How to format an external hard drive for mac and windows. Thus in order to make the hard drive windows formatted, you have to convert the file system to ntfs or fat32. The formatted files erased by disk utility also can be recovered by free mac data recovery software. Formatting your drive will erase all the existing files on it. Under the devices and drivers section, rightclick the flash drive and. Step 1 open finder, applications, then go to utilities and disk utility. When i format my external hard drive as exfat, time machine. This article mainly talks about how to format reformat usb flash drive to fat32, exfat, ntfs or ext4 file system in windows 1087xp. Format a disk for windows computers in disk utility on mac apple. About how to format external hard drives for both macs and windows pcs, and what is the best format for using usb external drives on mac.
Fat32 and exfat can be compatible with mac and windows and you can choose one after realizing their respective merits and defects based on your demands. Step 2 follow the steps above to format the drive, and then you can use it with time machine on your mac system. If you want to make your drive compatible with mac and windows, you need to format it with a common file system for mac and windows. 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. If this isnt a systemapplication drive and its just a drive for content like documents and media, you can format the external drive as exfat to have native readwrite support from both windows and os x with no third party software needed. 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. While you have bought this drive, you will find the drive already formatted for your mac or windows system. Rightclick on the external hard drive in the volume tab. If you are techy and use windows and mac computers frequently, then you might need to transfer data between mac and pc. However, it is not possible to format hard drive to exfat, the only option under the window of format file system is ntfs default. How to format new hard drive on windows 10 windows central. From all above, you can have a general idea of fat32 and exfat file system. How to format a wd hard drive to exfat or fat32 file system. Be absolutely sure you have your files off the drive and that youve selected the correct drive you want to format.
So if your external hard drive already has important files on it, make sure to back them up before proceeding. 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. How to format external hard drives for mac and windows. Connect your external hard drive to a windows computer. You can use this format if you share the drive between mac os x and windows computers and have no files larger than 4gb. Reading mac files on external hard drive via windows 10. How to access mac osx extended formatted hard drive in windows. This is a default file system for linux os including raspberry pi. Some hard drives may also include drivers, firmware, or format wizards so be sure to check the user manual before formatting the hard drive. From the volume format menu, choose mac os extended. In disk utility on your mac, you can format an external disk for a windows computer. Formatting hard drive windows image from shutterstock. Quickly format an external hard drive for mac and windows pc.
Rightclick on the windows icon in the lower lefthand corner. How to format an external hard drive the easy way in 2020. How to format an external hard drive for windows 10. Windows formatted hard drives have either ntfs file system of an fat32 file system. 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. How to convert a macformatted drive to a windows drive. External hard drives use either spinning disks or solid memory to save your files. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac. 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. However, when we connect a ntfs formatted disk to mac, mac os x doesnt allow us to write files to the drive neither edit files, though it can read a ntfs drive. You can format your external hard drive from either the pc or mac.
Remember, this will erase all the files on the drive. Formatting a disk or volume erases all the files on it. Format a disk for windows computers in disk utility on mac. Meanwhile, the ntfs system used by windows 10 supports large files, but this format cant be read natively by macos. How to format internal andor external drive to work properly on mac and windows computers. It is a quick way to format external hard drive on mac. Convert formatted drive from mac to windows info remo. If you format your external hard drive to hfs, you can use it on mac and linux by removing journaling.
Compare the different options for formatting an external hard drive to work with windows and mac. How to format an external hard drive on windows 10. A new window will pop up asking which file system youd like to format the external drive to. 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. On mac computers, use the finder app to browse and manage files on your computer and external hard drives. How to format external hard drive to use on mac and pc. Out of the box, windows can not read or write hfs drives, and macs are unable to write to ntfs drives. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac laptop mag. Plug in the external hard drive into the system and open windows explorer by clicking on the computer section in the side bar, you will see your external hard drive get attached to your system. Now that you have ext4 support installed, you need to identify the drive you wish to mount. The best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac. How to format a flash drive to fat32exfatext4 in windows. Choosing the right format for your external hard drive b.
Enter a name for the external hard drive in the name field. The windows system uses a hard drive with a different file system than the mac systems. Choose the exfat file system in the list and click start. Find out how to format an external drive or usb disk making the drive work with both windows pc and mac can read and write. How to format an external hard drive on windows and mac duration. If you really fancy a drive formatted for windows which will usually come preformatted in the ntfs format, you can use the disk utility in macos to reformat it after you bring it home from the. How to format an external drive to work seamlessly with macs. Easily format external hard drive on windows or mac.
This is useful if a drive is being used under both operating system osto move files between the two environments. Format drive as exfat and it can be reaf on mac or pc. 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. Formatting a usb drive can repair corrupt partition as well as change file system format, thus we may need to format usb flash drive from time to time. You will learn the easiest way to format drive on mac and windows as exfat. People might need to format a hard drive or an external hard drive in windows 10 for various reasons.
Securely format external hard drive on windows and mac with super eraser. I got handed one the other day and i need to work off of the drive. 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. How to open mac format usb devce in windows youtube. To format a usb flash drive using file explorer, use these steps.
The best format for external hard drives if you want to format your external hard drive to work with mac and windows computers, you should use exfat. The best external hard drives for mac in 2020 pcmag. You can format the external hard drive or usb drive to make it compatible with both mac and windows machines. Need to format an external hard drive for mac and windows.
To format the drive in windows, rightclick it in the file explorer window and select format. This thing is still unknown for many users but doesnt worry its not complex. Then, select your hard drive from the left sidebar. 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. In the resulut, your external hard drive will work just fine with mac and windows. Both mac os x and windows allow users to format their hard drives using builtin utilities. How to format hard drives on windows, mac and linux. How to mount and access ext4 partition in mac make tech.
Give the drive a descriptive name and leave the default settings. To format external hard drive for mac with time machine, you must follow the steps below. If your external hard drive is working, your computer will. Hi i formatted the hard drive on exfat, however i cant find the hard drive when i plug it into my windows.
Select external hard drive, click on erase to format the external hard drive. Instead, use a different filesystem like exfat or try the commercial option listed below. If you need to move files back and forth across a drive shared with linux, this method isnt recommended. Anyway, for anyone who is having the same issue, i was searching for this same issue reading files in a mac formatted drive from windows 10 and found hfsexplorer. For instructions on how to format your hard drive on a mac, please reference the following links. Click on this icon on the top left corner and select show all devices. One simple way to make the drive readable on both platforms is to format it. Accessing a mac formatted external hard drive on windows.
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. Gpt is a newer format supporting larger capacities, but isnt compatible with. The easiest way to do that is hit cmd and the spacebar at. Read mac formatted drives with windows the tech guy. Please see below on how to reformat your external hard drive on mac and windows. If you format the external drive, wouldnt you lose all the files in it. Readwrite fat32 from both native windows and native mac os x. Please note formatting wipes all data from the volume, and you should make sure important files have been backed up. If youre lucky, you can just rightclick each partition on the mac drive and select delete volume to remove the partitions.
In the volume format list, select mac os extended journaled. Format a usb drive as exfat for mac and windows compatibility. How to format external hard drive mac 2 simple methods. With exfat, you can store files of any size, and use it with any computer made in the last 20 years. The best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac cnet. However, when we connect a ntfs formatted disk to mac, mac os x doesnt allow us to write files to the drive neither edit files, though it can read. Click the icon for your external hard drive in the sidebar on the left. How to format or partition an external hard drive for mac. The mac drive may have an efi system partition on it. How to share an external hard drive between mac and windows. Then, click erase at the bottom to format the drive. How to format external hard drives on a mac sweetwater. 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.
It is easy to format a partition to ext4, ext3 or ext2 with the help of diskgenius free, and the formatting speed is fast. Buying an external hard drive is one of the best options for adding the storage space to the mac computer system. Accessing mac formatted external hd from windows pc. But to get a hard drive to be compatible for both mac and pc, you have to choose the exfat. How to format an external hard drive for mac and pc. Choosing the right format for your external hard drive. How to format a usb flash drive on windows 10 windows. However, to use it on windows you can hfs explorer read only. How to format an external hard drive on windows and mac. If you want to use the usb devices in windows you have to know how to do it. Sometimes, you may want to try format directly to format your external hard drive partition to exfat for mac and windows. To access the disk management tool, click the windows icon and type disk management. How to format drive with compatible file system for mac.
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