From all above, you can have a general idea of fat32 and exfat file system. How to format drive with compatible file system for mac and. Why need to format external hard drive for mac and pc. You will learn the easiest way to format drive on mac and windows as exfat. You can format your hard drive on both windows and mac computers. I have realized that ntfs drive is fully supported on windows computer, but read only on mac computer. Then, select your hard drive from the left sidebar. Sep 26, 2018 after that, you can use your external hard drive on both mac and windows machine. Step 6 once formatting completes, you can then use your drive in mac as a usual hard drive part 3. Aug 30, 2019 today this video will show you how to format an external hard drive on windows and mac. 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. To start, your first step will be to find disk utility. Want to format an external hard drive for mac and windows pc. How do i make my hard drive compatible with mac and pc.
If you know youre going to use a drive on both mac and windows, you should use the exfat file system, which is compatible with both. Right click this pcmy computer and choose manage in the context. External hard drive is popular storage device and it can be used to store all kinds of digital information such as images, documents, apps. Moving files from macformatted external hard drive to pc. How to format drive with compatible file system for mac. Give the drive a descriptive name and leave the default settings. How you format a mac hard drive is entirely dependent on what kind of drive you plan on formatting. Change the partition layout from current to 1 partition. Aomei partition assistant is such a great simple tool for formatting external hard drive for mac and windows. How to partition hard disk in windows 710 without formatting.
How to format external hard drives for mac and windows. Jan 23, 2020 options for having an external hard drive for mac and pc without formatting. I have already tried to format this hard drive and eventually had to return it as it did not work on mac or windows. Choosing the right format for your external hard drive b.
Windows formatted hard drives have either ntfs file system of an fat32 file system. If the builtin disk came apfsformatted, dont change it to mac os extended. This process wont actually convert the file system. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac. The drive was sold as a mac drive but was formatted for windows. Choose ntfs if your external drive is an ssd or a largecapacity hard drive.
You can say no and just copy files off the drive onto your mac. This mac disk formatting software is pretty simple to use. Plug in your external hdd to the usb port of your computer then go to my computer find your external drive rightclick it and select format. 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. But to get a hard drive to be compatible for both mac and pc, you have to choose the. For instance, is the hard drive internal or external. Formatting a disk or volume erases all the files on it.
Today this video will show you how to format an external hard drive on windows and mac. You cannot format the whole hard drivedoing so would erase your operating systembut you can format a portion of the hard drive after creating a partition. Use a software solution you get a piece of software that sits on your mac. Convert formatted drive from mac to windows info remo. Here, we will introduce you to how to format hard drive in windows 10 with windows builtin disk management tool, a partition manager, and command lines.
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. How to format an external hard drive for mac and pc. To format your external drive hard drive in windows which works with both platforms, first plugin your drive with windows machine. 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 convert a macformatted drive to a windows drive back up the drive s data first. How to properly format a new hard drive on windows 10. Select the external hard drive on the lefthand side. How to format drive with compatible file system for mac and windows.
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. Are you formatting the disk that came built into your mac. Options for having an external hard drive for mac and pc without formatting. Although in principal, formatting means to erase existing data and free up space for utilization, the procedures are. 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. How can i format this drive in windows 7 home premium. This article shows you how to format an external hard drive via different methods, and you can follow these methods to format external hard drive for pc, mac or linux.
How to format a new or second hard drive in windows 10 formatting a drive may vary in terms of different operating systems, like windows and mac. Most external hard drives hd are sold in a format called ntfs, which is designed to work with windows. I need to know how to format it on a mac for both windows and mac compatible devices as well as know what the formatting will do in regards to file size restriction etc. Open disk management, the hard drive manager included with all versions of windows. To put it simply, if you want to share external hard drive between mac and pc, you need to format an external hard drive for mac and pc. However, when we connect a ntfs formatted disk to mac, mac os x doesnt allow us to write. Format a disk for windows computers in disk utility on mac apple.
Compare the different options for formatting an external hard drive to work with windows and mac. Sep 17, 2019 and you should now see your toshiba external hard drive on your desktop. If youre using such a drive and youd like to write new data. Save any files you need to another volume before formatting. You can format external hard drive or other external drives with exfat or fat32 file system for mac and windows, so that both mac and windows computer can read and write it. In the next 5 minutes read, you will master yourself in formatting a wd my passport safely and in a manner best suited for sharing your digital files between a macos and windows os. 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. Run it on your mac, choose this mode wipe hard drive. Feb 03, 2020 are you formatting the disk that came built into your mac. Rightclick this pcmy computer and choose manage in the context. 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. Well show you everything you need to know about the.
The instructions told me to download and install the ntfs program so it would be compatible with both mac and windows. Please see below on how to reformat your external hard drive on mac and windows. Most of the time, the part of the hard drive is the entire usable space, but creating multiple partitions on a hard drive is also possible so that you can store backup files in one partition, movies in another, etc. About how to format external hard drives for both macs and windows. How to format a hard drive windows 10, 8, 7, vista, xp. Erase or format your macs drives using disk utility.
How to format hard drives on windows, mac and linux. The operating system has an inbuilt tool, which is known as disk utility. How to share an external hard drive between mac and windows. 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. To learn how to format in mac your hard drive, follow these steps. However, ntfs is not fully compatible with mac computers. Aug 22, 2019 just like windows, macos also gives us a seamless option to format hard drive for mac and pc. That is to say, my external hard drive is unable to work well both in mac and windows.
How to format an external hard drive for mac and windows. To format a western digital my passport external hard drive in exfat or fat32 format, you. 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. To partition a hard drive in windows means to section off a part of it and make that part available to the operating system. How to format wd my passport in windows system just like disk utility on mac, there is an inbuilt tool known as disk management in windows. Now that we know the good and bad about every file system, let see how to format a drive in windows, mac, and linux. Of course, if you have a backup already, ignore this step. How to initialize and format an external hard drive on windows. But using a third party all the time for accessing a hard drive on windows is not good. Add or delete partitions to your hard drive without formatting in windows 710. And you should now see your toshiba external hard drive on your desktop. The best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac cnet. How to format an external drive to work seamlessly with macs.
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. May 29, 2018 i want to copy and transfer files between the two computers using my portable external western digital hard drive that is originally formatted with ntfs. Need to format an external hard drive for mac and windows. When youve plugged in your toshiba drive for the first time your mac may well ask you to format the drive. First, back up the data on the macformatted drive if you have anything important on it. It will automatically locate the connected drive, and you can load it. Format a usb drive as exfat for mac and windows compatibility. Some people are asking for a way to format a hard drive for mac. Quickly format an external hard drive for mac and windows pc. For instructions on how to format your hard drive on a mac, please reference the following links.
It interprets what is on the external hard drive so that your mac or pc can read and write to the drive. Format a disk for windows computers in disk utility on mac in disk utility on your mac, you can format an external disk for a windows computer. This thing is still unknown for many users but doesnt worry its not complex. Mar 15, 2018 if you know youre going to use a drive on both mac and windows, you should use the exfat file system, which is compatible with both. The best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac.
Erase the mac partitions, including the efi system partition. After that, you can use your external hard drive on both mac and windows machine. Although it is possible to format a drive as exfat from disk utility on the mac, that drive will not work with windows pcs, and thats not what. Click go on the top tool bar, and select utilities. All options, including format, is greyed out except to delete volume. However, this format doesnt support larger files, which can be problematic for transferring 4k videos and so on between macs and windows 10. It said the ntfs is as good and sometimes a little faster than macs native formatting. Apple has built os x yosemite and some previous os x releases with the ability to read from those disks just fine. As complicated as that might sound, its not really difficult to format a hard drive in any version of windows. Heres how to format a drive using a mac including how to format a drive for windows and mac so the contents can be read on both platforms, and what format to use for time machine.
Your old external windows pc drive will work great on the mac. That said, if you are using both a pc and mac in the workflow, youll need to use a different. Next, under the partition layout column, specify the number of partitions you want. Hard drives advertised as being compatible with windows and mac. This tool will quickly format the selected mac hard drive partition and permanently erase all. With disk utility open, locate the hard drive you want to partition and select partition. How to format external hard drive for pc, mac and linux. Rightclick this pc my computer and choose manage in the context menu to enter computer management. But if you didnt foresee that, you may have formatted your drive with apples hfs plus, which windows cant read by default.
Mar 22, 2012 the best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac laptop mag. A user has to know how to convert mac formatted hard drive to windows formatted. Does formatting a hard drive completely erase all data. Format a disk for windows computers in disk utility on mac.
External hard drive compatible with mac and pc without. Just like windows, macos also gives us a seamless option to format hard drive for mac and pc. Compare the different options for formatting an external hard drive to work with. In the volume format list, select mac os extended journaled. Instead, well just be wiping the drive and starting over from scratch. But dont forget to back up your important data in the drive into a safe place before formatting. Therfore, you can connect backup plus desktop to a windows pc without formatting the hard drive. Mac os journaled is the formatting option for mac and ntfs or msdoc is the formatting option for pc. May 14, 2015 macs can easily read pcformatted hard disk drives. You can format the external hard drive or usb drive to make it compatible with both mac and windows machines. Both mac os x and windows also support the fat32 file system, but we dont recommend it for hard drives. How to format an external hard drive on windows and mac. Otherwise, formatting a hard drive using the quick format option or an earlier version of windows will not actually erase all of its stored data.
Jan 17, 2020 why need to format external hard drive for mac and pc. This is a detailed tutorial on how to format a hard drive in windows 10, windows 8, windows 7, windows vista, and windows xp. While its convenient to purchase the hard drive that will work with your computer right out of the box, most external hard drives can also be reformatted so youre not limited to your initial choice. How to use toshiba external hard drive on mac solved. 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. The below steps for formatting external drive is for windows 10 and also works the same with an old version of windows. How can i reformat my external hard drive without losing. Sep 20, 2019 this wikihow teaches you how to format your computers builtin hard drive. Windowsformatted hard drives have either ntfs file system of an fat32 file system. Dec 05, 2019 but using a third party all the time for accessing a hard drive on windows is not good. Also, for windows installation and file backups, ntfs is a more ideal option. Besides, you can use it to manage your hard drive partitions such as resize partition, delete partition, split partition, merge partitions, etc.
How to format external hard drive to use on mac and pc. In general, windows builtin tools disk management and diskpart can format drive to exfat easily. As formatting will delete all the data on the hard drive, make sure that you have successfully backed up your files to another safe place before windows 10 disk format. A vast majority of video production will be done on a mac or windows operating system, so we arent going to cover linux. Opening disk management can be done a number of ways. Select the partition you want to format and click on wipe now button. The windows system uses a hard drive with a different file system than the mac systems. The best ways to format an external drive for windows and. Its not at all common to set a custom allocation unit size when formatting a hard drive in windows. The easiest way to do that is hit cmd and the spacebar at. You can use lacie setup assistant to format your lacie hard drive when it is first connected to a computer windows or mac. Click the file menu and select load file system from device.
You can follow the question or vote as helpful, but you cannot reply to this thread. How to convert a macformatted drive to a windows drive. Then, click erase at the bottom to format the drive. 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. 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. Aborted lacie setup assistant while it was formatting. Now, i have a new macbook pro and all my data is still on that external hd. Click the link to know how you can do this without any additional software. Lacie setup assistant helps you to quickly format the storage device according to your needs. After disk management opens, which might take several seconds, look for the drive you want to format from the list at. When you choose to format a hard drive, you are essentially only removing the pointers to the data as the partition table is either cleared or rebuilt. Your backup plus desktop is formatted as ntfs for compatibility with windows out of the box. If you have a mac lying around, you can plug the drive into a mac and back up the files.
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