Dont click the format disk button or windows will erase the contents of the drive click cancel. How to format seagate drive for mac and pc quickly and. If you need to erase the disk manually, use the disk utility app to erase using the mac os extended journaled format. In windows explorer navigate to the external drive, highlight it, right click it and select format. Select the mac partition we created in windows 10, click erase on the menu bar, choose mac os extended journaled in the format list box, then click erase.
When completed, the drive will be formatted to the mac os x. 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. Windows uses ntfs and mac os uses hfs and theyre incompatible with each other. Plug your hd into the mac and open disk utility, which can be accessed by searching for it in spotlight. Developed by wondershare, it is one of the most advanced and trusted data recovery tools for mac. This is a common connection type for many external hard drives. The operating system has an inbuilt tool, which is known as disk utility. Macs can read ntfs drives, and can read and write to fat32 drives. Maybe you want to copy something onto a drive to share with a pc or another mac.
Please see below on how to reformat your external hard drive on mac and windows. Formatting an external hard drive would erase everything on it. Click on the erase button in disk utilitys toolbar, then configure the name, format, and partitioning scheme of your backup disk. Or perhaps you are setting up an external drive for backups. External hard drives are not only useful for storing data but are an excellent way to transport files from one location to another. To put it simply, if you want to share external hard drive between mac and pc, you need to format an external hard drive for mac and pc. Format an external hard drive or usb flash drive for mac os x. Best external drives for mac and pc interchangeable 2020. Since formatting an external hard drive will erase all of its files if you wish to save them you must back them up copy.
Its a good idea to backup your data for your mac using time machine. When you take into account price, ease of use, and portability, the seagate backup plus slim is the most reliable hard drive. 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. Find out which hard drive can help increase your storage or safely back up your mac. Any hard drive can be formatted for mac and here is how you do it. Once you have it, your first task is to pick a suitable file system for that drive depending on your intended usage. Here are the best mac hard drives and external storage options in 2020. If this is the case, its ideal to keep the drive in the original ntfs format and and simply add the ntfs for mac. Preparing your backup disk for a backup of os x carbon copy.
The best external hard drives for mac in 2020 pcmag. And youll detailed tutorial on how to format seagate drive for mac and windows computer in the following text. Open the disk utility app and highlight your external hard drive. With the release of the macos high sierra operating system. As with using time machine, the drive should be formatted as mac os extended journaled for best compatibility with macos. Whether you prefer hdd or ssd, youre looking for your first drive or your third, an external drive is usually a great solution for data backup and file storage on both your mac and pc. Quickly format an external hard drive for mac and windows pc. Make sure your external hard drive is attached and mounted to.
With exfat, you can store files of any size, and use it with any computer made. Some people are asking for a way to format a hard drive for mac. Usb is very compatible with mac machines, especially those with older versions. The format apple support for mac owners for time machine is mac os extended journaled. Backup plus portable drive for mac 4tb stds4000400 2year. However, you can format the drive to work with both windows and mac by using the exfat filesystem. The drive needs to be formatted as mac macos extended journaled. The easiest way to add storage to your mac is to buy an external hard drive. Currently, hard drives for windows pc are always formatted with ntfs, while hard disks for mac. Usually, you can use windows builtin tools like diskpart to format seagate drive. Select os x extended journaled as the drive format.
Which mac file system is best for an external drive. Then, select your hard drive from the left sidebar. You can set the name to whatever you like, but set the format to mac os extended. How to format or partition an external hard drive for mac. An external drives file system is the most important factor that determines whether or not its readable by macs, pcs, or both. How to erase a disk for mac use disk utility to erase format a hard disk, ssd, flash drive, or other storage device. Since most external hard drives are formatted for pcs, before the backup of your mac begins you need to format the hard drive for macos. Either in disk management or using one of the windows explorers, eg my computer, my documents, etc. Click the icon for your external hard drive in the sidebar on the left. Choosing the right format for your external hard drive b.
Formatting the drive will erase everything on it and configure it for macos. The backup disk is not in mac os extended apple community. This wikihow teaches you how to format a seagate hard drive on a mac computer. It can also back up to a mac or networkattached storage device nas on your. Just like windows, macos also gives us a seamless option to format hard drive for mac and pc. I installed easeustodo program on windows 7 with a my passport essential external hard drive to f, and now on windows 10 that drive is full and i dont know how to format. Yet when you connect a mac formatted drive to windows, youll be informed that you need to format the disk in drive x. If you want to format your external hard drive to work with mac and windows computers, you should use exfat.
You can set the name to whatever you like, but set the format to mac. The most common format for a time machine backup disk is mac os. The quickest way to do this is a simple spotlight search. How to format external ssd for mac time machine mashtips. Highlight your drive and click partition in disk utility. How to format external hard drive mac 2 simple methods. How to format a seagate hard drive for mac steps backup your hard drive. If you want to create multiple partitions on your external hard drive in fact, you should for better file organization, heres a stepbystep guide. Looking to add storage, or for a smart way to back up your mac. You can format a drive using the disk utility in mac. How to format external hard drives on a mac sweetwater. Then, connect the seagate drive to your pc and make sure that it can be detected by windows. You can format the drive from either the mac or the windows machine. After formatting the drive, if prompted to back up.
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. How to use onedrive for backup on mac microsoft tech. Backup disks you can use with time machine apple support. Copying the files from your mac to an external drive allows you to save data on your own terms. The best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac.
And if your disk uses the master boot record mbr partition scheme, some of its partitions might not be available for use with time machine. The easiest way is to drag it from one drive to another. Backup 1 apply file quit system preferences time machine on. Hence, you must backup your important files before reformatting the drive if you want to save them. Make sure that the usb drive is formatted for time machine. An example of this is creating one partition to store your time machine backup and another to store data.
How to format an external hard drive for mac youtube. When you want to change an ntfs file system to exfat so that you can share your backup plus between a mac. Preparing your backup disk for a backup of macos carbon copy. How to backup mac to an external hard drive 5 steps. For instructions on how to format your hard drive on a mac, please reference the following links. How to convert a macformatted drive to a windows drive. Backing the hard drive up to an external hd is tricky, though, which is why weve put together this guide on how to backup a. 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. Unlock the lock if it is locked add or remove backup disk choose backup 1. Formatting the drive will permanently erase all the data and files stored on the hard drive forever. Types of disks you can use with time machine on mac apple support.
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. If you read my previous post about how to format an external drive for mac, you know that i bought a 2tb seagate expansion external hard drive and managed to create two partitions on the disk one for mac backup purposes, and the other for personal use in this article, im going to show you how to back up your mac data to an external drive. Format external hard drive for mac with disk utility. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac. Heres what you need to know, along with our toprated applefriendly drives. Mac owners have good machines, with plenty of battery life and power. If yours is formatted as a fat32 windows volume, you should erase and. All is set, then you can go ahead to format the drive on your mac. Format mac hard drive with time machine formatting an external hard drive with time machine is as easy as formatting it with disk utility. How to format an external drive to work with mac from ntfs to mac os extended. To format the drive in windows, rightclick it in the file explorer window and select format. If you also have accidentally deleted data on mac or have formatted a pen drive, then take the assistance of recoverit data recovery mac.
How to perform pen drive data recovery on mac sometimes, users end up formatting a pen drive by mistake as well. Before formatting any hard drive, its a good idea to backup any data or files you want to save before formatting. Time machine, however, gives you the possibility to create an automatic backup of the data on your hard drive. However, if you want to use part of the drive for os xs time machine backups, you should do this from the mac, since theres. Plug the drive into a usb socket if you have a recent macbook or macbook pro that only has usbc connectors, youll need a usbc to usba adaptor. When you want to wipe the backup plus drive clear of everything on it. How to backup a mac to an external hard drive in 2020.
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