Step 1 open finder, applications, then go to utilities and disk utility. 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. Therefore, based on these three file systems, we have two methods to make external hard drive compatible with mac and pc. The best format for your external hard drive the hellotech blog. Ever run out of storage space and start wondering if it would be possible to take a crowbar to your new unibody macbook pro to pry it open and put another hard. In this article, we are here with the detailed step by step guide on how to boot mac from external hard drive easily. Well show you everything you need to know about the. How can i reformat my external hard drive without losing. Hence, you must backup your important files before reformatting the drive if you want to save them. One of just a few options for macformatted external raid arrays, the promise pegasus3 r4 is a good choice if you need to store mountains of data and access it quickly. Bonus tip data recovery from formatted hard drive on mac. You can select the exfat format when using the disk utility to format the drive. One of the major limitations of this format is that its not able to write files larger than 4gb, which can be quite a setback.
The best format for external hard drives if you want to format your external hard drive to work with mac and windows computers, you should use exfat. Format an external hard drive or usb flash drive for mac os x. First, lets see how to format an external hard drive or usb drive in macos which works with both mac and pc platforms, first plugin your drive in macos machine. If you are techy and use windows and mac computers frequently, then you might need to transfer data between mac and pc. What formatting option should i use to format an external hard drive for use with time machine on imac retina 4k 2017 running os mojave.
Formatting an external hard drive would erase everything on it. Seagate backup plus hub for mac 8tb external hard drive desktop hdd usb 3. 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. Feb 27, 2018 before using an external hard drive on a mac, you should format it using disk utility. How to format a hard drive for mac internal, external or. Now either because of time, corruption or because it may have been formatted for a mac when i plug it into my pc i cant access it. With exfat, you can store files of any size, and use it with any computer made in the last 20 years. 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. Though this format has some limitations, it enjoys nearly universal support. When you get a new hard drive, it may already be formatted for windows or mac. Its a good idea to backup your data for your mac using time machine. How to format an external hard drive for use with a mac. Thus, when you are planning to use the same hard drive on any other os, particularly macos, it is always suggested to format your hard drive for mac.
Before a hard drive can read or write data, it must first be formatted, or erased and reconfigured. Designed by microsoft to provide similar compatibility to fat32 without the pesky limitations, exfat is the format of choice for drives that youll. The exfat format supports virtually any size hard drive and file, unlike the outdated fat32 format. From the volume format menu, choose mac os extended. The maximum individual file size for exfat is 16 eb. Choosing the right format for your external hard drive b. While drives are sold as plugandplay, formatting prior to use will give you optimal performance and compatibility with your mac. Best external hard drives for macs in 2020 techradar. If you want to make use of your macs thunderbolt port, then this is the best external hard drive for macs. How to reformat my external hard drive for windows 10. Apr 23, 2014 its a good idea to backup your data for your mac using time machine. Sep 26, 2018 need to format an external hard drive for mac and windows.
Once you open the disk utility app, you can see all the drives on your mac are listed on the lefthand sidebar. Transferring data from a mac to pc via an external hard drive. How to format an external drive for mac compatibility. 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.
Lacie mobile drive 5tb external hard drive portable hdd moon silver usbc usb 3. Both fat32 and exfat can be used on windows pc and mac. Most external hard drives are designed to work for windows computers. Select the external hard drive on the lefthand side. Any hard drive can be formatted for mac and here is how you do it. The easiest way is to drag it from one drive to another. How to format an external hard drive on windows formatting a hard drive on windows is a simple affair, especially if you leave everything as default. Heres how to format a drive if you are planning to use it with a mac.
Oct 18, 2019 this wikihow teaches you how to change an external usb hard drives format on windows and mac computers. How to format usb driveexternal hard drive on macos catalina. If you have a mac you should format the drive for your mac first thing, before you start using it. How to format or partition an external hard drive for mac. Seagate backup plus portable 5tb external hard drive hdd red usb 3. How to format external hard drives on a mac sweetwater. This is a simple procedure and is achieved the same way for all drive types and through. How to make external hard drive compatible with mac and pc. This insures that you will have a compatible hard drive with your computer. How to format external hard drives for mac and windows. 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. If youre lucky, you can just rightclick each partition on the mac drive and select delete volume to remove the partitions. If you want to format your external hard drive to work with mac and windows computers, you should use exfat.
Youll find desktop and portable external hard drives. Formatting is a very simple procedure which is operated in a similar way for all sorts of storage media. But it is hard to pick the suitable format as it depends on your usage. Quickly format an external hard drive for mac and windows pc. Click the icon for your external hard drive in the sidebar on the left. The best way to do it is with a drive formatted as fat32. Before starting the formatting hard drive in mac, you have to connect your mac system to external hard drive. On mac computers, use the finder app to browse and manage files on your computer and external hard drives. How to format external hard drive mac 2 simple methods revealed. This is because when you initially connect an external hdd made for mac to a mac computer, you wont be required to format it before you begin transferring files.
How to format an external hard drive with pictures wikihow. 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 format external hard drive mac 2 simple methods. Need to format an external hard drive for mac and windows. Before using an external hard drive on a mac, you should format it using disk utility. Just select the one you want to format and click on the erase tab. Highlight your drive and click partition in disk utility. Mar 10, 2019 connect an external drive to your mac via usb, usbc, or thunderbolt.
Fat32, exfat and ntfs are three file systems for external drive in windows, while ntfs is readonly on mac. To do this, you will need to use either exfat or fat32 formats. Apr 14, 2020 by this way, you can easily format an external hard drive for mac and pc without losing any data. How to use photos for mac with an external hard drive imore. How to share an external drive between a mac and a pc.
If youre erasing an external drive, make sure that its connected. Compare the different options for formatting an external hard drive to work with windows and mac. A portable drive draws power from your computer, so you wont need a power outlet, plus these drives easily fit in laptop backpacks. For some mac models, the partition option would be greyed out in disk utility. May 09, 2019 one of just a few options for mac formatted external raid arrays, the promise pegasus3 r4 is a good choice if you need to store mountains of data and access it quickly.
Formatting your toshiba hard drive for mac is important, as it makes the hard drive best suitable for the mac by formatting it with the osspecific file system and drivers. 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. How to format an external hard drive for mac and pc. Formatting a hard drive can change the file system to make it compatible with your computers operating system, as well as fix any nonphysical errors on the drive itself. Mac os x and windows can both read and write to disks in the fat or exfat format. If you want to create multiple partitions on your external hard drive in fact, you should for better file organization, heres a stepbystep guide. Select the drive from the left sidebar, then click the partition tab. Typically youll get more capacity for the price with desktop external hard drives for mac, which you can store on computer desks. Maybe you want to troubleshoot some problems, repair the disk, do partitions, format the entire disk, update, and install os x etc. Click the go menu and navigate to your home folder. Dec 22, 2019 how to format external hard drive mac.
Now in this interface, you will see a format option. 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. Because mac os x mountain lion does not natively support writing to an external ntfs drive, you must erase your hard disk and format it using a compatible file system. Here are the steps to partition an external hard drive for mac and windows pc, which is a little tricky. Feb 21, 2012 looking to share an external hard drive between a mac and pc. Use disk utility to erase format a hard disk, ssd, flash drive, or other. Change the partition layout from current to 1 partition.
Click go on the top tool bar, and select utilities. How can i reformat my external hard drive without losing data. So, it is better that you know your options and understand which format is right for you. Usb drives and external hard drives on macos catalina are used for storing and backing up important data such as photos, videos, audios, images, notes, messages, music files, pdf files, word documents, among other files.
How to format usb drive or external hard drive on mac. Oct 16, 2019 the best format for external hard drives. 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. To format the drive in windows, rightclick it in the file explorer window and select format. Fat32 is often used among general users, but fat32 has limitations that can affect filmmakers. To format external hard drive for mac with time machine, you must follow the steps below. How to format a hard drive on mac to work on mac and pc. Format usb drive, external hard drive on macos catalina. Drive speed is measured in revolutions per minute rpm, based on how fast the drive can spin. How to format an external hard drive the easy way in 2020. Step 2 on the left side of the utilities screen, find the name of the external hard drive you want to format and select it. So if youre trying to connect an external hard drive to a mac, you might. Most external hard drives you buy will come out of the box preformatted for a windows computer ntfs.
Choose the exfat file system in the list and click start. Format an external hard drive external hard drives use either spinning disks or solid memory to save your files. This thing is still unknown for many users but doesnt worry its not complex. This will allow you to use the hard drive on both a mac and pc. Open the start menu and search for disk management. Format external hard drive with multiple partitions easeus. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac. To find your best external hard drive for mac, youll want to decide how quickly you want to save and retrieve data. All is set, then you can go ahead to format the drive on your mac. To format your external drive hard drive in windows which works with both platforms, first plugin your drive with windows machine. The best format choice of external drive on mac using the external drive on mac is a good idea as it provides additional storage. Dec, 2019 you can format the external hard drive or usb drive to make it compatible with both mac and windows machines.
How to share an external hard drive between mac and windows. Then, you can share external hard drive between mac and pc. Dont close your previous window open to your external drive, as youll need it shortly. However, fat32 has a maximum 4gb file size limit whereas exfat can work with files as large as 16eb. I can find it under device manager and disk management but thats it. To format external hard drive on mac, all you have to do is plugin your hard drive and launch disk utility. 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. How to format an external hard drive for mac and windows. Discover the world of external hard drives for mac. You may also set a direct connection to your computer. Compare portable, usb and external hard drive models for office and home and shop online.
How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac laptop mag. That said, if you are using smaller file sizes fat32 can suffice. All these are executed perfectly when you use an external boot volume to boot up your mac. If you need to format external hard drive mac or windows, you may also consider the exfat files system. 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. Open the disk utility app and highlight your external hard drive. How to format external hard drive to use on mac and pc.
Connect the empty external hd to your mac and launch disk utility. This is not hard to do, and will take you only about a minutes effort. You can format an external hard drive or thumb drive to work seamlessly with both mac and windows by using the exfat file system. Enter a name for the external hard drive in the name field. Format external hard drive for mac with disk utility. Msdos fat is the most popular format amongst external hard disks, as its both readable and writable by nearly all operating systems, windows and os x included. Two ways to make external hard drive compatible with mac and pc. Feb 08, 2020 how to partition an external hard drive on mac.
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 convert a macformatted drive to a windows drive. Also, if your current hard drive is more than 5 years old, it probably is nearing the end of its service life and needs to be replaced. Now that you know which format to use, check out our guide on how to format your hard drive on. So, we suggest that its better to use a pc to partition an external hard drive for macos and windows. How to backup mac to an external hard drive 5 steps.
Aug 27, 20 using external drives to save space on your mac. But unfortunately it bit the dust and i decided to get a pc. Apr 17, 2020 to format external hard drive for mac with time machine, you must follow the steps below. The below steps for formatting external drive is for windows 10 and also works the same with an old version of windows. Apr 15, 2020 if you want to make use of your mac s thunderbolt port, then this is the best external hard drive for macs. For mac users, buying an external hdd already formatted for your system makes getting started much easier. Looking to share an external hard drive between a mac and pc. How to format an external hard drive for mac youtube. Which mac file system is best for an external drive.
The best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac. Step 2 follow the steps above to format the drive, and then you can use it with time machine on your mac system. By this way, you can easily format an external hard drive for mac and pc without losing any data. Open disk utility go to the applications folder and then to another folder, known as utilities.
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. Mar 22, 2012 the best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac. The best external hard drives for mac in 2020 pcmag. The mac drive may have an efi system partition on it. So, whether you wish to format the internal hard drive, external drive, or a usb flash drive, the procedure is the same for all.
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