Select the external hard drive on the lefthand side. Do i need to format my external hard drive macrumors. The best external hard drives for mac in 2020 pcmag. Formatting the drive will erase all of the data on it. On a windows computer, i can plug in any external hard drive i have here and slide over folders of info on to it, easy peazy. Since formatting an external hard drive will erase all of its. How to format external hard drives for mac and windows. Apfs apple file system is only for newer macs running macos 10. How to recover files from external hard drive for macbook pro.
Click go on the top tool bar, and select utilities. I would like to format my external hard drive so that i can edit in on my macbook pro. Once disk utility is open youll see the list of available drives on the left. Now im not too sure how to set this new hard drive up as in putting an os on it and formatting it correctly im not concerned with getting any of my old data back on it, i just want to set. That said, if you are using smaller file sizes fat32 can suffice. If you have done all this, you have successfully erased all of the data on your macbook pro hard drive.
Any external hard drive will work with pcs or macs, as long as the connectors are there firewire, usb, etc. Macbook proexternal hard drivewindows pc apple community. Thus, if you wish to format ntfs on mac, then you must be using an external storage unit. Seagate expansion 1tb portable external hard drive usb 3. I copied a cd onto the hard drive using my macbook pro. In this video we look at the process of formatting a hard drive, flash drive, or ssd on an apple computer. If you want more detail on setting up an external hard drive for time machine you can check out my article on the site. External hard drive for macbook pro macrumors forums.
This small compact ssd drive from samsung comes with both a usbc to usbc cable and a usbc to usba, meaning its perfect to use with your macbook or mac. For instance, you might wish to format as sd card, pen drive, external hard disk, etc. I have backed up all my data i dont have enough hard drive space to make a time machine backup. 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. The mac drive may have an efi system partition on it. Fortunately disk utility, built right into macos, can help. Kindly note that the products chosen below are mainly based on our personal preferences and the guidelines as shown above.
Its fast 540 mbs read and write speeds are more than enough to transfer any file. Learn more about erasing hard disks on mac from apple. We did this because disk utility cant format with ntsf, but the windows installer would recognize msdos. Now, how can i reformat and install os x from the installer placed in the external hard drive. Ntfs is a commonly used file format for windows systems and external devices. If it does not you will need to rightclick and delete the volume first. I was a windows guy, who moved over the mac but only recently started saving things to the mac file system on my macbook pro. The best ways to format an external drive for windows and. How can i reformat the internal drive and install mountain. How to format or partition an external hard drive for mac. The best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac. It seems that the hard drive is formatted for windows but it does work read and write. This insures that you will have a compatible hard drive with your.
Or perhaps you are setting up an external drive for backups. How to format external hard drive mac 2 simple methods. When i connected the hard drive to the windows xp cd, the music was there but in aiff format itunes doesnt seem to recognize it. I have a macbook pro from 2012 and an external hard drive samsung portable something.
How to install macos or os x on a new hard drive for your mac. Three weeks ago, i bought a brand new 2tb seagate expansion to backup my macbook pro before i updated it to the latest macos. Using apples free disk utility app, you can easily format the drive, give it a label, or even partition it and create multiple volumes from a single. 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. Formatting an external hard drive would erase everything on it. Under file system, choose the file system you want to use. To format an external hard drive for mac with time machine, you must follow the steps below. Most external hard drives hd are sold in a format called ntfs, which is designed to work with windows. Besides, i will also tell you how to recover files from external hard drive for macbook pro, helping you avoiding data loss. Use disk utility to erase format a hard disk, ssd, flash drive, or other storage device. The maximum individual file size for exfat is 16 eb. This stepbystep guide will show you how to format an external hard drive on a mac, and how to partition a drive on a mac. How to format an external drive for mac launch disk utility. 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.
How to reinstall macos from macos recovery apple support. If youre lucky, you can just rightclick each partition on the mac drive and select delete volume to remove the partitions. My hard drive in my macbook completely broke a few weeks ago didnt have much on it thankfully, so i bought a new hard drive and replaced the old one. Lacie 1tb rugged ssd pro external drive with thunderbolt. If your mac doesnt work, you can do this using a second mac and an external hard drive caddy. Step 2 on the left side of the utilities screen, find the name of the external hard drive you want to format and select it. For this you will need an usb drive or a blank dvd. You can format a drive using the disk utility in mac. This is a great thing to do when you first purchase a drive or when you are looking to. Be smart and get one for yourself, but before that i need to give you the best external hard drive for macbook pro.
It doesnt matter how the drive is formatted out of the box, since you can reformat any way you like. Formatting your macbook pro will erase all personal contents from your computer. 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. If a wireless network is available, you can choose it from the wi.
Macbook pro inch, 2020 macbook pro 16inch, 2019 macbook pro inch, 2016 2019. Why is it working on my imac and not on my macbook pro. An hhd, or hybrid hard drive, uses a combination of these methods. If possible, back up your mac using an external hard drive or cloud storage system prior to formatting your disk to avoid personal data loss. Compare the different options for formatting an external hard drive to work with windows and mac. My old hard drive crashed on my macbook pro mid 12 and i bought a new hard drive to use. If the hard drive is preformatted as ntfs, like most hard drives in the market, the mac os x can only read data from it, not write any data on it. Before using an external hard drive on a mac, you should format it using disk utility. Then, as i was moving my computer the hard drive fell down still plugged in. Oh well guess this is a question for a different thread. All is set, then you can go ahead to format the drive on your mac. How to format external hard drives on a mac sweetwater. Hence, you must backup your important files before reformatting the drive if you want to save them. Gtechnology 10tb gdrive usbc desktop external hard drive.
For example, you plan to backup dvds to mac hard drive or store other files and need to format an external hard drive for macos to extend storage space you are selling your mac computer and formatting mac startup disk drive to make it clean and new without any personal data. Format an external hard drive or usb flash drive for mac os x. If youre erasing an external drive, make sure that its connected. To reset a macbook, turn it on and immediately hold down one of these. This wikihow teaches you how to format a seagate hard drive on a mac computer. Discover the world of external hard drives for mac. The volume your mac started up from is named macintosh hd, unless. It didnt hit the floor but it hit one of the legs of the table.
How to set up time machine on an external hard drive for macbook, imac. Before formatting any hard drive, its a good idea to backup any data or files you want to save before formatting. But dont worry there is a way you can make your own. Heres how to format a drive using a mac including how to format a drive. External usb hard drives are lightweight, portable and inexpensive. Because the external hard drive has been assigned to the virtualbox machine, it is the only drive that will be listed. Lacie 2tb mobile drive external hard drive usbc usb 3. Macbook pro retina, inch, late 2012 2015 macbook pro retina, 15inch, mid 2012 2015 macbook retina, 12inch, early 2015 2017. Compare portable, usb and external hard drive models for office and home and shop online. Format a hard drive using disk utility which is in your applicationsutilities folder choose the appropriate format. They are great for backing up data, creating extra storage space on your computer and transferring large amounts of data between two or more computers. The reason is perhaps that seagate external hard drive has been well known for a long time as one of the most reliable drives for storing data.
Format external hard drive for mac with disk utility. Learn how to use macos recovery to reinstall the mac operating system on your builtin drive or an external drive. A lot of people including you, storing important data on seagate external hard drive instead of on your pcmac hard drive. The easiest way is to drag it from one drive to another. The format is not used for the internal hard drives in mac. Click on the erase option from the four options available in the main window. Both have their own advantages and disadvantages when it comes to speed, durability, price, and information safety, so make sure you know which you prefer. Apfs apple file system this is the new file system that apple bought to macs with high sierra and it will. Step 1 connect the external hard drive you want to format to your mac, then start the disk utility app that you can find under applications utilities. While drives are sold as plugandplay, formatting prior to use will give you optimal performance and compatibility with your mac.
However, if you are using a macbook pro or any mac computer, the hard drive must be formatted with a file system your mac can support. People might need to format a hard drive or an external hard drive in windows 10 for various reasons. Choosing the right format for your external hard drive b. I have just saved necessary files and also the installer for os x 10. Bonus tip data recovery from formatted hard drive on mac. The best format for your external hard drive the hellotech blog. If you dont want to lose data from your hard drive, export the data or back it up before continuing. Formatting the drive will permanently erase all the data and files stored on the hard drive forever.
How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac. Your advice on formatting the external hard drive is rather insightful. The problem is that i can not erase and format the hard drive to work with the operation system in the disk utility. Tkd 1tb ssd hard drive replacement for macbook air pro 11 15 a1502 a98 a1465 a1466 late 20, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 mac pro a1481 mojave 5yr warranty. How to convert a macformatted drive to a windows drive. These devices also act as a back up of your data files. 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. I have some issues with the new hard drive i am currently installing. There may be occasions when you need to format mac hard drive. Gtechnology external hard drive for mac, usb have it all. Change the partition layout from current to 1 partition. After youre done, dont forget to remove the external hard.
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