Quickly format an external hard drive for mac and windows pc. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac laptop mag. You need to format a hard drive if you plan on using it in windows. Both fat32 and exfat can be used on windows pc and mac. However, you might do two passes via this method just to be safe. Disk utility on mac supports several file system formats. Also, you can manage the internal partitions, merge them, create new. In this video i help you guys convert your mac only external hdd into a windows compatible one. How to format hard drive for mac and pc on windows. Mar 22, 2012 the best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac. Some people are asking for a way to format a hard drive for mac. How to format a hard drive on mac to work on mac and pc. Sometimes, you may want to try format directly to format your external hard drive partition to exfat for 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.
Bonus tip data recovery from formatted hard drive on mac. Whether youre selling your computer, trying a new operating system, or setting up an external drive for backups, sometimes you need to completely erase and format a. Mac os journaled is the formatting option for mac and ntfs or msdoc is the formatting option for pc. External hard drives use either spinning disks or solid memory to save your files. Every major version of the operating system provides a dedicated solution to format hard drive as well as external storage units. The easiest way to do that is hit cmd and the spacebar at.
On mac computers, use the finder app to browse and manage files on your computer and external hard drives. File systems compatible with windows include fat32 and ntfs. Buying an external hard drive is one of the best options for adding the storage space to the mac computer system. Compare the different options for formatting an external hard drive to work with windows and mac.
How to format external hard drive mac 2 simple methods revealed. If you format your fat32 drive in windows, the drive partition cannot be larger than 32gb. To format the drive in windows, rightclick it in the file explorer window and select format. The formatted files erased by disk utility also can be recovered by free mac data recovery software. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac. 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. Fat32 and exfat can be compatible with mac and windows and you can choose one after realizing their respective merits and defects based on your demands. How to convert a macformatted drive to a windows drive. 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. File system formats available in disk utility on mac apple. For instance, users want to write data to and read data from, to do a clean installation of the windows system, to get rid of a virus or malware, to erase the data before giving the drive to someone else or throwing it away. There are a number of tools that can help you in this regard. Nov 22, 2019 i have an old external 1 tb hard drive id like to format for use with apple time machine backup. 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.
A single pass of zeros to a hard drive should prevent all software based file recovery programs from extracting information from the drive, which the format command in windows 7 and vista does by default. Format hard drive on windows 7 or earlier versions step 1 restart your computer and press f8 or del key to enter the bios settings. Before a hard drive can read or write data, it must first be formatted, or erased and reconfigured. How to format external hard drives on a mac sweetwater. Neither mac os nor windows recognize each others volume formats. For instance, users want to write data to and read data from, to do a clean installation of the windows system, to get rid of a virus or malware, to erase the data before giving the drive to someone else or throwing it away, or some other reasons. For this reason, a mac formatted hard drive is not directly compatible, nor. External hard disks and usb drives are generally formatted with the windows fat32 file system for. Apr 17, 2020 to format external hard drive for mac with time machine, you must follow the steps below.
How to format external hard drive mac 2 simple methods. How to use the format command to write zeros to a hard drive. You can select the exfat format when using the disk. Although we know its limitation of 4gb file size only. In the main interface, right click the partition on that need. This works with any hard drive, flash drive, ssd, usb drive, or just about any other. How to format an external hard drive for mac and windows. How to format external hard drives for mac and windows. Format an external hard drive or usb flash drive for mac os x. How to format drive with compatible file system for mac. Aug 22, 2019 how to format hard drive on mac and pc. However, it is not possible to format hard drive to exfat, the only option under the window of format file system is ntfs default. But before you can do anything, you need to make it clear that the hard.
The problem is that the disk is currently formatted as ntfs and is not readable with time machine. I have an old external 1 tb hard drive id like to format for use with apple time machine backup. How to convert a macformatted drive to a windows drive back up the drive s data first. Erase the mac partitions, including the efi system partition. Macs may also create a protected efi partition on these drives that you cant delete with the usual diskpartitioning tools. People might need to format a hard drive or an external hard drive in windows 10 for various reasons. Therefore, it is necessary to present a tutorial guide here to format or partition a hard drive within mac os. The mac drive may have an efi system partition on it. The best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac. Save any files you need to another volume before formatting. That said, if you are using smaller file sizes fat32 can suffice. To start, your first step will be to find disk utility. Here are two outstanding mac hard drive format software tools you can rely on. For instance, is the hard drive internal or external.
It is a quick way to format external hard drive on mac. This file system is specifically for mac systems and windows cant read this file system. Give the drive a descriptive name and leave the default settings. Both mac os x and windows allow users to format their hard drives using builtin utilities. To use hfsexplorer, connect your macformatted drive to your windows pc and launch hfsexplorer. Easily format external hard drive on windows or mac. Apr 22, 2012 to format a hard drive for compatibility of both mac and windows you can use fat32 format which has both readwrite capability on winmac respectively. Next, under the partition layout column, specify the number of partitions you want. For instructions on how to format your hard drive on a mac, please reference the following links. If you want to transfer files from a mac to windows pc and vice versa using an external portable hard drive then you have to have the external.
How to format a new or second hard drive on mac mac is obviously a very much different operating system from windows, let alone their features and steps to format a hard drive. How to convert mac only external hdd to windows compatible. When you connect a macformatted drive to windows, youll be informed that you need to format the disk in drive x. You cant format the hard disk on which windows is stored while windows is running, for the same reasons that you cant work on a cars engine while you. Format a disk for windows computers in disk utility on mac. The two solutions above can help you format external hard drive on windows or mac. To format external hard drive for mac with time machine, you must follow the steps below.
The other limitation is the total size of the partition. With exfat, you can store files of any size, and use it with any computer made in the last 20 years. Today, apfs is used on macs, iphones, ipads, and apple tvs. Change the partition layout from current to 1 partition.
If you want to insure full mac compatibility of a new external hard drive or flash disk, youll want to format the drive to the mac os extended filesystem. Now that you know which format to use, check out our guide on how to format your hard drive on. How to format a mac formatted drive to ntfs for it to work on windows 10 and other versions of windows that read ntfs. 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.
While you have bought this drive, you will find the drive already formatted for your mac or windows system. Nov, 2019 a single pass of zeros to a hard drive should prevent all software based file recovery programs from extracting information from the drive, which the format command in windows 7 and vista does by default. Read this stepwise tutorial and learn how to format hdd for mac and windows like a pro. Is it possible to format a hard drive to readwrite for both windows and mac os specifically, film and photo files. Of course, if you have a backup already, ignore this step. Therefore, it is necessary to present a tutorial guide here to.
This is particularly necessary for purchases of generic pc drives, which almost always come preformatted to be windows compatible rather than for mac os x. Click the file menu and select load file system from device. First and foremost, you need to decide which file system to use. Fortunately, there are some mac hard drive format software or smart disk formatting applications can help you securely and easily format, reformat, or erase hard drive under mac os. If you want to format your external hard drive to work with mac and windows computers, you should use exfat. To format the primary drive the hard disk where the operating system resides you need to boot into the setup program on windows 7 or windows 10 and use it to format your drive. How to format drive with compatible file system for mac and. Even though most people associate formatting with system installation, there are many other reasons why you might want to format your hard drive.
Mar 15, 2018 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. 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. 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. If you want to make your drive compatible with mac and windows, you need to format it with a common file system for mac and windows. The maximum individual file size for exfat is 16 eb. Format an external hard drive or usb flash drive for mac.
Click go on the top tool bar, and select utilities. Choose the exfat file system in the list and click start. How to format a hard drive windows 10, 8, 7, vista, xp. How to format your hard drive seagate support canada. Means if one want to transfer movie or any stuff greater than 4gb it cant be done in this format. Whether youre selling your computer, trying a new operating system, or setting up an external drive for backups, sometimes you need to completely erase and format a hard drive. Please backup your data off the hard drive that is being formatted. How to reformat mac os x without a recovery disc or drive. If your mac or pc has a windows os installed, then you wont face any trouble managing it.
Can a windows computer read a macformatted hard drive. Mar 29, 2019 how to format a hard drive on mac to work on mac and pc. For this reason, a macformatted hard drive is not directly compatible, nor. How to format new hard drive on windows 10 windows central. Formatting a disk or volume erases all the files on it. 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. How to format a hard drive on windows or mac avast.
To do this, just click on the start menu and look for disk management. Well show you everything you need to know about the. Convert formatted drive from mac to windows info remo. How to format a hard drive using the command prompt toms. Select the external hard drive on the lefthand side. For a windows computer to be able to read a hard drive, it needs to have a file system format that is compatible with windows. Apr 29, 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. First, you need to access the disk management tool on your windows. A complete solution do you wish to format hard drive for mac and pc, but cant find a solution. How you format a mac hard drive is entirely dependent on what kind of drive you plan on formatting. To sum up, it is easy to format an external hard drive for both mac and windows pc.
File system formats available in disk utility on mac. How to share an external hard drive between mac and windows. Format a disk for windows computers in disk utility on mac apple. Sep 26, 2018 windows pc and mac use different filesystems. Dec 22, 2019 how to format external hard drive mac. How to wipe a hard drive in windows 10 and macos techradar. 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. 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. 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 format new or second hard drive on windows 10mac.
Just transfer all useful files out from the external hard drive to other devices on mac. With disk utility open, locate the hard drive you want to partition and select partition. 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. If youre lucky, you can just rightclick each partition on the mac drive and select delete volume to remove the partitions. Feb 12, 2019 how to format a mac formatted drive to ntfs for it to work on windows 10 and other versions of windows that read ntfs. Hard drive format software for mac mac disk format software. But compared with formatting, an ntfs for mac driver like iboysoft ntfs for mac is a better and feasible solution.
The system tells you what key to press during the restart, so pay attention to your screen and be quick at pressing the right key. May 29, 2018 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. It will automatically locate the connected drive, and you can load it. Mac os x uses the hfs plus file system, while windows uses the ntfs file. How to format an external hard drive for mac and pc. Securely format external hard drive on windows and mac with super eraser. The best ways to format an external drive for windows and.
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