- Reformat External Hard Drive For Mac And Windows
- Format External Hard Drive For Mac And Windows 10
- External Hard Disk For Mac And Windows Format
- 2tb External Hard Drive For Mac And Windows
Feb 21, 2012 Looking to share an external hard drive between a Mac and PC? The best way to do it is with a drive formatted as FAT32. Though this format has some limitations, it. External Hard Drives for Macs. Mac users need to sync an external hard drive with their computer to use Time Machine, Apple's built-in file backup system. Shoppers can find and choose the right Mac hard drive by thinking about storage and portability needs.
So, you just bought an external hard drive or a portable SSD and wanted to use it on your Mac. But somehow, macOS doesn’t allow you to write data to the drive.
That’s all because it’s been initialized with Windows NT File System (NTFS), which is primarily for PCs. Apple Mac machines support a different file system.
Mar 19, 2014 Question: Q: External Hard Drive for Mac to Windows? Today I bought a 3TB My Book external hard drive. The only reason I need this is to move my 2,000+ pictures and 100+ videos off my Mac and keep them safe. These pictures and videos are filling up my memory and I can't seem to do much else with the whole 10GB I have free. After you buy a new external hard drive which comes in with only one partition from the manufacturer, when you intall it in Mac or PC, you always would rather to partition external hard drive into separated partition to store different types of files. Partitioning your hard drive can help organize your data and make your life more convenient. Why Need to Format External Hard Drive for Mac and PC. 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. Currently, hard drives for Windows PC are always formatted with NTFS, while hard disks for Mac are formatted with HFS+.
In this post, I’m going to show you how to format your external drive for a Mac compatible file system i.e. Mac OS Extended (Journaled). Just follow this easy step-by-step guide and you’re all set.
Important note: If you have useful files stored on the external drive, be sure to copy or transfer them to another safe place prior to formatting. The operation will erase all data and your files will be gone for good. You could use a recovery program like Data Rescue to retrieve them, but the odds of recovery vary.
Pro tip: If your external drive has a large volume, like mine – a 2TB Seagate Expansion. I highly recommend you also create multiple partitions. I’ll also show you how to do that below.
Most External Hard Drives Are Initiated with NTFS
During the last several years, I’ve used several removable drives, including a 500GB WD My Passport, 32GB Lexar flash drive, and a few others.
Three weeks ago, I bought a brand new 2TB Seagate Expansion to backup my MacBook Pro before I updated to the latest macOS, 10.13 High Sierra (also see those High Sierra issues I encountered).
When I connected the Seagate to my Mac, the drive icon showed up like this. Dr java for mac.
When I opened it, the default content was all there. Since I wanted to use it on Mac, I clicked the blue logo with the text “Start_Here-Mac”.
It brought me to a webpage on Seagate’s site, where it clearly indicated the drive was initially set up to work with a Windows PC. If I wanted to use it with Mac OS or Time Machine backup (which is my intent), I’ll need to format the drive for my Mac.
I then right-clicked the external drive icon on Mac desktop > Get Info. It showed this format:
Format: Windows NT File System (NTFS)
What is NTFS? I’m not going to explain here; you can read more on Wikipedia. The problem is that on macOS, you can’t work with files saved on an NTFS drive unless you use a paid app Paragon NTFS for Mac.
How to Format an External Drive to Work with Mac (from NTFS to Mac OS Extended)?
Note: The tutorial and screenshots below are based on macOS Sierra 10.12.5. They might be different if your Mac has a different version.
Reformat External Hard Drive For Mac And Windows
Step 1: Open Disk Utility.
The quickest way to do this is a simple Spotlight search (click the search icon on the upper right corner), or go to Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility.
Step 2: Highlight your external drive and click “Erase”.
Make sure your drive is connected. It should show up on the left panel under “External”. Select that disk and click the “Erase” button, the one highlighted in red in the screenshot below.
Step 3: Select “Mac OS Extended (Journaled)” in Format.
A new window will pop up asking which file system you’d like to format the external drive to. By default, it’s the Windows NT File System (NTFS). Select the one shown below.
Pro tip: If you want to use the external drive for both Mac and PC, you can also select “ExFAT”. Learn more about the differences between these file systems from this thread.
https://specistumi.tistory.com/10. By the way, you can also rename your external drive.
Step 4: Wait until the erasing process is complete.
For me, it took less than a minute to format my 2TB Seagate Expansion.
You can also check to see if the format was successful. Right-click on the icon for your external drive on Mac desktop, then select “Get Info”. Under “Format”, you should see text like this:
Congratulations! Now your external drive has been formatted to be fully compatible with Apple MacOS, and you can edit, read, and write files to it as you want.
How to Partition an External Hard Drive on Mac
If you want to create multiple partitions on your external hard drive (in fact, you should for better file organization), here’s a step-by-step guide:
Step 1: Highlight your drive and click “Partition” in Disk Utility. https://weinew638.weebly.com/diary-of-a-teenage-girl-download.html.
Open the Disk Utility app and highlight your external hard drive. Make sure you select the disk icon right under “External”. If you select the one below it, the Partition option will be greyed out and become unclickable.
Step 2: Add partitions and allocate volume for each one.
![Formatting hard drive for mac and pc Formatting hard drive for mac and pc](/uploads/1/3/3/9/133909587/145459959.jpg)
After clicking “Partition”, you’ll see this window. Located on the left is a big blue circle with the name of your external drive together with its volume size. What you need to do next is click the add “+” button to increase the number of partitions on your external disk. Then allocate the desired volume to each partition. You can do that by clicking the small white circle and dragging it around.
After that, you can rename each partition and define a file system for it.
Step 3: Confirm your operation.
Once you hit “Apply”, a new window pops up asking for your confirmation. Take a few seconds to read the text description to make sure it reflects what you intend to do, then click the “Partition” button to continue.
Best design apps for mac. Step 4: Wait until it says “Operation successful.”
To check whether the operation is really successful, go to your Mac desktop. You should see multiple disk icons show up. I chose to create two partitions on my Seagate Expansion — one for backup, the other for personal use. You can find more info in this post: How to Backup Mac to an External Hard Drive. Djay pro 2 pre cueing.
That wraps up this tutorial article. I hope you find it helpful. As always, let me know if you have any issues during the formatting or partitioning process.
After you buy a new external hard drive which comes in with only one partition from the manufacturer, when you intall it in Mac or PC, you always would rather to partition external hard drive into separated partition to store different types of files. Partitioning your hard drive can help organize your data and make your life more convenient. But many users think it is an arduous task to partition hard drive, so in this tutorial, we will goes through the detailed steps of partitioning an empty external hard drive in Mac and PC.
Part 1. How to Partition an External Hard Drive on Mac
Step 1. Open a Finder
Open the Finder by clicking on the icon on the dock. Alternatively, you can open the Finder through launching a Spotlight by tapping on 'CMD SPACE' and typing 'Disk Utility' then press the 'Return' key.
Step 2. Open Disk Utility
While on the Finder, click open Applications on your left hand side. Then scroll down to Utilities folder and double click on the folder. Double click on Disk Utility folder on Utilities folders to run the program.
Step 3. Highlight the External Hard Drive to be Partitioned
On your left column, identify the hard drive you intent to partition then highlight. The hard drive you are looking for should be right above Macintosh HD. On the right side of the column, there is a row of tabs. Click on the one written 'Partition' and a 'Volume Scheme' section will appear.
The blue area shows the space taken up by your hard drive. The white area shows the free space that can be used for partitioning. Below the rectangular box, there are a '+' and '-' symbols, click on '+' sign to add a new partition.
Step 4. Adding a New Partition
Once you click on '+' symbol, another box appears labeled Macintosh HD 2. To change the name, size of the drive (volume information) and format the disk, click on the new box once.
Note: Formatting the hard drive is necessary if you want to install a new operating system on the added partition.
Step 5. Partition the Drive
After adjusting the components of your new partition, click 'Apply' on the bottom of the screen. Immediately, a pop-up screen will appear, click on 'Partition' dialogue box and wait for the partition to be added. It only takes a few minutes for the external hard disk to be partitioned. You can also use the preceding steps to partition the internal hard drive of your computer.
Part 2. How to do External Hard Drive Partition on Windows
Yes, you can partition your hard drive into a couple of logical units you desire. Partitioning your hard disk, you reduce the chances of your vital data being corrupted, thus separate data from operating system. This is how to partition your hard drive using window.
Step 1. Select Disk Management
Right click on the 'Computer' icon and select 'Manage'. Click on 'Manage' and select 'Disk Management' below the 'Storage' folder. While on Disk Management, you will see all partitions and disks on your PC.
Step 2. Click on Shrink Volume Option
After shrinking the volume of your disk, Unallocated dialogue box in Disk Management screen. So, right click on the 'Unallocated' box and then proceed to click on 'New Simple Volume' box.
Step 3. Enter the Size to be Allocated to New Partition
On selecting a 'New Simple Volume Wizard' option, a New Simple Volume Wizard screen appears. Click on 'Next' option on the right corner of the bottom of the screen.
Here you are required to enter the amount of size that you want your new partition to contain. After entering the required size, click on 'Next'. Ensure that you're the figures your entered does not exceed the total amount of memory available.
Step 4. Assign a Name to the New Partition
Assign a path or name to your new partition by selecting from the menu and then click on 'Next' button. Assigning a name is important since it allows Windows to navigate and identify the new partition.
Step 5. Set Your New Volume or Partition
Select 'Format' this volume and ensure that you select the following: Select 'NTFS on File System' and 'Default on Allocation unit size'; On Volume Label, enter the name you want the name drive to be referred. Finally, select 'Perform a quick format' and then click on 'Next'.
Step 6. Format Your New Partition
Once again, go through the settings you made previously and then click on 'Finish' box. A pop-up window will appear on your screen, asking you to partition your new volume. Click on the 'Format' disk first and make sure that you retain the previous settings and then click on 'Start' option. You will also receive a warning concerning formatting but go further and select 'OK'.
If you followed the preceding steps correctly, you will notice that the new volume you created has been added to the Disk Management window.
Part 3. How to Recover Data from Partition External Hard Drive on Mac and Windows
Format External Hard Drive For Mac And Windows 10
Currently, many companies have come up with various data recovery applications to deal with data loss from external hard drives. However, iSkysoft Data Recovery for Mac (or iSkysoft Data Recovery for Windows) is one of the best applications and is dominating the market due to its unique features. This tool helps uses to recover all forms of lost data including photos, audio, documents, videos, and other vital data from external hard drive on Mac.
Easy Steps to Recover Data from Partition External Hard Drive
Step 1. Select Types for Your File
External Hard Disk For Mac And Windows Format
First, run the Data Recovery from Application folder after you have installed. Then attach the external hard drive to Mac computer. While on your primary window, select one or more file types to retrieve accurate lost files from external hard drive and click 'Next' button to continue. It retains the original folders and file names.
Step 2. Choose a Drive and Start Scanning
In another window, select a drive you wish to recover lost files from. Thereafter, click on 'Start' button, to scan all the existing files on your preferred drive. You can scan specific file types like audio, video, email, archive, or pictures.
Step 3. External Hard Drive Partition Recovery
After scanning is complete, check your lost files in the bottom list. Use preview feature of the software, to check whether your lost files have all been found. Identify the types of files you wish to retrieve and tap on the 'Recover' button. Choose a folder on Mac and not on the hard drive, and click 'OK' to allow the external hard drive recovery process to begin.
Most people use external hard drives to store vital information and in a way keep it safe. The problem is such information can be loss due to virus infection, formatted hard drive, or files accidentally deleted.
And people usually use external hard drive device in order to keep their important information safe and secure. But what to do when data loss happened due to varies reasons like deleted the files mistakenly, formatted the drive, virus infection. Therefore, ensure that you at least have reliable software to be in the safe side. That is why you need iSkysoft Data Recovery.