It interprets what is on the external hard drive so that your mac or pc can read and write to the drive. All options, including format, is greyed out except to delete volume. How to convert a macformatted drive to a windows drive. How you format a mac hard drive is entirely dependent on what kind of drive you plan on 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.
Change the partition layout from current to 1 partition. Format a disk for windows computers in disk utility on mac. In general, windows builtin tools disk management and diskpart can format drive to exfat easily. With disk utility open, locate the hard drive you want to partition and select partition.
Aug 30, 2019 today this video will show you how to format an external hard drive on windows and mac. Jan 23, 2020 options for having an external hard drive for mac and pc without formatting. Just like windows, macos also gives us a seamless option to format hard drive for mac and pc. However, this format doesnt support larger files, which can be problematic for transferring 4k videos and so on between macs and windows 10.
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. Instead, well just be wiping the drive and starting over from scratch. That said, if you are using both a pc and mac in the workflow, youll need to use a different. Select the external hard drive on the lefthand side. 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. But if you didnt foresee that, you may have formatted your drive with apples hfs plus, which windows cant read by default.
Erase the mac partitions, including the efi system partition. If the builtin disk came apfsformatted, dont change it to mac os extended. 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. Formatting a disk or volume erases all the files on it. Right click this pcmy computer and choose manage in the context. Nov 19, 2015 now that we know the good and bad about every file system, let see how to format a drive in windows, mac, and linux.
Sep 26, 2018 after that, you can use your external hard drive on both mac and windows machine. Lacie setup assistant helps you to quickly format the storage device according to your needs. Choose ntfs if your external drive is an ssd or a largecapacity hard drive. Click go on the top tool bar, and select utilities. How to format a hard drive windows 10, 8, 7, vista, xp. Your backup plus desktop is formatted as ntfs for compatibility with windows out of the box. How do i make my hard drive compatible with mac and pc. How to format drive with compatible file system for mac and. About how to format external hard drives for both macs and windows. Some people are asking for a way to format a hard drive for mac. 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. 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.
Aomei partition assistant is such a great simple tool for formatting external hard drive for mac and windows. Using it, you can erase a hard drive, create new partitions, and even repair your disk as well. 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. 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.
External hard drive compatible with mac and pc without. This mac disk formatting software is pretty simple to use. Give the drive a descriptive name and leave the default settings. It will automatically locate the connected drive, and you can load it. 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. Click the link to know how you can do this without any additional software. 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 best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac. 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. How to format an external hard drive for mac and pc. Please see below on how to reformat your external hard drive on mac and windows. Does formatting a hard drive completely erase all data. Your old external windows pc drive will work great on the mac. Nov 11, 2019 how to partition hard disk in windows 710 without formatting.
Step 6 once formatting completes, you can then use your drive in mac as a usual hard drive part 3. Windowsformatted hard drives have either ntfs file system of an fat32 file system. For instance, is the hard drive internal or external. In the volume format list, select mac os extended journaled. 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. After disk management opens, which might take several seconds, look for the drive you want to format from the list at. 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. If you are techy and use windows and mac computers frequently, then you might need to transfer data between mac and pc. Well show you everything you need to know about the. Options for having an external hard drive for mac and pc without formatting. To format a western digital my passport external hard drive in exfat or fat32 format, you. Hard drives advertised as being compatible with windows and mac.
To use hfsexplorer, connect your macformatted drive to your windows pc and launch hfsexplorer. Its not at all common to set a custom allocation unit size when formatting a hard drive in windows. The operating system has an inbuilt tool, which is known as disk utility. Rightclick this pcmy computer and choose manage in the context. 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. Aborted lacie setup assistant while it was formatting. To start, your first step will be to find disk utility. Compare the different options for formatting an external hard drive to work with windows and mac. Erase or format your macs drives using disk utility. 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. After that, you can use your external hard drive on both mac and windows machine.
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. 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. Sep 17, 2019 and you should now see your toshiba external hard drive on your desktop. Run it on your mac, choose this mode wipe hard drive. How to format an external hard drive for mac and windows. 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. Dec 05, 2019 but using a third party all the time for accessing a hard drive on windows is not good. The instructions told me to download and install the ntfs program so it would be compatible with both mac and windows. 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. For instructions on how to format your hard drive on a mac, please reference the following links.
How to format new or second hard drive on windows 10mac. 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. Are you formatting the disk that came built into your mac. The best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac cnet. First, back up the data on the macformatted drive if you have anything important on it. Then, click erase at the bottom to format the drive. Sep 20, 2019 this wikihow teaches you how to format your computers builtin hard drive. This tool will quickly format the selected mac hard drive partition and permanently erase all. How can i format this drive in windows 7 home premium. If youre using such a drive and youd like to write new data. This is a detailed tutorial on how to format a hard drive in windows 10, windows 8, windows 7, windows vista, and windows xp.
Now, i have a new macbook pro and all my data is still on that external hd. To learn how to format in mac your hard drive, follow these steps. Most external hard drives hd are sold in a format called ntfs, which is designed to work with windows. When youve plugged in your toshiba drive for the first time your mac may well ask you to format the drive. How to partition hard disk in windows 710 without formatting. The easiest way to do that is hit cmd and the spacebar at. Compare the different options for formatting an external hard drive to work with. Mar 22, 2012 the best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac. How to convert a macformatted drive to a windows drive back up the drive s data first. Also, for windows installation and file backups, ntfs is a more ideal option. The windows system uses a hard drive with a different file system than the mac systems. How to use toshiba external hard drive on mac solved.
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. How to format hard drives on windows, mac and linux. 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. 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. Quickly format an external hard drive for mac and windows pc. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac laptop mag. How to format an external drive to work seamlessly with macs. 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 best ways to format an external drive for windows and. Next, under the partition layout column, specify the number of partitions you want. Jan 17, 2020 why need to format external hard drive for mac and pc. Open disk management, the hard drive manager included with all versions of windows. Besides, you can use it to manage your hard drive partitions such as resize partition, delete partition, split partition, merge partitions, etc. 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. A vast majority of video production will be done on a mac or windows operating system, so we arent going to cover linux. How to format external hard drive for pc, mac and linux.
It said the ntfs is as good and sometimes a little faster than macs native formatting. If you have a mac lying around, you can plug the drive into a mac and back up the files. Just transfer all useful files out from the external hard drive to other devices on mac. Both mac os x and windows also support the fat32 file system, but we dont recommend it for hard drives. Opening disk management can be done a number of ways. Click the file menu and select load file system from device. 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. You can follow the question or vote as helpful, but you cannot reply to this thread. However, when we connect a ntfs formatted disk to mac, mac os x doesnt allow us to write. Apple has built os x yosemite and some previous os x releases with the ability to read from those disks just fine. You can format your hard drive on both windows and mac computers. 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.
I have already tried to format this hard drive and eventually had to return it as it did not work on mac or windows. How to format external hard drive to use on mac and pc. How to properly format a new hard drive on windows 10. How to format an external hard drive on windows and mac. Are you about to install macos high sierra or later on the disk. May 14, 2015 macs can easily read pcformatted hard disk drives. This thing is still unknown for many users but doesnt worry its not complex. Use a software solution you get a piece of software that sits on your mac. To partition a hard drive in windows means to section off a part of it and make that part available to the operating system. 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. You will learn the easiest way to format drive on mac and windows as exfat. And you should now see your toshiba external hard drive on your desktop.
Of course, if you have a backup already, ignore this step. As complicated as that might sound, its not really difficult to format a hard drive in any version of windows. The drive was sold as a mac drive but was formatted for windows. That is to say, my external hard drive is unable to work well both in mac and windows. Today this video will show you how to format an external hard drive on windows and mac. A user has to know how to convert mac formatted hard drive to windows formatted. Select the partition you want to format and click on wipe now button. This process wont actually convert the file system. To format your external drive hard drive in windows which works with both platforms, first plugin your drive with windows machine. How to share an external hard drive between mac and windows. Moving files from macformatted external hard drive to pc. 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. Windows formatted hard drives have either ntfs file system of an fat32 file system. How to format external hard drives for mac and windows.
External hard drive is popular storage device and it can be used to store all kinds of digital information such as images, documents, apps. How to format drive with compatible file system for mac and windows. How to format drive with compatible file system for mac. How to initialize and format an external hard drive on windows.
Aug 22, 2019 just like windows, macos also gives us a seamless option to format hard drive for mac and pc. But using a third party all the time for accessing a hard drive on windows is not good. Choosing the right format for your external hard drive b. Now that we know the good and bad about every file system, let see how to format a drive in windows, mac, and linux.
Why need to format external hard drive for mac and pc. Feb 03, 2020 are you formatting the disk that came built into your mac. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac. Add or delete partitions to your hard drive without formatting in windows 710. How can i reformat my external hard drive without losing. 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. Mac os journaled is the formatting option for mac and ntfs or msdoc is the formatting option for pc. You can say no and just copy files off the drive onto your mac. Although in principal, formatting means to erase existing data and free up space for utilization, the procedures are. 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. But to get a hard drive to be compatible for both mac and pc, you have to choose the. 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. 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. Want to format an external hard drive for mac and windows pc.
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. You can use lacie setup assistant to format your lacie hard drive when it is first connected to a computer windows or mac. 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. However, ntfs is not fully compatible with mac computers. Need to format an external hard drive for mac and windows. You can format the external hard drive or usb drive to make it compatible with both mac and windows machines. 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. From all above, you can have a general idea of fat32 and exfat file system. Save any files you need to another volume before formatting. Rightclick this pc my computer and choose manage in the context menu to enter computer management. 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. The below steps for formatting external drive is for windows 10 and also works the same with an old version of windows. Format a disk for windows computers in disk utility on mac apple.