Reformatting 3tb wd my book for mac to windows wd community. Some users would prefer to the features of windows ntfs file system. Step 1 open finder, applications, then go to utilities and disk utility. If you are a windows 10 user, do you know how to reformat an internal or external hard drive. Open disk management, the hard drive manager included with all versions of windows. Now in this interface, you will see a format option. Format external hard drive for mac with disk utility.
If it does not you will need to rightclick and delete the volume first. Format a disk for windows computers in disk utility on mac apple. In the value label field, type a descriptive name for the drive. How to erase a disk for mac use disk utility to erase format a hard disk, ssd, flash drive, or other storage device. While most external hard drives are already designed to work for windows computers, there are times when you need to reformat one. How to properly formatreformat a hard drive for mac os. How to format usb drives on windows 10 make tech easier. Lacie setup assistant helps you to quickly format the storage device according to your needs.
How to convert an external hard drive from apple to pc small. You are ready to go in a few quick measures, so you can transfer your backup data to the hard disk, keep your documents safe so give you peace of mind. As the default file system in windows, it can only read by mac os, writing to it is not available. But to get a hard drive to be compatible with both mac and pc, you have to. The best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac cnet. Format external hard drive for mac reformat external. Your computer should automatically boot from the cd to the windows setup main menu. How to reformat an internal or external hard drive on. 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.
Formatting an external hard drive would erase everything on it. Bonus tip data recovery from formatted hard drive on mac. How to format new hard drive on windows 10 windows central. Once you open the disk utility app, you can see all the drives on your mac are listed on the lefthand sidebar. I get this question a lot i have an external hard drive that is ntfs formatted windows format, and i want to reformat it for my mac hfs. Now either because of time, corruption or because it may have been formatted for a mac when i plug it into my pc i cant access it. The data stored in the hard disk obviously overvalues the disk itself. 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.
Yes, its recommended to format the drive on a windows computer. Formatting a disk or volume erases all the files on it. The windows system uses a hard drive with a different file system than the mac systems. Because on this article, ill show you the easiest, fastest, and the safest way to reformat a seagate external hard drive. That said, if you are using both a pc and mac in the workflow, youll need to use a different. How to format a hard drive with windows 7 digital trends. Luckily, there are thirdparty tools to help you do so. Opening disk management can be done a number of ways depending on your version of windows, but the easiest method is to type diskmgmt. How to share an external hard drive between mac and windows.
Save any files you need to another volume before formatting. However, naturally, disk utility cant format external hard drive to ntfs. To access the disk management tool, click the windows icon and type disk management. Convert formatted drive from mac to windows info remo. Just select the one you want to format and click on the erase tab.
Meanwhile, the performance of the hard disk greatly affects the computer operation and the users experience. Well show you everything you need to know about the. 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. In this video i demonstrate how to reformat an external hard drive in windows 88. Both mac os x and windows allow users to format their hard drives using builtin utilities. How to format an external hard drive for mac and pc. The operating system has an inbuilt tool, which is known as disk utility. A vast majority of video production will be done on a mac or windows operating system, so we arent going to cover linux.
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. You can do that by tapping the f8 or f12 key as the computer is starting it varies on different pcs. How to convert a macformatted drive to a windows drive. How to reformat my external hard drive for windows 10. 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 can i format a mac os external hard drive to windows using a. Some hard drives may also include drivers, firmware, or format wizards so be sure to check the user manual before formatting the hard drive.
This is the easiest way and simply requires you to plug in your usb drive, open the windows file explorer and right click your drive to view a number of actions that you can perform. To do this, you have to create an installation media either a bootable cd or usb flash drive with the windows 10 media creation tool. Now, lets take a look at some ways you can format your usb drive on windows 10. To reformat a hard drive with windows xp, insert windows cd and restart your computer. How to format a windows disk drive for a mac seagate blog. To use hfsexplorer, connect your macformatted drive to your windows pc and launch hfsexplorer. Both fat32 and exfat can be used on windows pc and mac. Be sure to doublecheck this you could accidentally wipe the wrong drive if you select the wrong disk here. This this tutorial should work just the same on windows 7 and windows 10. Rightclick the new hard drive and select the format option. The best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac. Step 2 follow the steps above to format the drive, and then you can use it with time machine on your mac system.
Please note that reformatting the drive will erase all the information on the drive. This command erases the entire selected disk, including all its files and partitions whether. For example, here wed type select disk 2 finally, type clean and press enter. You can use lacie setup assistant to format your lacie hard drive when it is first connected to a computer windows or mac. How to format a hard drive windows 10, 8, 7, vista, xp. How to format external hard drives for mac and windows. How to format an external hard drive for mac and windows. Windowsformatted hard drives have either ntfs file system of an fat32 file system. How to format external hard drive mac 2 simple methods.
People might need to format a hard drive or an external hard drive in windows 10 for various reasons. 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. How to format new or second hard drive on windows 10mac. How to format an external hard drive for windows 10. 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.
Pc youll have to format the drive so that it can be read by the windows operating. How to wipe a hard drive in windows 10 and macos techradar. Use the file system dropdown menu, and select ntfs recommended. Before you can use it though, you need to properly format or reformat a hard drive so that it will become compatible or readable with the operating system that you are using. Therefore, it is necessary to present a tutorial guide here to format or partition a hard drive within mac os. 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. Should i just wait until i get the new laptop and attempt to reformat the drive on it. A user has to know how to convert mac formatted hard drive to windows formatted. If youre using seagate external hard drive and you want to reformat your seagate external hard drive, then you came to the right place. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac laptop mag. Even though most people associate formatting with system installation, there are many other reasons why you might want to format your hard drive. It is not as complicated to reformat an external hard drive for use with mac os x as it may look. Compare the different options for formatting an external hard drive to work with windows and mac. Aborted lacie setup assistant while it was formatting.
Using it, you can erase a hard drive, create new partitions, and even repair your disk as well. But using a third party all the time for accessing a hard drive on windows is not good. Reformat hard drive with windows xp whitecanyon software. Format hard drive on windows 10 if you have windows 10, you can format hard drive from bios via the command prompt. Convert formatted drive from mac to windows info remo software. It will automatically locate the connected drive, and you can load it. The process for wiping a drive in macos is no harder than windows, though it will be slightly different depending on the type of drive you plan to. Stepbystep instructions to format a hard drive in windows 7, including screenshots for each step to make the process easy to follow. Just like windows, macos also gives us a seamless option to format hard drive for mac and pc. Click the file menu and select load file system from device. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac. Follow these easy steps to format a hard drive in windows 10, windows 8, windows 7, windows vista, or windows xp. A hard drive or hard disk can be used in any type of computer, whether for pc windows or for mac.
But if you try to use an external hard drive thats been formatted for mac os. Learn how to use macos recovery to reinstall the mac operating system on your builtin drive or an external drive. How to format an external hard drive on windows and mac. How to format an external hard drive on windows 10. You might want a drive that works with macs and pcs, or maybe you want to partition it, which will split it up into two different formats. Or you can choose wipe hard drive to completely delete the hard drive. How to reinstall macos from macos recovery apple support. To format an external hard drive for mac with time machine, you must follow the steps below. Lacie porsche design mobile drive user manual optional. Rightclick the hard drive and choose wipe hard drive. If a wireless network is available, you can choose it from the wi. But unfortunately it bit the dust and i decided to get a pc. Formatted external hard drive without backup and want to recover the data.
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