Reformat hard drive for mac os x

Bonus tip data recovery from formatted hard drive on mac. Quit disk utility and continue with a reinstall of os x mountain lion. Click on apple id on macos mojave and older, click on icloud. Format external hard drive for mac reformat external. The easiest way is to drag it from one drive to another. Formatting an external hard drive would erase everything on it. How to format a disk to ntfs using mac os x ask different. In this video i cover how to format internal and external hard drives, solid state drives, thumb drives, and sd cards with disk utility in mac os x 10. Where, i am seeing instruction links, for mac operating system, for as far back as mac os x 10. Sep 06, 2019 the simplest way to install macos or os x on a new hard drive is by using internet recovery mode. Just select the one you want to format and click on the erase tab. Reformatting the drive will erase all data on the drive, so you should copy any data you want off the drive prior to formatting. Heres how to reformat a hard drive with mac os x 10. How to properly formatreformat a hard drive for mac os.

Even though most people associate formatting with system installation, there are many other reasons why you might want to format your hard drive. For apple mac users, the easier way to format usb flash drive to fat32 is using the disk utility. How to format external hard drives on a mac sweetwater. How to convert a macformatted drive to a windows drive. For example, here wed type select disk 2 finally, type clean and press enter. Set the format to mac os extended journaled and the scheme to guid partition map. This is a simple procedure and is achieved the same way for all drive types and through. Quickly format an external hard drive for mac and windows pc. This procedure will destroy any data currently on the drive. When the driver is installed, you format your ntfs disks with disk utility where you select windows nt filesystem as the format.

This mode is only available on apple computers made after 2009 that were running os x lion or later. Select the drive you want to reformat in the lefthand sidebar and go to the erase tab. If you have a mac lying around, you can plug the drive into a mac and back up the files. Dec 26, 2017 weve shown you how to securely wipe a hard drive with your mac, and doing so in recovery mode isnt really different from doing so within macos. How to format or partition an external hard drive on mac. Instead, well just be wiping the drive and starting over from scratch. You cannot reformat a volume when you are currently booted to an operating system on. Jan 15, 2020 learn how to use macos recovery to reinstall the mac operating system on your builtin drive or an external drive. So, while it takes longer to erase files, the security of the hard drive is increased.

After realizing that you can reformat wd hard drive to fat32 or exfat to make it compatible with mac os x and still can be used under windows, it is time to check out how to reformat wd hard drive for mac and pc in windows successfully. One of the major limitations of this format is that its not able to write files larger than 4gb, which can be quite a setback. This process wont actually convert the file system. Now in this interface, you will see a format option. Step 1 open finder, applications, then go to utilities and disk utility. Formatting a hard drive will take a while and wait for it patiently. In order to get started and partition your external hard drive, follow the simple instructions below. How to erase a disk for mac use disk utility to erase format a hard disk, ssd, flash drive, or other storage device. Apr 16, 2008 heres how to reformat a hard drive with mac os x 10. If your mac is from before 2009 or never had os x lion, click here to jump to the next section. The simplest way to install macos or os x on a new hard drive is by using internet recovery mode. The videos below demonstrate the complete process of formatting an external hard drive for full mac os x compatibility, this uses the. How to reformat mac os x without a recovery disc or drive.

Step 2 follow the steps above to format the drive, and then you can use it with time machine on your mac system. Select mac os extended if you plan to use the drive as a media capture scratch drive. As it is mentioned above, after formatting a hard drive, all data on the hard drive will be erased. Use disc utility to erase format a hard disc, ssd, flash drive or other storage device. Where and with working to reformat my new hd, i have been directed to base support and then knowledge base answer id 3865.

From the volume format menu, choose mac os extended journaled. How can i reformat a hard drive from apfs apple community. If you are techy and use windows and mac computers frequently, then you might need to transfer data between mac and pc. Mar 25, 2018 where and with working to reformat my new hd, i have been directed to base support and then knowledge base answer id 3865. You can format the external hard drive or usb drive to make it compatible with both mac and windows machines. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac. Be sure to doublecheck this you could accidentally wipe the wrong drive if you select the wrong disk here. Hence, you must backup your important files before reformatting the drive if you want to save them.

Somehow i was lead to believe that a 2009 mini would run high sierra so i formatted the new drive as apfs and installed 10. Some mac users may require the ability to erase a disk or erase a hard drive from the command line on mac os, a task which is typically performed through the disk utility application from the gui. Compare the different options for formatting an external hard drive to work with windows and mac. Click the icon for your external hard drive in the sidebar on the left. If you have any files you want to save, copy them to another storage device. How to reinstall macos from macos recovery apple support. Format external hard drive for mac reformat external hard. I have tried mac os extended, mac os extended journaled, ms dos file system and unix file. A hard drive or hard disk can be used in any type of computer, whether for pc windows or for mac.

Before formatting a drive, save any important data it contains. If you do not see the scheme option, then you have selected the volume and not the drive. Click the erase tab, select your hard drive, and then erase the disk. Unformat mac hard drive recover formatted hard drive on mac. How to install macos or os x on a new hard drive for your mac. May 26, 2017 i explain how to format a storage device for your mac. It is not as complicated to reformat an external hard drive for use with mac os x as it may look. Is there a more basic way to reformat this particular external drive, to. How to format or partition an external hard drive for mac. Guid table formatting for intel mac start up disks. This command erases the entire selected disk, including all its files and partitions whether. Formatting would erase data completely, make sure that you have a data backup. Os x can default read ntfs disks, but not write to them.

You are ready to go in a few quick measures, so you can transfer your backup data to the hard disk, keep your documents safe so give you peace of mind. When the installer screen appears, do not click continue. Select the nonindented entry for your seagate drive. Format external hard drive for mac with disk utility. How hard is it to reformat the hard drive on a mac. If you only want to remove the files in your user account you could just create a new user account and then delete the old user account. Immediately after the startup sound, press and hold the c key to start up from cd. Click on the view button in the upper lefthand side, change to show all devices. Weve shown you how to securely wipe a hard drive with your mac, and doing so in recovery mode isnt really different from doing so within macos. The hard drive failed wont even spin up so i bought another. To format an external hard drive for mac with time machine, you must follow the steps below. Depending on how you started recovery mode, you may be presented with the option to start disk utility right away, as seen above. If you selected the drive name instead of its description you wont see the scheme option. This is very easy to carry out, and only requires a few moments of your time.

In this video we look at the process of formatting a hard drive, flash drive, or ssd on an apple computer. All is set, then you can go ahead to format the drive on your mac. This insures that you will have a compatible hard drive with. You just have to reformat your hard drive and reinstall a clean version of the. Feb 08, 2020 how to partition an external hard drive on mac. How to format external hard drive mac 2 simple methods. To open disk utility, double click on your internal hard drive mounted on the. Launch disk utility and then click to select the external hard drive listed on the left.

Quit out of the disk utility app, and this time choose reinstall os x and continue. Dec 31, 2019 partition external hard drive on mac os x. Once you open the disk utility app, you can see all the drives on your mac are listed on the lefthand sidebar. May 01, 2020 how to erase a disk for mac use disk utility to erase format a hard disk, ssd, flash drive, or other storage device. To format a usb flash drive to fat32 in mac os x follow these steps. What disk utility looks like in lion through yosemite. How to format external hard drive to use on mac and pc. There are all kinds of reasons why you might want to format a storage drive for your mac from cleaning it up for a fresh install of os x to creating an encrypted drive for work. Erasing a disk or volume permanently deletes all of its files. Open the disk utility app on your mac using one of the following methods, depending. Format an external hard drive or usb flash drive for mac os x.

Before you can use it though, you need to properly format or reformat a hard drive so that it will become compatible or readable with the operating system that you are using. Jan 02, 2016 msdos fat is the most popular format amongst external hard disks, as its both readable and writable by nearly all operating systems, windows and os x included. If you want to create multiple partitions on your external hard drive in fact, you should for better file organization, heres a stepbystep guide. How to properly formatreformat a hard drive for mac os a hard drive or hard disk can be used in any type of computer, whether for pc windows or for mac. Following the erasing of your macs hard drive, you are returned to the os x utilities options. First, back up the data on the macformatted drive if you have anything important on it. If you decide to reformat or partition your drive at a later date, use disk utility supplied with the mac os x operating system. 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. Select the volume format from the volume format popup. Msdos fat is the most popular format amongst external hard disks, as its both readable and writable by nearly all operating systems, windows and os x included. The best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac. Click the erase tab, choose a volume format from the dropdown menu and then type a name for the drive.

Click on the erase button to start erasing the external hard drive or usb. Highlight your drive and click partition in disk utility. How to wipe your mac and reinstall macos from scratch. The mac os x extended volume format is optimal for macs. Both mac os x and windows allow users to format their hard drives using builtin utilities. If a wireless network is available, you can choose it from the wi.

With advanced data erasure technology, super eraser for mac can easily format the hard drive under macos 10. Open the disk utility app and highlight your external hard drive. How hard is it to reformat the hard drive on a mac computer. Aug 30, 2016 how to erase a disk from command line in mac os x aug 30, 2016 47 comments some mac users may require the ability to erase a disk or erase a hard drive from the command line on mac os, a task which is typically performed through the disk utility application from the gui. There is only one rule that you need to keep in mind when reformatting a drive. Erase and reformat a storage device in disk utility on mac apple. How to format usb flash drive to fat32 in mac os x. Learn how to use macos recovery to reinstall the mac operating system on your builtin drive or an external drive. How do i reformat my hard drive in os x mountain lion.

Install mac os 9 disk driver there is an option to install mac os 9 disk drivers. Follow the instructions that appear on screen, license agreements and all, and choose the hard drive to use in. Smaller external hard drives, ssds, and usb flash keys format quickly, while a larger hard drive may take a while longer. The zero out data option is the fastest formatting option and. This thing is still unknown for many users but doesnt worry its not complex. During the formatting process, the system erases and writes over old data, preventing old information from being accessed through data recovery programs. Before using an external hard drive on a mac, you should format it using disk utility. The easiest way to erase the hard drive is to boot the macbook from another boot disk, cddvd or usb drive and then use disk utility to format or erase the other drive.

Make your mac feel like new again with a fresh install of os x. How to format an external drive for mac compatibility. Upon restart, could not get the os to boot, so i started from dvd to reformat the hard drive. For most reasons to erase, including when reformatting a disk or selling, giving away, or trading in your mac, you should erase your entire disk. May 15, 2016 in this video i cover how to format internal and external hard drives, solid state drives, thumb drives, and sd cards with disk utility in mac os x 10. Fortunately disk utility, built right into macos, can help. Here are two ways offered and you can choose on based on your own situation.

For instructions on how to format a drive in mac os 10. I explain how to format a storage device for your mac. From this you can select one of two options in order to restore the operating system. If you are going to resell, donate or give away your mac hard driveexternal hard drive, super eraser for mac is your best choice to format the hard drive and permanently destroy all data. Then proceed to highlight your computers hard drive. You should create multiple partitions on your external hard drive, in order to have enhanced file organization.