep guide. When i open disk utility pertaining to the new hd i see 698.
Most or we can say almost every external hard disk comes in ntfs windows nt file system format but ntfs format is not supported by mac os. Apr 14, 2020 by this way, you can easily format an external hard drive for mac and pc without losing any data. How to recover data from a formatted external hard drive. Apr 04, 2015 or you just want to use an external hard drive on your mac exclusively this is how youll format it so that the mac can read it. Formatpartition an external hard drive on a mac how to. 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. I want to convert the hard drive s format so that its compatible with mac. The higher a disks rpm, the faster its working speed. Install an offtheshelf hard drive in an xbox 360 get 10x the gb for your money how to. Mac hard drives are available in three primary forms. Click the go menu and navigate to your home folder.
If your disk or volume still doesnt appear in disk utility, or disk utility reports that the erase process failed, your disk or mac might need service. Yes, connecting an external hard drive or usb flash key to a mac will generally read and work fine as is because the mac can easily read other filesystem formats, including windows msdos, fat, fat32, exfat, and ntfs formats, but unless you intend on using the drive between a windows and mac machine, formatting it to be entirely mac compatible filesystem is highly recommended, and necessary for time machine and to make disks bootable. For that, you might buy a new external hard drive and you connected with your mac computer or windows pc. Heres a look at how the different hd format types function. How to share an external hard drive between mac and windows. If you wish to change to mac os extended journaled. If you have need for a dualformat drive, this should be pretty easy for you. Oct 08, 2009 without too much mucking around, its now possible to create a dual format external drive that contains a mac formatted partition and a windowsformatted one. I received a replacement 750gb external hard drive from western digital. What formats should i choose in disk utility to make this disc compatible with both mac and windows.
Just transfer all useful files out from the external. I purchased it about a month ago and i down loaded thousands of pictures onto iti tried to retrieve a picture today and it keeps saying i need to format my drivei look on disk manager on my computer and it shows there is date on the drive but it keeps telling me i have to format my drive. What capacity of external mac hard drive is convenient. If you purchase an external hard drive as an addition to expand the storage space of your. I want to convert the hard drives format so that its compatible with mac. All hard drives offer extra storage for all personal and work data. Highlight your drive and click partition in disk utility. Best mac external hard drive we spent over 30 hours researching and testing 20 different external hard drives and found that hdd capacity, warranty, and backup. However, the new external hard drive comes as formatted drive, but, if you think the external drive should be formatted as another format filesystem.
How to format an external hard drive for use with a mac. A new window will pop up asking which file system youd like to format the external drive to. The drive is ntfs formatted and compatible with windows 8, 7, vista or xp. How to format or partition an external hard drive for mac. Another format, called fat32 is compatible with both os platforms. Select the drive, click erase, choose the name and format of the drive, and click erase. Mac hard drives typically spin at rates of 5,400 to 7,200 rpm. Best mac external hard drive we spent over 30 hours researching and testing 20 different external hard drives and found that hdd capacity, warranty, and backup speed were most important. Format the external hard drive using disk utility or other thirdparty disk formatting tools. The drive was fine for me through snow leopard, mountain lion, and mavericks on my old mbp, and for the past month or so was okay on the imac. If you need to format external hard drive mac or windows, you may also consider the exfat files system. How to recover data from external hard drive on mac with easeus data recovery wizard. Then, you can share external hard drive between mac and pc. Or you just want to use an external hard drive on your mac exclusively this is how youll format it so that the mac can read it.
Compare the different options for formatting an external hard drive to work with windows and mac. External hard drive format for mac and windows macrumors forums. Seagate stgx2000400 portable 2tb external hard drive portable hdd usb 3. I cant edit external hard drives on macs your business. What formats should i choose in disk utility to make this disc. Dont close your previous window open to your external drive, as youll need it shortly.
How to reformat mac external harddrive for pc march 2014. I dont want to download any 3rd party side to run it. 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. But sometimes, the units themselves, which carry proprietary firmware for the controller, may vary. Mac os extended journaled is the normal recomended way to format your drives, internal and external. How to format an external hard drive for mac and windows. This reduced power draw helps preserve the battery life of the mac you plug the drive into. Ssds are highspeed, and that makes them the goto memory option for ardent gamers, graphic designers, and other professionals who value speed over all else. How to format external hard drive on a mac latest version. Choosing the right format for your external hard drive b.
How to format an external hard drive for use with a mac most external hard drives you buy will come out of the box preformatted for a windows computer ntfs. With its distinctive rubber bumpers and brushed aluminum chassis, the drive offers drop resistance up to 5 feet, crush resistance that can withstand up to a 1ton car, and ip54 water. If you have important data on your external drive, be sure to transfer them to a different location as this operation will erase all the files on your drive. How an external hard drive can help make your mac fast. So if you re trying to connect an external hard drive to a mac, you might. 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. I have a back up of all my data i know it erases data when reformatting. Best mac external hard drive in 2020 mac external hard. If youre looking for a macfriendly external hard drive thats built for durability, take a look at lacies rugged thunderbolt usbc portable hard drive. 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 use photos for mac with an external hard drive imore. The capacities range from different gigabytes gbs to terabytes tbs for maximum storage of all types of data ranging from music, videos, photos, and documents.
When trying to save large files in final cut pro, the hard drive would save numerous files with none over 2gb in size. Sep 03, 2011 i need to reformated my wd 1tb external hard drive and was wondering what is the best file format to use ms dos fat32, mac os extended journalled etc all i store on it are all my videos, tv shows, and backups of all my work, documents etc, but i dont use it with time machine. Using a 2tb wd external drive, usb 2, connected to a brand new imac. 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 driveusb but also destroy and wipe all personal data on our device. Mar 10, 2019 connect an external drive to your mac via usb, usbc, or thunderbolt. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac laptop mag. Most external hard drives you buy will come out of the box preformatted for a windows computer ntfs. Most external hard drives hd are sold in a format called ntfs, which is designed to work with windows. Cross compatibility rests on the os itself and additional plugins.
Most external hard drives are designed to work for windows computers. It seems they formatted the drive to the mac format, but i have no way to access the data, at least i think. Best format for an external hard disk apple community. Step 1 open finder, applications, then go to utilities and disk utility. Without too much mucking around, its now possible to create a dualformat external drive that contains a macformatted partition and a windowsformatted one. Best external hard drives for macs in 2020 techradar. With its distinctive rubber bumpers and brushed aluminum chassis, the drive offers drop resistance. How to format an external hard drive for use with a mac pro. External hard drive format for mac and windows macrumors. Its good to have an external hard drive which can be used for backup and other purpose. Shop for external hard disk drive, hdd of seagate, wd elements. How to format an external drive for mac all things how. Desktop external hard drives usually run at 7200 rpm to offer all the speed they can. Thus, having an external hard drive will help you to save your files.
Quickly format an external hard drive for mac and windows pc. If a user has much data, the larger capacity hard drives are ideal. I always format a new drive as mac os extended journaled, immediatly and before use. Select the desired format, and press start to begin formatting. Ntfs format hard disks can be connected to mac os but the drive will run with readonly permission which means you can only copy from hard disk. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac. The first step is the only really tricky part, and its not even that tricky. Shop mac powder blush format 6g at amazon uks beauty shop. How to format external hard drive mac 2 simple methods. The previous defunct hd was also fat32, which i did not realize upon receiving and using. I had information from a broken mac backed up at best buy, but because my mac broke, now i only have a windows computer. They are great for backing up data, creating extra storage space on your computer and transferring large amounts of data between two or more computers.
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