Aomei partition assistant standard is a free exfat formatting utility you wont want to miss in windows. How to format an external hard drive for mac and pc. Hence, you must backup your important files before reformatting the drive if you want to save them. If you insist to move the file to the hard drive, you need to format it to ntfs or exfat. Highlight your drive and click partition in disk utility. But compared with formatting, an ntfs for mac driver like iboysoft ntfs for mac is a better and feasible solution. External data storage devices such as usb flash drives, external hard disk drives hdds, and solid state drives ssds provide one of the easiest ways to transfer files between separate computers without accessing the. Oct 16, 2019 the best format for external hard drives. Format a disk for windows computers in disk utility on mac. The hard drive with fat32 file system is unable to store large file beyond 4gb. 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. How to format usb drive or external hard drive on mac. Now, im in limbo as to the format i should have on this drive. From what i understand, windows doesnt always like the way mac s 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.
How to format hard drive to exfat in windows 7810 three. Select your thumb drive in the disk utility window then click the erase tab. To format an external hard drive, plug in the device into system or a wall outlet. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac laptop. How to format or partition an external hard drive on mac. Dec 25, 2016 so if you want your external hard drive to be backward compatible with both oss then you need to reformat it with fat32 or exfat.
Feb 08, 2020 how to partition an external hard drive on mac. This is useful if a drive is being used under both operating system osto. How to reformat an external hard drive without losing your. A drive can be formatted with exfat using either a windows or a mac computer. Bonus tip data recovery from formatted hard drive on mac. How to format external hard drive mac 2 simple methods. Im be using this hard drive for both my mac and windows rigs. The maximum individual file size for exfat is 16 eb. With exfat, you can store files of any size, and use it with any computer made in the last 20 years.
For pc and mac compatibility, select exfat format and master boot record scheme. 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. Just select the one you want to format and click on the erase tab. Exfat should basically only be used on drives that need to work with both windows and macos computers. Ive reformatted it to apfs on the macbook pro, set ignore ownership permission on the drive, but its still readonly as far as finder is concerned. So if you want your external hard drive to be backward compatible with both oss then you need to reformat it with fat32 or exfat. Locate your external drive from the list of devices and drives. Format an external hard drive or usb flash drive for mac os x. Quickly format an external hard drive for mac and windows pc. Although it is possible to format a drive as exfat from disk utility on the mac, that drive will not work with windows pcs, and thats not what.
Under the format menu, choose the file system you want to use. Wondering what the best format for your new external hard drive is. 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. It formats partition to exfat no matter the partition is on external drive, usb stick, sd card, pen drive, or internal hard drive system drive is an exception in windows 10 as well as windows 8. Format a usb drive as exfat for mac and windows compatibility. Format external driveusb exfat in windows 10 in simple steps.
Exfat is an upgraded version for the fat32 file system that limits the maximum file size to 4gb. That said, if you are using smaller file sizes fat32 can suffice. 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 you want to create multiple partitions on your external hard drive in fact, you should for better file organization, heres a stepbystep guide. How to format or partition an external hard drive for mac. How to format a flash drive to work on os x and windows. How to format a drive for mac and pc compatibility macyourself. While it may sound like a weightloss product from a latenight infomercial, exfat is a hard drive format that feels like the child of ntfs and fat32. How to format an external hard drive the easy way in 2020. Apr 15, 2020 if you need to make the external hard drive be compatible with window and mac, you need to format hard drive to exfat or fat32. If the external hard drive is pre formatted for mac, disk management will list 3 partitions and you will not be able to delete the health efi system partition because its a protected partition. By this way, you can easily format an external hard drive for mac and pc without losing any data.
Make sure the allocation unit size is set to default and type in a volume label. How to erase a disk for mac use disk utility to erase format a hard disk, ssd, flash drive, or other storage device. How to format internal andor external drive to work properly on mac and windows computers. Apr 30, 2020 to format an external hard drive for mac with time machine, you must follow the steps below. Use the exfat file system and never format your external. Sep 12, 2019 for instance, you may find windows 10 no exfat option or not possible to format hard drive to exfat. How to format external hard drives for mac and windows. How to format external ssd for mac time machine mashtips. In the file system list box, choose exfat, type in a volume label if you want, and then click start. The samsung ssd comes with exfat format by default. Please remember that all data will be deleted from the drive, so make sure you have made a backup. Also, if your current hard drive is more than 5 years old, it probably is nearing the end of its service life and needs to be replaced.
In the file system dropdown, choose exfat instead of ntfs. By default, they format disks with the mac only os x extended file system. Apart from formatting partition, aomei partition assistant standard is capable of wiping external hard drive in windows 10 and securely erasing ssd to restore performance. Under file system box, select exfat for this drive. Then, you can share external hard drive between mac and pc. Jun, 2012 i got my hands on a new adata hd710, 1tb external hard drive. Open disk utility go to the applications folder and then to another folder, known as utilities. Follow these instructions if you plan to share an external hard drive. The easiest way is to drag it from one drive to another. A window will pop up where you can choose the format ntfs, fat32, or exfat. For a hard drive to be able to be read and written to in both a pc and mac computer, it must be formatted to exfat or fat32 file format. Step 1 open finder, applications, then go to utilities and disk utility. If you want to format your external hard drive to work with mac and windows computers, you should use exfat. One of the consequences of this is that exfat drives are a little more vulnerable to data corruption from sudden power losses.
Compare the different options for formatting an external hard drive to work with windows and mac. How to format external hard drives on a mac sweetwater. Rightclick on the drive you want to format, click on format. Exfat external hard drive opens readonly apple community. Step 2 follow the steps above to format the drive, and then you can use it with time machine on your mac system. Format external hdd for mac and windows exfat youtube. But, if you plan on using an external drive with both macs and pcs, you should format the disk with the exfat file system instead. The best format choice of external drive on mac using the external drive on mac is a good idea as it provides additional storage. Lacie mobile drive 2tb external hard drive hdd moon silver usbc usb 3. Sep 20, 2019 apfs also doesnt work with time machine, so you should format any drive you want to use for backing up your mac using mac os extended. This is enough to work the ssd as a backup drive for mac.
You may also set a direct connection to your computer. Click go on the top tool bar, and select utilities. Format a disk for windows computers in disk utility on mac apple. After upgrading to mojave on my macbook pro, my external hard drive is now readonly.
Formatting an external hard drive would erase everything on it. How to format a wd hard drive to exfat or fat32 file system answer id 291 a western digital external hard drive can be used on both windows and mac osx. Select your drive in the lefthand sidebar and go to the erase tab. Once you open the disk utility app, you can see all the drives on your mac are listed on the lefthand sidebar. Like yourself, the same external hard drive can be readwritten on a different imac also mojave. Open up windows explorer and rightclick on your drive in the sidebar.
How can i reformat my external hard drive without losing data. Apfs also doesnt work with time machine, so you should format any drive you want to use for backing up your mac using mac os extended. How to format external hard drive mac 2 simple methods revealed. Heres how to correctly format the drive to work on both.
If it does not you will need to rightclick and delete the volume first. You should create multiple partitions on your external hard drive, in order to have enhanced file organization. The best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac. Jul 05, 2017 macs support a variety of file systems. This is very easy to carry out, and only requires a few moments of your time. The ssd will work for both windows and mac out of the box.
By default, they format disks with the maconly os x extended file system. How to format an external drive to work seamlessly with macs. How to format an external hard drive with pictures wikihow. Disk management not only allows you the opportunity to change the format of the hard drive to ntfs, but it also assists in assigning a new letter of the usb, helps create multiple partitions, and keeps a thorough check on the health of the hard drive in focus. But it is hard to pick the suitable format as it depends on your usage. To sum up, it is easy to format an external hard drive for both mac and windows pc. How to format an external hard drive on windows formatting a hard drive on windows is a simple affair, especially if you leave everything as default. Open the disk utility app and highlight your external hard drive. In order to get started and partition your external hard drive, follow the simple instructions below. How do i format my external hard drive to exfat on mac. This is useful if a drive is being used under both operating system osto move files between the two environments. If you have an external hard drive or usb flash drive that youd like to use on both.
After plug in hard drive into the system, you will get option to open windows explorer and by clicking on the computer section in the side bar, you will see your hard drive get attached to your system. All is set, then you can go ahead to format the drive on your mac. Now that you know which format to use, check out our guide on how to format your hard drive on. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac laptop mag.
The duration of the process is based on the external drives total storage and rpm. Now in this interface, you will see a format option. Choose this format if the size of the disk is over 32 gb. How to format an external hard drive and remove errors.
Format external hard drive for mac with disk utility. The exfat file system eliminates the two major deficiencies of fat32. 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. This means it doesnt have the ability to keep a record of file changes. In the format partition section, select the file system. In disk utility on your mac, you can format an external disk for a windows computer. If you need to make the external hard drive be compatible with window and mac, you need to format hard drive to exfat or fat32.
To format an external hard drive for mac with time machine, you must follow the steps below. The only real downside of exfat for external hard drives is its lack of journaling ability. However, if you want to convert ntfs to exfat to make external hard drive compatible with mac and pc, 3 steps are required. Apr 14, 2020 by this way, you can easily format an external hard drive for mac and pc without losing any data. Format external hard drive to ntfs from fat32 using disk management. Macyourself blog archive how to format a drive for mac and pc. After several minutes of waiting, the process will finish. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac. Format your external drive with exfat for both mac and. Fat32 has several limitations, including a 4 gb perfile limit. So, it is better that you know your options and understand which format is right for you. Lacie mobile drive 5tb external hard drive portable hdd moon silver usbc usb 3.
The disk utility will automatically begin to format the external hard drive for mac and pc. In that case, aomei partition assistant is of great help. Please like, sub, share if you find this video helpful. A western digital external hard drive can be used on both windows and mac osx. Should i reformat this drive to exfat or just keep it as ntfs and install a program like tuxera or. How to format a wd hard drive to exfat or fat32 file system. Select your drive from the list and rightclick on it. Best for external drives shared with windows computers. For instance, you may find windows 10 no exfat option or not possible to format hard drive to exfat.
Before starting the formatting hard drive in mac, you have to connect your mac system to external hard drive. 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. Click the done button to finish formatting the external hard drive for mac and pc to exfat. I got my hands on a new adata hd710, 1tb external hard drive. If it is not ticked, you will lose all of your data. Dec 31, 2019 partition external hard drive on mac os x. See the above section for more details on which one to pick. 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.
911 43 56 915 1085 159 772 1068 435 1514 871 423 4 856 1435 1226 1432 173 465 1429 653 672 184 201 68 1333 906 220 1487