Format external hard drive for mac and pc

FORMAT EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE FOR MAC AND PC HOW TO
FORMAT EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE FOR MAC AND PC MAC OS X
FORMAT EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE FOR MAC AND PC PLUS
FORMAT EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE FOR MAC AND PC WINDOWS

ThatвЂ™s why countless people from around the world have turned to Disk Drill, selecting it as their data recovery tool of choice. Without a capable data recovery tool, thereвЂ™s nothing you can do about it. Realizing that youвЂ™ve forgot to back up a critically important file from a newly formatted hard drive feels horrible. After you confirm your selection, it should take just a few moments for the formatting process to finish.

FORMAT EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE FOR MAC AND PC WINDOWS

Windows will present you with a formatting window where you can specify various formatting parameters. Keep in mind that you can only format storage devices that are currently not in use.

Right-click on it and select the Format option from the context menu. If the hard drive you want to format is connected to your PC, it should be there. To format a hard drive for Windows, open the File Explorer and click on This PC. Click on the Erase button again to confirm your decision and wait for the process to end. Select your storage device, choose your desire file system, specify the name, and click on the Erase button. The main window of the utility contains a list of storage devices, storage device details, and formatting options. You can launch it from the App list or use Spotlight. With it, itвЂ™s possible to easily format and storage device with just a few clicks.

FORMAT EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE FOR MAC AND PC MAC OS X

Mac OS X users have at their disposal a handy tool called Disk Utility. Developed by Microsoft, this modern file system is optimized for situations where the NTFS file system is not a feasible solution, and the file size limit of the standard FAT32 file system is unacceptable. If you need to format external hard drive Mac or Windows, you may also consider the exFAT files system. Because FAT32 supports only up to 4 GB large files, it should be used only with flash drives. Both Mac OS X and Windows also support the FAT32 file system, but we donвЂ™t recommend it for hard drives.

FORMAT EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE FOR MAC AND PC PLUS

Mac OS X uses the HFS Plus file system, while Windows uses the NTFS file system. First and foremost, you need to decide which file system to use. Regardless of why you want to format your hard drive, there are some considerations to be made before you begin. Of course, you may also just want to quickly delete the content of an entire hard drive.

FORMAT EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE FOR MAC AND PC HOW TO

Data fragmentation remains an issue even in the era of mobile devices, and in some cases formatting is the fastest way how to solve it. Optimization is another good reason for hard drive formatting. When you purchase a brand-new hard drive, thereвЂ™s no guarantee that it will be pre-formatted from the factory, nor is there any guarantee that it will come with the right file system. Even though most people associate formatting with system installation, there are many other reasons why you might want to format your hard drive. The system disk must have the MBR partition style if youвЂ™re running a 32-bit version of Windows.Both Mac OS X and Windows allow users to format their hard drives using built-in utilities. The only disadvantage with GPT is that only 64-bit versions of Windows can be on the system disk (the hard drive that Windows is installed on).

GPT (GUID Partition Table)В is the newer partition style that has become commonplace with more modern computers, which use UEFI instead of BIOS to boot your system.

The BIOS/UEFI is what loads all of the primary drivers, hard drives, as well as your Windows OS. While older Windows PCвЂ™s (that have a BIOS)В run perfectly fine, itвЂ™s becoming obsolete on new PCвЂ™s (which use UEFI).

MBR (Master Boot Record)В is an older partition style that has been around for quite some time.

While GPT is often used for hard drives with more than 2 TB of space, there are other advantages, as well. MS-DOS (FAT) Best for external hard drives shared with Windows computers. When you format a hard drive on Windows 10, you are prompted to choose GPT or MBR as the partition style. Mac OS Extended (HFS+) Best for mechanical drives and drives used with macOS 10.12 or earlier. WhatвЂ™s the difference between GPT and MBR?

Volume Label: Enter the name you wish to label the drive as.

Select the Format of the drive volume with the following settings.

Right-click the space that says Unallocated, select New Simple VolumeвЂ¦, and then follow the on-screen prompts.

MBR for hard drives with a capacity of less than 2 TB.

GPT for hard drives with a capacity larger than 2 TB.

Neither Apple File System nor HFS+ works with Windows, however.

When assigning the drive letter, be sure that itвЂ™s different than that of hard drives that are currently in use. Any drive formatted with HFS+ will work just fine with a Mac thats running High Sierra or later.

In these cases, they get formatted and are assigned a drive letter.

Some external USB hard drives donвЂ™t have the option to be initialized.

Right-click the disk that says Not Initialized or Offline, then select Initialize Disk or Online.

Click the Windows icon, type Disk Management, then click Create and format hard drive partitions.

Format external hard drive for mac and pc