How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac laptop mag. How to format a flash drive for mac and pc compatibility. Compare the different options for formatting an external hard drive to work with. This is a simple procedure and is achieved the same way for all drive types and through. The format apple support for mac owners for time machine is mac os extended journaled. 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. Disk utility in macos high sierra or later can erase most disks and volumes for mac using either the newer apfs apple file system format or the older mac os extended format, and it automatically chooses a compatible format for you. How to format usb flash drive to fat32 in mac os x. If a wireless network is available, you can choose it from the wifi menu in the menu bar. Compare the different options for formatting an external hard drive to work with windows and mac. Disk utility is a utility application proprietary to macos that is used to both format and manage internal and external disks. How to format hard drive and fix disk format errors on your mac. Heres how to format a drive if you are planning to use it with a mac. Sep 26, 2018 windows pc and mac use different filesystems.
This is an article for mac, it is erasing a hard drive from a mac command line, it is not a windows tutorial. Since formatting an external hard drive will erase all of its files if you wish to save them you must back them up copy. How do i format a disk partition from the command line on. Set the format to mac os extended journaled and the scheme to guid partition map. How to format external ssd for mac time machine mashtips. Newer macos installations should use apfs by default, and if youre formatting an external drive, apfs is the faster and better option for most users. Quickly format an external hard drive for mac and windows pc. Open finder and choose applications utilities disk utility to launch the app on your mac. How to format hard drive and fix disk format errors on mac. Disk utility can be used to format external drives as well. File system formats available in disk utility on mac. Windows uses ntfs and mac os uses hfs and theyre incompatible with each other. May 09, 2008 these are instructions on how to format a hard drive using mac os x disk utility.
Video tutorial on how to format an external hard drive. How to format usb flash drive to fat32 in mac os x admfactory. Apfs vs mac os extended which mac disk format is best. Erasing adata hc660 media will delete all data stored on it, and cannot be undone. And they will never cause any damage to your hard drive or shorten the service life of the hard drivessdusb flash drive, etc. If you are looking to format a disk that will be shared with windows users, the mbr.
To learn how to format in mac your hard drive, follow these steps. 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. Although we know its limitation of 4gb file size only. How do i format a disk partition from the command line on os x. You can format an external drive in os x using disk utility and terminal. Choose mac os extended journaled or another file system if youre aware of what each of them offers. How to format a usb external disk for mac osx using disk. Launch disk utility, located in applications utilities. Enter a name for the disk or volume, such as macintosh hd. Time machine cant currently back up to an apfs disk and if you select one for use with time machine, it will offer to reformat it as mac os extended. Disk utility on mac supports several file system formats. Aweeraser is the outstanding one among the 5 disk formatting tools. 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 describe.
Select the nonindented entry for your seagate drive. How to format external hard drives on a mac sweetwater. If a wireless network is available, you can choose it from the wi. How to format an external drive for mac launch disk utility. Exfat more modern ms file system any file size can be used. Select the disk from the menu, select your language, then choose disk utility from the utility dropdown menu and proceed to reformat it to the right settings. If you selected the drive name instead of its description you wont see the scheme option. Format a hard drive using mac os x disk utility iclarified.
Its easy to reformat your hard drive using disk utility in macos or os x. The top 5 disk formatting tools for windows and mac can help you securely format hard drive or external device under windows mac os. Otherwise, you can skip this step and do it from the utilities page during the macos or os x installation. How to format an external hard drive for mac and windows.
Here are two hard drive format software tools for mac to help you securely format, reformat and erase hard drive, external hard drive, usb flash drive, and memory card under mac os. So please back up your important files before you run super eraser for mac to format. How to reformat mac os x without a recovery disc or drive. Go to the applications folder on your macs hard drive, then go to the utilities folder, and launch disk utility.
Locate the drive name from the left hand side of disk utility and click on it. If you are trying to format mac external hard drive, you can go over the process step by step. Aug 22, 2019 just like windows, macos also gives us a seamless option to format hard drive for mac and pc. How to create disk partition in mac os sierra and other os x duration.
Unlike windows os, mac os doesnt provide quick format tool. Partition a hard drive for macos time machine and windows. How to format hard drives as apfs in macos high sierra 10. Hard drive format software for mac mac disk format software. Download disk formatting software for mac doyourdata. Dec 29, 2015 how to format a hard drive for both windows and mac. Erase and reformat a storage device in disk utility on mac apple. If you do not see the scheme option, then you have selected the volume and not the drive. Jan 15, 2020 learn how to use macos recovery to reinstall the mac operating system on your builtin drive or an external drive. To format a usb flash drive to fat32 in mac os x follow these steps. Format external hard drive with windows builtin tool.
The best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac. And there you have it one read and writable disk ready for osx. In the main interface, right click the partition on that need. Instructions for how to format your external drive so that it will be fully usable in macos. It will securely format the hard drive and permanently erase the data. Give the drive a descriptive name and leave the default settings. To format a hard drive for compatibility of both mac and windows you can use fat32 format which has both readwrite capability on win mac respectively. These processes will work for both internal and external hard driveseven usb. Below the file system format, the disk utility dialog box will list another contextual menu, the partition map scheme, which gives you another great tool to create targeted volumes. How to format external hard drive mac 2 simple methods. But its a good idea to also create a third partition on your disk that both macos and windows 10 can use.
Once disk utility is open youll see the list of available drives on the left. Sep 06, 2019 disk utility can be used to format external drives as well. However, when you format your hard drive with super eraser for mac, all your data will be permanently lost. Open the disk management tool by rightclicking this pc manage disk management. Connect your external hard drive to your windows 10 pc. Fat32 is the crossplatform format for windows and mac os x.
The format is good for handling the files between both os under 4gb size. Feb 03, 2020 disk utility in macos high sierra or later can erase most disks and volumes for mac using either the newer apfs apple file system format or the older mac os extended format, and it automatically chooses a compatible format for you. This stepbystep guide will show you how to format an external hard drive on a mac, and how to partition a drive on a mac. How to format drive with compatible file system for mac and.
May 29, 2018 to format external drive to file system compatible with mac and pc, connect the drive to your computer and follow the detailed steps given below take formatting hard drive to exfat in windows 7 for example. Theres no winner in the apfs vs mac os extended battle, as it depends on the drive youre using. But luckily, there are file systems well supported by both mac and windows pc, and they are fat32 it might be called msdos on mac and exfat. For apple mac users, the easier way to format usb flash drive to fat32 is using the disk utility.
In disk utility on your mac, erase and reformat a storage device to use with a mac. These steps can be used for both internal and external drives. At this point, you can proceed to the next section to format your mac backup partition. Dont worry, the top 5 disk formatting tools bellow are 100% safe disk formatting tool for windows or mac os.
Using it, you can erase a hard drive, create new partitions, and even repair your disk as well. Mar 22, 2012 the best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac. When the driver is installed, you format your ntfs disks with disk utility where you select windows nt filesystem as the format. If you want maximum reach, mac os extended journaled is the right choice. The usb drivers come with the fat format by default. 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. Still with the external disk selected in disk utility go to the erase tab, select mac os extended journaled from the format dropdown, choose to name the disk and then click erase. Jan 15, 2019 time machine cant currently back up to an apfs disk and if you select one for use with time machine, it will offer to reformat it as mac os extended. In the disk management, youll see your external hard drive as partition or unallocated space.
How do i format a disk partition from the command line on mac os x. However, the mac os does not allow you to write data to the drive. Jun 02, 2017 in this video we look at the process of formatting a hard drive, flash drive, or ssd on an apple computer. To format external drive to file system compatible with mac and pc, connect the drive to your computer and follow the detailed steps given below take formatting hard drive to exfat in windows 7 for example. The 4 disk formatting software for mac above can help you easily format hard drive, usb flash drive, memory card, and other storage media under mac os. Just like windows, macos also gives us a seamless option to format hard drive for mac and pc. So, if users anticipate using the flash drive with more than one operating system, they will definitely benefit from the fat32 file system. Jan 02, 2016 formatting a drive on your mac is quite easy. Freeware version installation package dmg includes executable, being able to run on imac, macbook. By default, they format disks with the mac only os x extended file system.
Click on the view button in the upper lefthand side, change to show all devices. You can, however, backup an apfs formatted disk to a mac os extended time machine drive. Os x extended casesensitive, journaled for using with mac servers. How to format a new internal ssd in macos high sierra. Click on the erase option from the four options available in the main window. Jul 05, 2017 macs support a variety of file systems.
How to format usb flash drive to fat32 on mac os xmacos easeus. Connect the usb fash drive to the mac os x computer. Some people are asking for a way to format a hard drive for mac. Feb 21, 2020 its a universal format that is compatible with mac os xmacos, windows, linux and dos systems. Formatting would erase data completely, make sure that you have a data backup. Click the erase button or tab, then complete these fields.
How to format an external drive for mac compatibility. Os x can default read ntfs disks, but not write to them. In this video we look at the process of formatting a hard drive, flash drive, or ssd on an apple computer. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac.
Its a universal format that is compatible with mac os xmacos, windows, linux and dos systems. Apr 17, 2020 disk utility is a utility application proprietary to macos that is used to both format and manage internal and external disks. Disk utility info first aid partition erase restore mount erase adata hc660 media. How to format usb flash drive to fat32 on mac os xmacos. Provide a name, choose a partition map and format, and click erase to proceed. Step one if your hard drive is an external drive, connect it to the computer.
How to reinstall macos from macos recovery apple support. For apple mac users, there are two ways to format a usb flash drive to fat32, including disk utility and. Choose either apfs or mac os extended journaled to format as a mac volume. Step 1 connect the external hard drive you want to format to your mac, then start the disk utility app that you can find under applications utilities. 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. But, if you plan on using an external drive with both macs and pcs, you should format the disk with the exfat file system instead. You may wonder how to reformat an external hard drive on mac. The easiest way to do that is hit cmd and the spacebar at. If your mac doesnt work, you can do this using a second mac and an external hard drive caddy.
These are instructions on how to format a hard drive using mac os x disk utility. How to format drive with compatible file system for mac. Msdos fat outdated ms file system, can be used for pcmac compatibility but with files less than 4gb. Both fat32 and exfat can be used on windows pc and mac. Insert the flash drive or hard drive you want to format for windows compatibility. Format an external hard drive or usb flash drive for mac os x. Jun 29, 2017 how to format hard drives as apfs in macos high sierra 10. They will efficiently format hard drive or external device under windows or mac os. And they will never cause any damage to your hard drive or shorten the service life of. How to format external hard drive mac 2 simple methods revealed.
The operating system has an inbuilt tool, which is known as disk utility. This guide covers how to format a hard drive using macos. How to install macos or os x on a new hard drive for your mac. By default, they format disks with the maconly os x extended file system.
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