I recently installed windows 7 onto my pc as a dualboot to windows vista. Easily use your wd my passport for mac and windows in 7 steps. Click the file menu and select load file system from device. I am about to reformat my mac pro ssd, and start from a complete fresh install of catalina. In the create partition window, choose exfat under the file system tab. The manufacturer either provides the owner with a copy of the operating system os or they create a restoration partition on the hard drive. How to format drive with compatible file system for mac.
Format a usb drive as exfat for mac and windows compatibility. Partition magic saw it as a bad drive because i had already partitioned and formatted one part with mac for backup, then formatted the other with ntfs. Select the mac drive from the list of drives make sure this is the drive you want to work on, if you do it for the windows formatted drive in the list, it may cost you a lot of important data. 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.
The hard disk manager for mac can find and undelete any mac, windows, or linux partition. If you want to format hard partition or system volume on mac, you are at the right place. How to format a mac drive to ntfs in windows quora. In this video tutorial, i go over how to erase or format a hard drive with a mac computer using disk utility. In my current setup i have the 1tb ssd partitioned into an 800gb partition for macos, and a 200gb partition for bootcamp. Select the unallocated partition only one shown then click next, windows will create all needed partitions. Reformatting your laptop involves completely erasing the hard drive and it is the surest and most effective way to clean your computer.
The mac drive may have an efi system partition on it. I have already removed the windows 7 partition and it is declared as unallocated space. Macos extended if you primarily use mac with a secondary exfat partition, or ntfs if you mainly use windows 10 with a secondary. It covers the options available when you want an external hard drive working on a mac and pc but you cant reformat.
Aomei partition assistant is such a great simple tool for formatting external hard drive for mac and windows. A quick format only deletes the organizational structure of the files on the drive, without removing the actual files. In disk utility select your macs internal drive, making sure to click on the drive and not the volume beneath it. How do i reformat a mac hd to ntfs for use with windows 8. What disk utility looks like in lion through yosemite. Mac partition recovery recover deletedlost partition on. If you want to create multiple partitions on your external hard drive in fact, you should for better file organization, heres a stepbystep guide. To use it, download hfs for windows here and install on your pc. Under file system box, select exfat for this drive. Formatting a disk using windows maxes out the partition at 32gb, but not if the formatting is done using mac os x. Some people may ask why create such partitions on windows rather than mac. Format external hard drive for mac reformat external. Convert formatted drive from mac to windows info remo. Windows disk management is a tool built in to windows xp, vista, 7, 8.
Rightclick the hard drive and choose wipe hard drive. The dialog box lists all existing partitions on the hard disk. If you have any files you want to save, copy them to another storage device. Reformatting windows partition question macrumors forums. Delete or format partition during clean install windows. The best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac.
Erase and reformat a storage device in disk utility on mac. Mac os can read ntfs volumes but cannot natively write to them. In the disk utility app on your mac, choose view show all devices. Hence, you must backup your important files before reformatting the drive if you want to save them. Then you desperately want to recover your mac partition. Launch disk utility from the launch pad on mac or find disk utility from finder. Rightclick on the drive you want to format, click on format. How hard is it to reformat the hard drive on a mac computer. Dec 05, 2019 rightclick on windows icon, select disk management. In this article, we will introduce easytouse tools to help mac users to format mac hard drive partition or mac volume. Right click on the partition and select delete volume this will remove the partition.
Learn the few steps it takes to set up your wd my passport for mac and windows. Reformatting a drive on windows is a pretty straightforward process. If you are going to format extra internal drive on mac, you have to partition hard drive on mac. Even when i deleted the partition with windows computer management, mac saw it as ntfs. Open the disk utility app and highlight your external hard drive. Open the disk utility app on your mac using one of the following methods, depending on the type of disk or volume you want to erase. How to format a system partition created by windows 7 os hello. Quickly format an external hard drive for mac and windows pc. In order to reformat the disk, you will delete the existing partitions on the disk and let windows setup create new ones. How to format a hard drive windows 10, 8, 7, vista, xp. However, you need to make doubly sure that you complete a quick format. Then proceed to highlight your computers hard drive. To format external drive to file system compatible with mac and pc, connect the drive to your computer and follow the detailed steps given below take formatting hard drive to exfat in windows 7 for example.
Mac os extended refers to the file system used by mac os x. Prior releases operate in a similar way although the screen displays may vary in the detail of their look. How to format a system partition created by windows 7 os. Here is a tutorial help you read mac drive on windows. Dec 29, 2015 windows uses ntfs and mac os uses hfs and theyre incompatible with each other.
The latter requires to you to use a command line interface, while the former uses a graphical user interface. In disk utility on mac, you can erase and reformat storage devices to use with your mac. How to format a windows drive for mac in 10 easy steps like the commercials of years gone by, some people are pcs and others are macs. Windows uses ntfs and mac os uses hfs and theyre incompatible with each other. Install the paragon driver for mac for compatibility with macs. Formatting an external hard drive would erase everything on it. However, fat32 is a legacy file system designed for low capacity hard drives and it is not recommended for modern hard drives or operating systems. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac. May 29, 2018 to format external drive to file system compatible with mac and pc, connect the drive to your computer and follow the detailed steps given below take formatting hard drive to exfat in windows 7 for example.
It is therefore an excellent crossplatform file system. Also, you can learn how to format ssd on a mac device with detailed steps. Jan 08, 20 in this video tutorial, i go over how to erase or format a hard drive with a mac computer using disk utility. There is only one rule that you need to keep in mind when reformatting a drive. I have also tried renaming the partition itself to try and get to to erase, but that didnt work either. Windows cannot format the system partition on this disk. After that, you can use your external hard drive on both mac and windows machine. Rightclick on windows icon, select disk management. How to format new or second hard drive on windows 10mac. Save any files you need to another volume before formatting. Installing windows on a mac should be a piece of cake with bootcamp, but that rarely is the case.
Mac is obviously a very much different operating system from windows, let alone their features and steps to format a hard drive. Mar 22, 2012 the best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac. By accident, you deleted, lost, or formatted your mac partition and lost all the files on it. Im here to use a windows 10 based hp laptop to format my lexar drive.
How to format an external hard drive for mac and windows. Create and format a hard disk partition windows help. A fat32 partition can reach up to 32gb when formatted on a windows pc. Just transfer all useful files out from the external hard drive to other devices on mac. For example, in windows xp my computer is equivalent to this pc on windows 10. I need to figure out how to deleteformatremove the systemmanaged and protected drive that windows 7 installs. In such a case, you will need easeus data recovery wizard the best mac partition recovery software.
Nov 12, 2007 only after that was my mac willing to erase and reformat. Once the set up is complete, mount your drive and it will be visible on file explorer. To create a partition or volume the two terms are often used interchangeably on a hard disk, you must be logged in as an administrator, and there must be either unallocated disk space or free space within an extended. Or you can choose wipe hard drive to completely delete the hard drive. Follow these easy steps to format a hard drive in windows 10, windows 8, windows 7, windows vista, or windows xp. Seagate backup plus comes in a couple varieties one preformatted for mac, the other preformatted for windows but also readable on mac.
What i have been trying to do is, of course, reinstall the windows onto the same partition so that the important. Formatting prepares a partition to store the files and folders youll place there by establishing a file system. All is set, then you can go ahead to format the drive on your mac. Seagate backup plus desktop user manual optional formatting. Feb 08, 2020 how to partition an external hard drive on mac. In the main interface, right click the partition on that need. It will automatically locate the connected drive, and you can load it. Type the name of the volume you want to convert, and then press enter. Nearly all macs sold after july 20, 2011 came with factory installs of os x 10. However, you can format the drive to work with both windows and mac by using the exfat filesystem. When i try to format it, it gives the following error. Compare the different options for formatting an external hard drive to work with windows and mac. To switch between the two oses, i always use the boot manager never the buildin macos switching.
Just specify the block of free space which the lost partition used to occupy to let our program scan it for records of any partition ever existed within its borders. Highlight your drive and click partition in disk utility. Format external hard drive for mac with disk utility. The procedure to reformat a laptop is rather simple in todays world.
Open disk management, the hard drive manager included with all versions of windows. How to reformat an external hard drive without losing your. Mar 15, 2018 to use hfsexplorer, connect your macformatted drive to your windows pc and launch hfsexplorer. Leave a comment format external hard drive for mac. What i have been trying to do is, of course, reinstall the. This mac disk formatting software is pretty simple to use. Run it on your mac, choose this mode wipe hard drive. In the format popup menu, choose mac os extended journaled. Mar 12, 2016 installing windows on a mac should be a piece of cake with bootcamp, but that rarely is the case.
How to format drive with compatible file system for mac and. How to format the partition that has windows installed. How to format or partition an external hard drive for mac. Nov 14, 2019 windows setup asks where you want to put your new installation. Under partition information, enter a name for the partitionwith a single partition, this is simply the name of the drive. How to reformat and partition a hard drive on a windows pc. Because you dont want to loose the documents on there. Select the partition you want to format and click on wipe now button. How to erase and partition a hard drive on a mac tutorial. In disk utility on your mac, you can format an external disk for a windows computer. Feb 25, 2006 the windows was installed in partition c. Mar 31, 2020 before digging in, select a primary format youll use the most. If you are on an earlier operating system like windows 7, xp, etc.
However, before format your mac hard drive partition or volume. Before digging in, select a primary format youll use the most. There are three ways to format an ssd for windows 10 installation. Opening disk management can be done a number of ways depending on your version of windows, but the easiest method is to type diskmgmt. In the sidebar, select the disk you want to format to use with. Formatting a disk or volume erases all the files on it. To use hfsexplorer, connect your macformatted drive to your windows pc and launch hfsexplorer. With it, you can recover your files from a deleted, lost, or formatted partition on macos or mac os x with ease. Of course, if you have a backup already, ignore this step. How to reformat mac os x without a recovery disc or drive. The information and recommendations here are focused on the version of operating system for the mac called mac os sierra. Jul 24, 20 nearly all mac s sold after july 20, 2011 came with factory installs of os x 10. You can try easeus partition software an easy ssd format tool, use cmd command or disk management.
A fat32 partition can reach 2tb when formatted on a mac. If youre lucky, you can just rightclick each partition on the mac drive and select delete volume to remove the partitions. Feb 02, 2018 how to reformat a disk to fat32 on a mac. The easiest way is to drag it from one drive to another. Format a disk for windows computers in disk utility on mac. How to share an external hard drive between mac and windows. You cannot reformat a volume when you are currently booted to an operating system on. How to convert a macformatted drive to a windows drive. You could convert the drive to fat32 or exfat that both mac and windows can read. This tool will quickly format the selected mac hard drive partition and permanently erase all data information on the hard drive partition. You just need to mount your disk and access all of your files. Therefore, it is necessary to present a tutorial guide here to format or partition a hard drive within mac os.
If you want to format mac external hard drive, connect the external hard drive youd like to format to the computer. Partition wd my passport for mac, teach yourself in 10 steps. And while you can format it when youre creating the volume, you can also use the format operation to quickly wipe the data or to change the file system. How to partition a mac hard drive, ssd or create an apfs. Have you ever wondered how to reformat, partition and readytouse an external mac hard drive. Want to reformat your storage device after successfully formatting the hard drive with lacie setup assistant.
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