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. Now in this interface, you will see a format option. You can format an external hard drive or thumb drive to work seamlessly with both mac and windows by using the exfat file system. Be sure to doublecheck this you could accidentally wipe the wrong drive if you select the wrong disk here. Compare the different options for formatting an external hard drive to work with. In the format partition section, select the file system.
Tracks and sectors make up the blocks which is used to store data. 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. It will erase all the data stored in it, making it empty in one go. Mac os journaled is the formatting option for mac and ntfs or msdoc is the formatting option for pc. Rightclick on the drive you want to format, click on format. How to format external hard drives for mac and windows. If you want to write to ntfs formatted hard drives in mac os x, youre going to. A window will pop up where you can choose the format ntfs, fat32, or exfat. 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. Click the icon for your external hard drive in the sidebar on the left. Please note that once the hard drive is formatted by aweeraser for mac, all the data on the hard drive will be permanently erased, cant be recovered by data recovery software or. 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. File system formats available in disk utility on mac apple support. If the other mac isnt using high sierra or later, choose mac os extended journaled.
From the volume format menu, choose mac os extended. 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. This will allow you to use the hard drive on both a mac and pc. Both fat32 and exfat can be used on windows pc and mac. Insert the mac os x install disc and restart your computer while holding down the c key on your keyboard, so the mac boots from the install disc. You might already know the consequences of formatting a hard drive. However, you cant write or delete files from a mac. Highlight your drive and click partition in disk utility. Disk utility on mac supports several file system formats.
Make sure the allocation unit size is set to default and type in a volume label. 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. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac. Low level format or llf is the first type of format that is done on a hard disk. How to format a hard drive on mac to work on mac and pc.
Click on the format menu and choose either msdos fat32 or. 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. While apfs is optimized for the flashssd storage used in recent mac computers, it can also be used with older systems with traditional hard disk drives hdd. If you want to create multiple partitions on your external hard drive in fact, you should for better file organization, heres a stepbystep guide. This is why they are called as known as physical formatting. So youre using disk utility to partition your new hard drive when youre. You can select the exfat format when using the disk utility to format the drive. Quickly format an external hard drive for mac and windows pc. To format external hard drive for mac with time machine, you must follow the steps below. A single high resolution file can easily go over 4 gb, so fat32 may not the best format. How to format external hard drive to use on mac and pc. Choose either apfs or mac os extended journaled to format as a mac volume.
If you run into the issue of not having enough space format it to be the ex fat as. The best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac. I suggest using ethernet if possible because it is. How to format or partition an external hard drive for mac. Macyourself blog archive how to format a drive for mac and pc. How to convert a macformatted drive to a windows drive. For example, here wed type select disk 2 finally, type clean and press enter.
Select the mounted drive on the left hard side bar. Disk utility shows the recommended mac format by default. Disk utility tries to detect the type of storage and show the appropriate format in the format menu. Once it is done, you can do hard disk format for mac and pc to enjoy the following advantages. Hy,i format my hard drive on mac os extended journaled,but i want to. Open the disk utility app and highlight your external hard drive. Heres how to format a drive if you are planning to use it with a mac.
If it cant, it chooses mac os extended, which works with all versions of macos. Please remember that all data will be deleted from the drive, so make sure you have made a backup. While apfs is optimised for the flashssd storage used in recent mac computers, it can also be used with older systems with traditional hard disk drives hdd. 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. As mentioned before, macs can only read ntfsformatted hard drives by default. Select reinstall lionmountain lion and click on the install button. Although there are third party tools that could allow you to do so. How to format drive with compatible file system for mac. Select your drive from the list and rightclick on it. Hard drive format software for mac mac disk format software. Once you open the disk utility app, you can see all the drives on your mac are listed on the lefthand sidebar. How to format external hard drive mac 2 simple methods. Hard drives advertised as being compatible with windows and mac os. File system formats available in disk utility on mac.
Compare the different options for formatting an external hard drive to work with windows and mac. Here are your macos file system options and how to pick the best one for you. Bonus tip data recovery from formatted hard drive on mac. Fat32 is the crossplatform format for windows and mac os x. Format an external hard drive or usb flash drive for mac os x. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac laptop mag. In the main interface, right click the partition on that need. To format the drive in windows, rightclick it in the file explorer window and select format. Everything you need to know about your macs hard drive. In this video tutorial, i show you how to easily format an external hard drive to work on both a mac and a pc. Make sure the allocation unit size is set to default and type in a. How to format external ssd for mac time machine mashtips. With exfat, you can store files of any size, and use it with any computer made in the last 20 years.
Click on the erase button and wait until the process has completed. In this guide were using exfat instead of fat32, another filesystem that both windows and mac can read and write to, because fat32 has a. Therefore, before you format macpc drive, make sure that you have taken a backup of your important data. Just select the one you want to format and click on the erase tab. How to format an external drive for mac compatibility. Enter a name for the external hard drive in the name field. Type exit and hit enter to close the program when diskpart reports it has successfully formatted the volume. Current mac operating systems only allows reading of ext 4 drives. Actually, most external hard disks could be compatible with mac and pc as long as you format them correctly. Click on the usb drive in the sidebar in disk utility. Fat32 is readwrite compatible with a majority of recent and recently obsolete operating systems, including dos, most flavors of windows up to and. This command erases the entire selected disk, including all its files and partitions whether.
Disk utility lets you format your drive using many filesystems like the three listed above. The best format for your external hard drive the hellotech blog. Earlier versions of macos dont mount apfsformatted volumes. Choosing the right format for your external hard drive b. Fat32 is often used among general users, but fat32 has limitations that can affect filmmakers.
The usb drivers come with the fat format by default. Go to applicationsutilities and launch disk utility. The format is good for handling the files between both os under 4gb size. On the command prompt black window, type diskpart and hit enter. The best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac cnet. Enter a name that you want the volume to have after you erase it, such as macintosh hd. How to format an external hard drive for mac and windows. Fat fat 16 fat 32 fat, short for file allocation table, is the most compatible format for storing data. Format a usb drive as exfat for mac and windows compatibility. Compare the different options for formatting an external hard drive to. 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.
1573 483 425 1531 538 1521 1138 542 1269 1204 936 819 671 1186 132 928 1243 247 842 1572 162 8 363 149 1361 485 1179 449 1322 673 114 361 516 1036 492 1336 1073