Format a hard drive for mac using windows

Partition a hard drive for macos time machine and windows. Just like windows, macos also gives us a seamless option to format hard drive for mac and pc. Under file system, choose the file system you want to use. If you dont see this option, try typing create and format hard disk partitions into start. See the above section for more details on which one to pick. Is it possible to format a hard drive to readwrite for both windows and mac os specifically, film and photo files. 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. Now, you can follow these two solutions to format any hard drive, flash drive, usb drive, ssd or any other external storage drive so as to make them work on your mac now. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac. How to erase a disk for mac use disk utility to erase format a hard disk, ssd, flash drive, or other storage device. Hey all, quick question, and from my googling it looks like it is possible, however i want to double check just to be sure. Format a disk for windows computers in disk utility on mac apple. It has many powerful features, such as migrate os to ssd, clone disk and so on.

Format your external drive with exfat for both mac and. Diskpart format command that runs on command prompt is used for formatting internal and external storage mediums of hard drives. Nov 22, 2019 i have an old external 1 tb hard drive id like to format for use with apple time machine backup. How to format seagate drive for mac and pc quickly and securely.

Its a direct continuation of the original dos format used on floppy diskettes and hard drives. Formatting is a very simple procedure which is operated in a similar way for all sorts of storage media. Step 2 now search for disk management through the search panel on the home screen and go to the disk management window through the search results. Choose either apfs or mac os extended journaled to format as a mac volume. Rightclick the new hard drive and select the format option. You must know what file system the partition was using to rebuild the disk. May 01, 2020 how to erase a disk for mac use disk utility to erase format a hard disk, ssd, flash drive, or other storage device. Format external hard drive or usb drive for mac easeus. How to format an external hard drive with pictures wikihow. However, you need to make doubly sure that you complete a quick format.

Jul 15, 2009 all data has to be put in a file format that the operating system can read off the hard drive. Use the file system dropdown menu, and select ntfs recommended. The easiest way to do that is hit cmd and the spacebar at the same time and type in disk utility to find the program. Using it, you can erase a hard drive, create new partitions, and even repair your disk as well. How to format an external hard drive for mac and pc. 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. Format an external hard drive or usb flash drive for mac os x.

Instead, youll need to perform a system reset not to. With disk utility open, locate the hard drive you want to partition and select partition. All data has to be put in a file format that the operating system can read off the hard drive. Choosing the right format for your external hard drive b. Even though most people associate formatting with system installation, there are many other reasons why you might want to format your hard drive. 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. Save any files you need to another volume before formatting. The best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac cnet. Thats probably ok for most files, especially if youre using a thumb drive rather than an external hard drive. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac laptop mag. How to format a hard drive windows 10, 8, 7, vista, xp. I know mac operating system doesnt fully supports ntfs formatted drive. Quickly format an external hard drive for mac and windows pc. For most reasons to erase, including when reformatting a disk or selling, giving away, or trading in your mac, you should erase your entire disk.

Now in this interface, you will see a format option. Step 1 in the case of external hard drive, connect the drive to your system using a compatible medium and make sure the windows recognizes your drive. Jan 02, 2017 at this point, you can proceed to the next section to format your mac backup partition. Just select the one you want to format and click on the erase tab. 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. It is possible to reformat the drive and keep your files by formatting your drive and then using a data recovery tool to restore your information. People might need to format a hard drive or an external hard drive in windows 10 for various reasons. If the drive you want to wipe is where your windows 10 operating system is installed, you wont be able to format it using the above steps. Compare the different options for formatting an external hard drive to work with windows and mac. In the value label field, type a descriptive name for the drive. The operating system has an inbuilt tool, which is known as disk utility. 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. To format hard drive for mac and windows without data loss, we suggest using minitool partition wizard and its convert ntfs to fats32 function.

Dec 05, 2019 but using a third party all the time for accessing a hard drive on windows is not good. Formatting external harddrive for both mac and windows. In the sidebar, select the disk you want to format to use with. After youre done, dont forget to remove the external hard. To format a hard drive, you can take advantage of a piece of thirdparty software.

The fat or file allocation table is quite possibly the most widelysupported disk format in existence today. A drive can be formatted with exfat using either a windows or a mac computer. Mac can read all the file system formats including windows msdos, fat, fat32, exfat, and ntfs, but you cannot write on it. You can use it to deal with unlocked files means the files that are not currently in use. Open the disk utility app and highlight your external hard drive.

How to reformat an external hard drive without losing your. It is professional partition magic which is designed to optimize partition and disk use. Select the external hard drive on the lefthand side. This wikihow teaches you how to change an external usb hard drives format on windows and mac computers. Format usb or external hard drive for mac using mac disk utility format usb or external hard drive for mac on windows pc using thirdparty usb format tool. Copy a data disk uing one optical drive using disk utility on os x how to. The command is available in all windows operating systems like windows 10, 8 7, vista, xp and in other older versions too.

In disk utility on your mac, you can format an external disk for a windows computer. 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. Mac os journaled is the formatting option for mac and ntfs or msdos is the formatting. To start, your first step will be to find disk utility.

Click go on the top tool bar, and select utilities. The only free application that will let you do this we are aware of is hfsexplorer, which uses java and is really only suitable for the odd file transfer fat32 the most compatible option. 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 select the exfat format when using the disk utility to format the drive. Open disk management, the hard drive manager included with all versions of windows. The mac drive may have an efi system partition on it. But compared with formatting, an ntfs for mac driver like iboysoft ntfs for mac is a better and feasible solution.

Mar 22, 2012 the best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac. Windows formatted hard drives have either ntfs file system of an fat32 file system. Erase the mac partitions, including the efi system partition. Choose the exfat file system in the list and click start. To format the drive in windows, rightclick it in the file explorer window and select format. Windowsformatted hard drives have either ntfs file system of an fat32 file system. How to format a hard drive using the command prompt tom. But its a good idea to also create a third partition on your disk that both macos and windows 10 can use.

At this point, you can proceed to the next section to format your mac backup partition. If your mac internal hard drive has startup problem, it means that the drive will be formatted once and for all. Under the format menu, choose the file system you want to use. How to format an external hard drive for mac and windows. 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. Sep 26, 2018 windows pc and mac use different filesystems.

Hierarchical file system plus, also known as mac os extended, is the primary file system format used in mac computers. 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. Moving files from macformatted external hard drive to pc. Highlight your drive and click partition in disk utility. Add virtual cd and dvd drives to your pc with alcohol how to. How to convert a macformatted drive to a windows drive.

The problem is that the disk is currently formatted as ntfs and is not readable with time machine. However, its pretty normal these days to have video files or other highfidelity assets that are larger than 4gb, which makes this unsuitable for large drives that are likely to host bigger files. For instructions on how to format your hard drive on a mac, please reference the following links. Convert formatted drive from mac to windows info remo. How to format seagate drive for mac and pc quickly and. How to format new hard drive on windows 10 windows central. How to format a hard drive on mac to work on mac and pc. Enter a name for the disk or volume, such as macintosh hd.

Both mac os x and windows allow users to format their hard drives using builtin utilities. In this tutorial, we explain how you can format a hard drive using the command prompt. Next, under the partition layout column, specify the number of partitions you want. Formatting a disk or volume erases all the files on it. How to format a hard drive using the command prompt toms. How to format or partition an external hard drive for mac. Thus, the professional partition manager minitool partition wizard is recommended. Jan 17, 2019 rightclick the new hard drive and select the format option. If you wish to boot the drive on a pc or use it with older versions of windows, you may also need to set the partition scheme to master boot record mbr for full windows compatibility. Format your hard drive using diskpart and command prompt. Once you open the disk utility app, you can see all the drives on your mac are listed on the lefthand sidebar.

In the disk utility app on your mac, choose view show all devices. 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. How to format a hard drive for mac internal, external or flash. Heres how to format a drive using a mac including how to format a drive for windows and mac so the contents can be read on both platforms, and what format to use for time machine. Currently, hard drives for windows pc are always formatted with ntfs, while hard disks for mac. After disk management opens, which might take several seconds, look for the drive you want to format from the list at. Select your drive in the lefthand sidebar and go to the erase tab. How to wipe a hard drive in windows 10 and macos techradar.

You need to format a hard drive if you plan on using it in windows. Just transfer all useful files out from the external hard drive to other devices on mac. Formatting the hard drive ensures that the system has been blanked and there is no issue causes any problem. Format external hard disk drive for mac os and windows using. Format a disk for windows computers in disk utility on mac. Apr 21, 2020 i have purchased a 1tb portable external seagate hard drive and i would like to use it with both my mac and windows computer. If youre lucky, you can just rightclick each partition on the mac drive and select delete volume to remove the partitions. I have purchased a 1tb portable external seagate hard drive and i would like to use it with both my mac and windows computer. Feb 08, 2020 how to partition an external hard drive on mac. How to format a hard drive with ease in windows 1087. If you want to create multiple partitions on your external hard drive in fact, you should for better file organization, heres a stepbystep guide.

I have an old external 1 tb hard drive id like to format for use with apple time machine backup. 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. Most external hard drives hd are sold in a format called ntfs, which is designed to. From what i understand, windows doesnt always like the way macs do the formatting on some larger drives, though, so give it a try and if your windows machines dont like it, just format the drive with windows. So, whether you wish to format the internal hard drive, external drive, or a usb flash drive, the procedure is the same for all. Both fat32 and exfat can be used on windows pc and mac. To sum up, it is easy to format an external hard drive for both mac and windows pc. Compare the different options for formatting an external hard drive to work with. If you are a personal user, you can try its professional edition. How to format external hard drives for mac and windows. Find the hard drive you want to format, and highlight it. You can format an external hard drive or thumb drive to work seamlessly with both mac and windows by using the exfat file system. Change the partition layout from current to 1 partition. 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.

How to format your hard drive to exfat file system on. When you format your hard drive, you can clean internal as well as external storage media. The maximum individual file size for exfat is 16 eb. Repair a power mac g5 remove the superdrive how to. Opening disk management can be done a number of ways. You have to set it up correctly before getting starting. Partition a hard drive for macos time machine and windows 10. Click your hard drives name in the window near the bottom of the screen. That said, if you are using smaller file sizes fat32 can suffice. But using a third party all the time for accessing a hard drive on windows is not good. Mar 31, 2020 how to share an external hard drive between mac and windows. Once in the folder, youll see an application named disk utility, doubleclick on it to launch the program. How to share an external hard drive between mac and windows. Formatting external hard drive for both mac and windows.

The best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac. A user has to know how to convert mac formatted hard drive to windows formatted. The windows system uses a hard drive with a different file system than the mac systems. How to reformat mac os x without a recovery disc or drive. Of course, if you have a backup already, ignore this step. Reformatting a drive on windows is a pretty straightforward process.