This file system is specifically for mac systems and windows cant read this file system. Compare the different options for formatting an external hard drive to work with. If you really fancy a drive formatted for windows which will usually come preformatted in the ntfs format, you can use the disk utility in. Therefore, it is necessary to present a tutorial guide here to format or partition a hard drive within mac os.
While you have bought this drive, you will find the drive already formatted for your mac or windows system. But somehow, macos doesnt allow you to write data to the drive. Aug 22, 2019 how to format hard drive on mac and pc. Please see below on how to reformat your external hard drive on mac and windows. The best ways to format an external drive for windows and. Understanding hard drive partitioning with disk management.
How to format an external hard drive for mac and pc. Both fat32 and exfat can be used on windows pc and mac. Mar 22, 2012 the best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac. Feb 08, 2020 so, you just bought an external hard drive or a portable ssd and wanted to use it on your mac. 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. 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. How to convert a macformatted drive to a windows drive. Format external hard disk drive for mac os and windows.
Quickly format an external hard drive for mac and windows pc. 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. Jun 30, 2018 you will learn how to format the external hard disk which has deafult ntfs format, to make it compatible with mac os. The maximum individual file size for exfat is 16 eb. Thats all because its been initialized with windows nt file system ntfs, which is primarily for pcs. Format an external hard drive or usb flash drive for mac os x. How to format drive with compatible file system for mac and. How to format a hard drive on mac to work on mac and pc. Next, open a command prompt window as administrator.
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. You will learn how to format the external hard disk which has deafult ntfs format, to make it compatible with mac os. 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. Well show you everything you need to know about the. External hard drives use either spinning disks or solid memory to save your files. But to get a hard drive to be compatible for both mac and pc, you have to. Choose the exfat file system in the list and click start.
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. Convert formatted drive from mac to windows info remo. How to format an external hard drive on windows and mac youtube. 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.
For example, in the screenshot below, the mac formatted drive is disk 2. 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. Formatting a disk or volume erases all the files on it. How to format a hard drive windows 10, 8, 7, vista, xp. Before continuing, make sure that you have a backup of any files that you want to keep. A complete solution do you wish to format hard drive for mac and pc, but cant find a solution. Just like windows, macos also gives us a seamless option to format hard drive for mac and 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. The best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac cnet. To sum up, it is easy to format an external hard drive for both mac and windows pc. Note that using a drive frequently between windows and mac could increase the chances of file corruption, so make. Mac can read all the file system formats including windows msdos, fat, fat32. Both mac os x and windows allow users to format their hard drives using builtin utilities.
Format a disk for windows computers in disk utility on mac. As complicated as that might sound, its not really difficult to format a hard drive in any version of windows. How to format an external hard drive for mac and windows. Here are two outstanding mac hard drive format software tools you can rely on. To learn how to format in mac your hard drive, follow these steps.
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. Of course, if you have a backup already, ignore this step. Best 4 free hard drive format tool download easeus. 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. Plug in the external hard drive into the system and open windows explorer by clicking on the computer section in the side bar, you will see your. There are a number of tools that can help you in this regard. How to format your hard drive seagate support canada. How to format a hard dr ive on mac to work on mac and pc. But before you can do anything, you need to make it clear that the hard. Plug your hd into the mac and open disk utility, which can be accessed by searching for it in spotlight.
People might need to format a hard drive or an external hard drive in windows 10 for various reasons. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac. Dec 22, 2019 how to format external hard drive mac. How to format external hard drives for mac and windows. Buying an external hard drive is one of the best options for adding the storage space to the mac computer system. Aug 16, 2019 in this guide, we show you virtually every method to format a usb flash drive and quickly erase its contents or fix data corruption and other issues using windows 10s builtin tools. How to format external hard drives on a mac sweetwater. 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 drive formatted in. If you dont want to format the external hard drive for mac exclusively, you can choose msdos fat or exfat. The operating system has an inbuilt tool, which is known as disk utility. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac laptop mag.
Hard drive format software for mac mac disk format software. Compare the different options for formatting an external hard drive to work with windows and mac. Aug 30, 2019 how to format an external hard drive on windows. Please keep in mind that reformatting will result in the loss of all the data on the hard drive so make sure you back up your data elsewhere before starting. How to format new or second hard drive on windows 10mac. Even though most people associate formatting with system installation, there are many other reasons why you might want to format your hard drive. Sep 26, 2018 windows pc and mac use different filesystems. 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. Video editors will often find that they need to share files between a pc and a mac. How to format or partition an external hard drive for mac. This works with any hard drive, flash drive, ssd, usb drive, or just about any other. Your exfatformatted drive or partition can now be used for both windows and mac. How to format new hard drive on windows 10 windows central.
Mac os journaled is the formatting option for mac and ntfs or. Use these steps to format external hard drives for both operating systems. Feb 03, 2020 use disk utility to erase format a hard disk, ssd, flash drive, or other storage device. Proceed based on whether youre erasing your startup disk or some other disk. How to format an external hard drive with pictures wikihow. 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. 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. How to format a hard drive on windows or mac avast. 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. How to wipe a hard drive in windows 10 and macos techradar. 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.
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. Read this stepwise tutorial and learn how to format hdd for mac and windows like a pro. How you format a mac hard drive is entirely dependent on what kind of drive you plan on formatting. Using it, you can erase a hard drive, create new partitions, and even repair your disk as well. For instance, is the hard drive internal or external. 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. How to format drive with compatible file system for mac. Apple mac machines support a different file system. Eventually you will find out that you may not be working. Save any files you need to another volume before formatting. The best external hard drives for mac in 2020 pcmag. Just transfer all useful files out from the external hard drive to other devices on mac. Erasing a disk or volume permanently deletes all of its files.
To format the drive in windows, rightclick it in the file explorer window and select format. 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. On mac computers, use the finder app to browse and manage files on your computer and external hard drives. Apr 17, 2020 to format external hard drive for mac with time machine, you must follow the steps below. Make sure your external hard drive is attached and mounted to. Format a disk for windows computers in disk utility on mac apple. 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. In the main interface, right click the partition on that need. Click go on the top tool bar, and select utilities. First, note the number of the disk in the disk management window.
You can select the exfat format when using the disk. That said, if you are using smaller file sizes fat32 can suffice. Both mac os x and windows also support the fat32 file system, but we dont recommend it for hard drives. You can format an external hard drive or thumb drive to work seamlessly with both mac and windows by using the exfat file system. 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. But compared with formatting, an ntfs for mac driver like iboysoft ntfs for mac is a better and feasible solution. Before a hard drive can read or write data, it must first be formatted, or erased and reconfigured. Moving files from macformatted external hard drive to pc. The best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac. As a video editor or digital imaging technician, you will often need to share files with others. Some people are asking for a way to format a hard drive for mac. However, when we connect a ntfs formatted disk to mac, mac os x doesnt allow us to write files to the drive neither edit files, though it can read. How to share an external hard drive between mac and windows.