Feb 21, 2020 if your external hard drive is read only on your mac due to its ntfs file system, you can easily fix it by reformatting the device to a mac compatible format with the builtin disk utility on mac. 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. Choosing the right format for your external hard drive b. By default its the disk built into your mac, named macintosh hd. Only after formatting it, they would realize that they had lost important data. Jan 24, 2020 unfortunately, its very much not a straightforward process to format c. Here, you will learn three ways to format a hard drive in windows 10 by using disk management, a partition management software and diskpart in command prompt. You can select the exfat format when using the disk utility to format the drive. Heres how to format a drive if you are planning to use it with a mac. Check the format of the drive select it and get info if originally set up for pc its possible the mac can only read it not write to it, to read and write with both mac and pc it needs to be fat32 msdos in disc utility.
It should only take a few seconds to format your drive. To format external hard drive on mac, all you have to do is plugin your hard drive and launch disk utility. Which mac file system is best for an external drive. Compare the different options for formatting an external hard drive to work with windows and mac. From the context menu, select get info check the file system format of the drive.
Or it might be that you bought a drive to use with your mac only to discovered it is preformatted for windows. The maximum individual file size for exfat is 16 eb. When you format your hard drive, you can clean internal as well as external storage media. How to share an external hard drive between mac and windows. You cant format the c drive like you can format another drive in windows because youre within windows when you perform the format. Click the icon for your external hard drive in the sidebar on the left. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac.
This is a simple procedure and is achieved the same way for all drive types and through all connections, be they usb, firewire, or thunderbolt. Its easy to reformat your hard drive using disk utility in macos or os x. Jan 04, 2012 how to format an external drive for mac compatibility. Dec 29, 2015 windows will format the drive as exfat and youll be able to use the drive on both windows and mac. Rightclick the drive either from the desktop or finder. You can format an external hard drive or thumb drive to work seamlessly with both mac and windows by using the exfat file system. To format the drive in windows, rightclick it in the file explorer window and select format.
Once disk utility is open youll see the list of available drives on the left. In this video i help you guys convert your mac only external hdd into a windows compatible one. While compatibility is almost a nonissue now days between macs and pcs, as well as macs and third party. I need to copy my video file from my computer to it and i know. Once you open the disk utility app, you can see all the. You can format your hard drive on both windows and mac computers. How to format your hard drive seagate support australia. If youre not sure, eject and disconnect each drive, then only. How to erase a disk for mac partition a physical disk in disk utility on mac file system formats available in disk utility on mac format a disk for windows computers in disk utility on mac encrypt and protect a storage device with a password in disk utility on mac. Next, under the partition layout column, specify the number of partitions you want.
If youre planning on just using the drive in windows, select ntfs. If youre erasing your startup disk, you might be prompted to enter your apple id. Majority if not all flash drives come not only with windows dominant file systems, but also. How to format a hard drive windows 10, 8, 7, vista, xp.
Create a bootable usb drive for ubuntu using mac or windows how to. How to reformat mac os x without a recovery disc or drive. How to convert a macformatted drive to a windows drive. How to format a hard drive on mac to work on mac and pc.
Windows will format the drive as exfat and youll be able to use the drive on both windows and mac. One of the top disadvantages of fat32 is that it can only accommodate files that are up to. Enter a name for the external hard drive in the name field. This formatting is also known as mac os extended journaled file system. 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. The best format for your external hard drive the hellotech blog. 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. 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. System volumes, hybrid drives, ssds, and flash storage that you only use with macos. If you want to create multiple partitions on your external hard drive in fact, you should for better file organization, heres a stepbystep guide. Make sure your external hard drive is attached and mounted to.
How to recover from external hard drive readonly error on mac. If you chose the standard format, which we suggested, the time it takes the drive to format will depend almost completely on the size of the drive. Highlight your drive and click partition in disk utility. 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. Mar 19, 2020 if you chose a quick format, your hard drive should only take several seconds to format. How to format a hard drive using the command prompt tom. From the volume format menu, choose mac os extended. 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. It is recommended to use ntfs if youre working strictly with windows computers. This drive will only be used for audio and i was told to format the drive in mac os extended with journaling disabled and a single partition. Aug 05, 20 more and more people are finding themselves using both macs and windows based pcs.
Disk utility can be used to format external drives as well. You will need to back up your data though as you can only do it through erasing and reformatting. Means if one want to transfer movie or any stuff greater than 4gb it cant be done in this format. Jan 08, 2020 you can only read your elements external hard drive. Using an external hard drive on mac without formatting. Although we know its limitation of 4gb file size only. To use my old external hard drive without formatting it, on my new mac. It is time to learn how to format your external hard drive or other external drives to a common file system for mac and windows. Copy a data disk uing one optical drive using disk utility on os x how to. Use disk utility to erase format a hard disk, ssd, flash drive, or other storage device. As complicated as that might sound, its not really difficult to format a hard drive in any version of windows.
Solving readonly conditions for external hard drives cnet. Sep 06, 2019 if you dont want to lose data from your hard drive, export the data or back it up before continuing. How to format or partition an external hard drive for mac. How to format external hard drives on a mac sweetwater. Mar 20, 2020 how to reset your mac before selling it. Wondering what the best format for your new external hard drive is. To start, your first step will be to find disk utility. Whats more, it is compatible with ssd and flash storage devices only. If youre just using the drive for your linux computer, select ext4. Formatting a drive will erase all data and partitions on the disk.
How to format a hard drive using the command prompt toms. Mar 15, 2018 but you can open hfsexplorer, read a macformatted drive, and copy the files to your windows pc without paying a dime. So if you are formatting a drive that has already been used, be sure to copy any files you will ever want to see again onto a computer or backup drive. Mar 22, 2012 the best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac. Instead, well just be wiping the drive and starting over from scratch. The exfat format supports virtually any size hard drive and file, unlike the outdated fat32 format. To format as a mac disk, choose either apfs or mac os extended journaled. If your external hard drive is read only on mac because it was formatted with microsoft ntfs file system, you can free download iboysoft ntfs for mac and feel free to copywriteeditdelete and transfer files on this drive without formatting it. Compare the different options for formatting an external hard drive to work with. From all above, you can have a general idea of fat32 and exfat file system. Choose the exfat file system in the list and click start. 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.
I need to copy my video file from my computer to it and i know that it isnt available to store individual file over 4gb on it. Before that, remember to back up your external hard drive quickly with a highlyefficient data backup software since the formatting will erase all. Smaller external hard drives, ssds, and usb flash keys format quickly, while a larger. Jun 19, 20 solving read only conditions for external hard drives. Open finder and choose applications utilities disk utility to launch.
In this tutorial, we explain how you can format a hard drive using the command prompt. Well show you everything you need to know about the. Oct 31, 2019 verify the readonly status of an external hard drive on macos. How to convert mac only external hdd to windows compatible.
This applications readonly nature isnt necessarily a bad thing. If you have a mac lying around, you can plug the drive into a mac and back up the files. You can now recover all kinds of data from formatted usb. The best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac. That said, if you are using smaller file sizes fat32 can suffice. Failed to format read only usb drive i have a 32gb usb flash drive bought recently.
When formatting a hard drive with disk utility, make sure to select the correct drive. If your mac doesnt work, you can do this using a second mac and an external hard drive caddy. Feb 03, 2020 disk utility in macos high sierra or later can erase most disks and volumes for mac using either the newer apfs apple file system format or the older mac os extended format, and it automatically chooses a compatible format for you. Some people are asking for a way to format a hard drive for mac. If you are trying to format mac external hard drive, you can go over the process step by step. Mar 29, 2019 how to format a hard drive on mac to work on mac and pc. Add virtual cd and dvd drives to your pc with alcohol. Aug 17, 2018 when you format your hard drive, you can clean internal as well as external storage media. Sep 20, 2019 this wikihow teaches you how to format your computers builtin hard drive. To format c from within windows would be like lifting a chair in the air while sitting on it you cant do it.
Mar 11, 2020 failed to format read only usb drive i have a 32gb usb flash drive bought recently. If you only have windows systems available, you can use hfsexplorer to copy files from the drive onto your windows system drive or another drive. With disk utility open, locate the hard drive you want to partition and select partition. Erase and reformat a storage device in disk utility on mac. You cannot format the whole hard drivedoing so would erase your operating systembut you can format a portion of the hard drive after creating a partition. Please see below on how to reformat your external hard drive on mac and windows.
More and more people are finding themselves using both macs and windows based pcs. How to format external hard drives for mac and windows. 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. Click go on the top tool bar, and select utilities. As mentioned before, macs can only read ntfsformatted hard drives by. Feb 08, 2020 how to partition an external hard drive on mac. Format an external hard drive or usb flash drive for mac os x. While compatibility is almost a nonissue now days between. Open the disk utility app and highlight your external hard drive. How to format drive with compatible file system for mac and. 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 filesystem is highly recommended, and necessary for time machine and to make disks bootable. If you dont know how to format a hard drive or an external hard drive, youve come to the right place.
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