- Format Usb Hard Drive For Mac And Windows
- Mac Os Format External Drive
- Format Hard Drive For Mac And Windows
Updated on January 7th, 2019
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. Agile project management software mac.
Before you can use it though, you need to properly format or reformat a hard drive so that it will become compatible or readable with the Operating System that you are using. In this guide I will show you how you can properly format/reformat a hard drive for Mac OS. Formatting a hard drive for Windows will be discussed in another article. Format my hard drive only for MAC- Go into your applications and choose the application ” Hard Disk Utility ”- Select your external hard drive in the ” External ” section (here my external hard drive has the same name as my internal hard drive)- Click on ” Clear ”- Rename your external hard drive.
External hard drive is popular storage device and it can be used to store all kinds of digital information such as images, documents, apps, emails, etc. You can connect external hard drive to computer via USB cable and then transfer data with internal hard drive. Regardless of the brand or model, the first thing you may need to do after purchasing an external hard drive might be partitioning and formatting it.
Using an external drive between Mac and Windows computers can be a hassle, since you constantly have to reformat it to fit which computer you're using it on. Instead of reformatting it all the. Mar 15, 2018 Rather than use a Mac-formatted drive, you should get the important files off of it and use exFAT-formatted drives for moving data between Macs and PCs. To format the drive in Windows, right-click it in the File Explorer window and select “Format.” Choose the “exFAT” file system in.
Formatting external disk can be done via various methods and it can be formatted to a range of file system so that you can use the disk under different operating system platforms. The formatting process removes all data on the partition and thus causes data loss. You should create a backup for important data before formatting if the disk contains significant files. Keepvid for macbook air.
A brand-new external hard drive is usually partitioned into s single partition with NTFS file system. Still many users would like to format the external hard drives and people do that due to various reasons:
- Format external hard drive to required file system. The brand-new disk you purchase might not be formatted to the file system type you need. To change file system type, formatting should be done.
- To quickly remove content from external hard drive. Quick formatting is able to format a partition within seconds, and all data on the volume will be deleted. This is a good solution to delete data and free up disk space.
- To optimization performance for disk. Formatting can clear data fragmentation quickly and easily.
- Remove virus or malware. Since external hard drive might be used on many computers, it tends to infect virus. Many users would format it to clear virus and avoid more damages.
- To fix file system errors. Sometimes external hard drive may become RAW or reports errors like “The file or directory is corrupted and unreadable”, you can fix these errors by formatting the volume after file recovery.
Step 1: Connect your external hard drive with your computer and open Windows Explorer to check if it can be recognized.
https://kzfnpw.weebly.com/dvd-maker-for-mac.html. Note: if you have stored data to the drive, please back it up before formatting the disk. Spotify in mixxx.
Step 2: Right-click on the external hard disk and select “Format” option from context menu.
Step 3: On the formatting window, select Quick Format option, choose file system format, and click Start. Also you can enter a name for the drive under Volume Label.
Step 4: System prompts formatting removes all data and asks confirmation for the action. Click OK and formatting starts.
This method formats external hard drive using Windows built-in utility Disk Management. If your external hard drive does not show up in Windows Explorer, you can follow this instruction to complete the formatting.
Step 1: Access Windows 10 Disk Management by right-clicking Start menu and selecting “Disk Management” item from the list.
https://robotkeen.weebly.com/blog/screen-recorder-gold-serial-key. Step 2: Locate the external hard drive in Disk Management and check its status.
If there is not partition on the disk or the disk is marked with Not Initialized, you cannot format it directly.
Bitdefender for mac reviews 2019. The next step assumes the external hard drive is full of unallocated space and shows how to format it.
Step 3: Right-click on unallocated disk space and select New Simple Volume from the context menu.
Step 4: You can see the “Welcome to the New Simple Volume Wizard” now. Click Next button to proceed.
Step 5: The wizard will ask you to select set partition size, drive letter, file system, format method, etc. step by step. You can follow suggested option to complete the process.
Want to use external hard drive under both Windows PC and Mac? In this case, you should consider the hurdle that these operating systems support different filesystems. The default file system in Windows is NTFS, while Mac OS users HFS. The filesystem that is compatible with Windows and Mac is exFAT and FAT32.
exFAT VS FAT32, which one should be chosen for Max and PC? It is recommended to use exFAT by many experts, because FAT32 has a maximum 4GB file size limit and exFAT does not has such limitation, and exFAT also performs better than FAT32. FAT32 is also a good choice if you do not store files whose single size does not exceed 4GB.
FAT32 and exFAT file system is supported by Windows though, they are originally designed for removable storage devices like USB flash drive, SD card. When you try to format an external hard drive which has very large capacity in Windows, FAT32 or exFAT may not be available. https://partssupernal.weebly.com/blog/manual-download-10586-windows-10. Also, some users may encounter error “The volume is too big for FAT32”. In this section, we’ll use a free Windows partition manager to complete the formatting task.
Eassos PartitionGuru is free Windows partition manager and it supports various file systems such as FAT32, NTFS, exFAT, Ext2, Ext3, Ext4, etc. and the formatting process is very simple.
Step 1: Install and launch Eassos PartitionGuru from your computer and find the external disk you want to format.
Step 2: Right-click on the partition to be formatted and select “Format Current Partition” option from context menu.
Step 3: Select Filesystem type from the drop-down list and click Format button.
Step 4: Click Yes button when Eassos PartitionGuru asks confirmation for the operation.
This part of this guide applies to format external or portable hard drive to Ext2, Ext3 or Ext4 file system under Windows 10/8/7, so that the drive can be used under Linux.
Snap for mac. Step 1: Connect the portable drive to computer and launch Eassos PartitionGuru. Then you can see the drive is displayed in the software.
Step 2: Select the partition you want to format to Linux file system, and click “Format” button from toolbar.
Step 3: The Format window pops up and you can select Linux filesystem from Ext4, Ext3 and Ext3 from drop-down list. Then click Format button.
Step 4: Click Yes button to continue and formatting will be completed within a couple of seconds.
Aug 22,2019 • Filed to: Solve Mac Problems • Proven solutions
“How to format hard drive for Mac and PC? I want to resell my computers and would like to get rid of my data beforehand, but can’t seem to format my system!”
It doesn’t matter what kind of situation you are in, it is important to learn how to format HDD for Mac and Windows. You might want to resell your system, get rid of something, or simply want to make more free space on it.
While it might sound complicated, both Mac and Windows give us dedicated features to manage our disk space. You can use it to manage your storage, merge partitions, and even do a disk format for Mac and PC. In this post, we will cover dedicated solutions on how to format your hard drive in Mac and PC.
Part 1. Why should you consider formatting your hard drive?
You might already know the consequences of formatting a hard drive. It will erase all the data stored in it, making it empty in one go. Therefore, before you format Mac/PC drive, make sure that you have taken a backup of your important data. Once it is done, you can do hard disk format for Mac and PC to enjoy the following advantages.
- It will help you get rid of any sensitive data from your hard drive, so that the other user can’t access it.
- Once the disk is formatted, it will make it empty and let you store new content on it. Therefore, you can consider formatting a partition if you are running low of space.
- In case if the hard drive has been corrupted by a virus, then you can format it entirely to get rid of any malicious activity.
- By formatting a partition, you can manage the storage on your PC/Mac and merge the free space with another sector as well.
- It will automatically defragment the disk, which will let you reclaim the lost space on the storage unit.
- You can also resolve any disk issue by formatting your hard drive.
- After formatting a disk, you can reassign a file system to it, and make it compatible with your PC/Mac.
Part 2. Major Formats of Hard Drive for Mac and PC
Format Usb Hard Drive For Mac And Windows
Over the time, more than a hundred different kinds of file systems and formats have been developed for Mac and PC hard drive. Though, here are some of the most commonly used and compatible formats.
- exFAT: It stands for Extended File Allocation Table and is developed by Microsoft. The file system is mostly used to allocate space on external storage units like USB drives or SD cards.
- NTFS: The New Technology File System is used by Windows NT operating systems. It is the common format for the native hard drive of the system and is equipped with tons of new-age memory allocation techniques.
- FAT32: The File Allocation Table format is used to store data on units that have a capacity of more than 32 GB. It mostly works on external storage units like flash drives and is compatible with both Mac and Windows.
- APFS: The Apple File System is the native technique for macOS, iOS, tvOS, and even watchOS. It provides high-end encryption and is a replacement for the age-old HFS+ system developed by Apple.
There are different other kinds of file systems that your hard drive can support. To check it, just select the partition or the external disk, right-click, and visit its “Properties”. Go to the “General” tab to know details about the file system of the disk.
Part 3. How to Format Hard Drive for Mac and PC on Windows?
Mac Os Format External Drive
If your Mac or PC has a Windows OS installed, then you won’t face any trouble managing it. Every major version of the operating system provides a dedicated solution to format hard drive as well as external storage units. Also, you can manage the internal partitions, merge them, create new ones, and do so much more. Here’s how to format hard drive on your Windows PC.
- First, you need to access the Disk Management tool on your Windows. To do this, just click on the Start menu and look for “disk management”. Alternatively, you can also access it from the Control Panel.
- This will open a dedicated window for various disks on your system. Simply select a partition that you wish to format and right-click it. Choose the “Format” option to proceed.
- As the formatting wizard will open, select the kind of file system that you wish to convert it to. For instance, it can be NTFS, exFAT, and so on.
- You can also allocate it the relevant size or label it here as well. If you have less time, then you can choose to quick format it by enabling the relevant option.
- In the end, you will get a confirmation prompt like this. Just click on the “Format” or “Yes” button and wait for a while as the disk would be formatted.
Important Note: Formatting an external device
Windows also lets us format an external device like SD card, pen drive, etc. quite easily. Simply right-click its icon from My Computer and from the context menu, click on the “Format” option. Photo editing software that comes with mac. Choose a file type and formatting option and click on the “Start” button to format the disk.
Part 4. How to Format Hard Drive for Mac and PC on Mac?
Just like Windows, macOS also gives us a seamless option to format hard drive for Mac (and PC). The operating system has an inbuilt tool, which is known as Disk Utility. Using it, you can erase a hard drive, create new partitions, and even repair your disk as well. To learn how to format in Mac your hard drive, follow these steps:
- To start with, just go to Finder > Applications > Utilities to view all the available tools and features. From here, you can launch the Disk Utility application.
- Here, you can view all kinds of storage units available on your system (both internal and external). Simply go to the left panel and select the disk you wish to format.
- On the right, you can view details about the selected disk. Go to its toolbar and click on the “Erase” option.
- This will display the following pop-up on the screen. You can give the partition/drive a label, select its partition scheme, and specify its file format as well.
- Click on the “Erase” button in the end and confirm your choice as Mac would format the selected disk.
In no time, the entire disk would be emptied and you can manage it the way you like. You can follow the same drill to format an external device on Mac as well.
Part 5. How to Recover Formatted Hard Drive on Mac?
By following the above-listed methods, you would be able to format hard drive for Mac and PC seamlessly. Though, if you have formatted a hard drive accidentally, then you might end up losing your important files. In this case, you can take the assistance of Recoverit Data Recovery software to get back your lost or deleted content from Mac. The data recovery tool is available for free and supports all the major macOS and Windows versions. Following a simple on-screen process, you can easily extract your data from your Mac’s hard drive or an external device.
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![Format external hard drive for mac and windows Format external hard drive for mac and windows](/uploads/1/3/4/3/134329377/384372203.jpg)
- Recover Word documents from all storage devices like Mac.
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- Scan and preview the files before you recover them from MacBook hard drive.
If you have deleted a partition on Mac or have lost it due to any other reason, then you should use Recoverit Data Recovery. It can help you restore partition data on Mac by following these easy steps.
Step 1: Select a Location
![Format Hard Drive For Mac And Windows Format Hard Drive For Mac And Windows](https://www.disk-partition.com/articles/images/format-seagate-for-mac-and-pc-0310/format-seagate-for-mac-and-pc.jpg)
Firstly, launch the Recoverit Data Recovery application on your Mac and from its home, pick a location. A list of all the available locations will be displayed. You can just pick a source and start the scan.
Step 2: Scan the Location
This will commence the data recovery operation on the selected location. You simply need to wait for a few minutes for the scan to finish successfully.
Format Hard Drive For Mac And Windows
Step 3: Preview and Recover
Once the process is completed, you can just preview the extracted data on Recoverit’s interface. Make the needed selections and click on the “Recover” button, so that you can save your files to a safe location.
Important Note:
If you are running the latest version of macOS, then you should consider disabling its System Integrity Protection feature first. This will allow third-party apps like Recoverit to access the partitions and file system on your Mac. Restart your Mac and press the Command + R keys to boot it in the Recovery mode. Launch the Terminal app by visiting the Utilities menu and enter the command: csrutil disable. In the end, restart your Mac in the normal mode and launch Recoverit again.
Part 6. Tips for Formatting Hard Drive
If you want to get positive results while formatting your hard drive on Mac or PC, then consider following these steps:
- Since formatting will erase all the existing data on your hard drive, make sure you have taken its backup beforehand.
- When your system is formatting the drive, don’t halt the process in between as it can make the storage unavailable.
- As both Windows and Mac provide native solutions to format hard drive, you should avoid using any unreliable third-party tool.
- While formatting, you would be asked to pick a file system for the disk. Therefore, make sure that the file system is supported by your Mac or Windows.
- Instead of a quick format, you should follow the standard process. This will save the empty space on your system and avoid disk fragmentation.
Conclusion
Now you can easily format hard drive for Mac and PC like a pro, without facing any trouble. Apart from formatting the internal drive, we have also listed a smart solution to format external devices as well. Not just that – the guide has also included a working solution to recover data from a formatted drive. If you have accidentally formatted a drive, then use Recoverit Data Recovery. An excellent recovery tool for Mac and Windows, it will make sure that you never suffer from an unwanted loss of data again.
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