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. Quickly format an external hard drive for mac and windows pc. In this guide i will show you how you can properly formatreformat a hard drive for mac os. Choosing the right format for your external hard drive b. I have a 2tb external drive called wd my passport for mac its been over a year since i last used it on my imac. 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.
How to partition and format a wd drive on windows and macos. 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. Formatting a hard drive for windows will be discussed in another article. To format an external hard drive for mac with time machine, you must follow the steps below. 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. Having a 1tb wd passport external hard drive with raw file system, i want to format it to exfat for using in mac and windows computer. On the main panel, click the wd my passport ultra 1tb drives icon, and select the format button. The information youll find here touches on formatting and reformatting wds my passport for your mac. After youre done, dont forget to remove the external hard. I do stress, i buy the right format passport drive for my mac or pc. How to erase my passport and reformat wd portable drives.
Please remember that all data will be deleted from the drive, so make sure you have made a backup. Apr 16, 2020 to format western digital my passport for mac or windows, you can rely on inbuilt applications of your system to format your wd my passport in exfat or fat32 format. If you want to create multiple partitions on your external hard drive in fact, you should for better file organization, heres a stepbystep guide. Apple may provide or recommend responses as a possible solution based on the information provided. The method youll learn uses your mac to format your wd passport for mac and windows. The maximum individual file size for exfat is 16 eb. It will list all the hard drives and devices on your mac computer. Uses the mac format journaled hfs plus to protect the integrity of the hierarchical file system. About your wd drive my passport for mac user manual 2. There are specific thirdparty systems, like digital camcorders, and sony playstation 3, which need the drives to be formatted in either fat32 or exfat format to perform read from and. If you need to use this wd my passport drive on your mac computer extensively, follow these steps. Feb 08, 2020 how to partition an external hard drive on mac.
The mac drive may have an efi system partition on it. How to format external hard drive mac 2 simple methods revealed. Nov 14, 2017 i recently purchased a 4tb wd my passport external hard drive from costco. If you originally used a passport drive with an apple computer, you most likely formatted it in the mac os extended format, which is not compatible with the. Nov 21, 2019 the wd my passport drive is read only on your mac. Jul 31, 2019 having a 1tb wd passport external hard drive with raw file system, i want to format it to exfat for using in mac and windows computer. How to partition and format a wd drive on windows and. Back up all important information on the drive before beginning. Youll find below the ten quick steps, using words and pictures. Reformatting a western digital my passport hard drive to function well on windows and macintosh systems is neither timeconsuming nor technologically demanding. Dont click the format disk button or windows will erase the contents of the driveclick cancel. I came home to set it up and backup my computer a 2015 macbook pro running.
If you want to use the drive with a windows computer, see reformatting the drive and troubleshooting. This western digital my passport ultra drive has a 4tb capacity for massive storage. How to format wd my passport for mac and pc easeus. Does that mean to plug the drive in and then just use the disk utility to format it. Before proceeding further, it is recommended to take a backup of your important files. So, make sure your files have been copied off the drive if there are any on it. Step 1 open finder, applications, then go to utilities and disk utility. How to format wd external drive for mac more less apple footer this site contains user submitted content, comments and opinions and is for informational purposes only. How to format or partition an external hard drive for mac. To format western digital my passport for mac or windows, you can rely on inbuilt applications of your system to format your wd my passport in exfat or fat32 format.
And throw up issues when you format the external hard drive on a windows pc and then you use on your mac. Jun 15, 2015 users can run diagnostics and format the my passport with wd drive utilities, but other than that it is a plug and play drive that can be used to transfer and store up to 3tb of data. Users can run diagnostics and format the my passport with wd drive utilities, but other than that it is a plug and play drive that can be used to transfer and store up to 3tb of data. This trusted portable storage always offers quick and easy way to expand the storage space of your computer and to store a massive amount of photos, videos, music and documents. The wd my passport for mac hard drive is specially designed for mac mini computers, imacs and macbooks. Format your western digital my passport external hard drive to fat32 or exfat format so to transfer the data between a mac and windows system conveniently. Compatible with usbc and usba, the my passport for mac drive comes equipped to connect with todays latest technology. Also is it ok to erase all the present files on the disc. Under file system, choose the file system you want to use.
Why need to format external hard drive for mac and pc. 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. Also, you mentioned to format it for mac and not use the software. This site contains user submitted content, comments and opinions and is for informational purposes only. File system formats available in disk utility on mac apple. On this popup screen, choose ntfs, fat32 or exfat among listed file systems and click ok. I show you how to format a western digital or any brandhard drive for use on any device be it a mac, pc, linux, ps3, xbox 360, etc. This process is data destructive and cannot be undone. Choose one of the following mac os extended file system formats for compatibility with mac computers using macos 10. Disk utility on mac supports several file system formats. Aug 16, 2019 try selecting the wd at the hard drive level i. Once the process begins, all the data on the drive will be lost. Easily use your wd my passport for mac and windows in 7 steps.
I use usb memory sticks to pass files between my pc and mac. You just have to format it, and youll explore the numerous ways you can do that right. If youre lucky, you can just rightclick each partition on the mac drive and select delete volume to remove the partitions. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac.
How can i reformat my external hard drive without losing data. The easiest way to format the drive to fat32 or exfat is by using macoss builtin disk utility for fat32 or exfat. Apr 14, 2020 why need to format external hard drive for mac and pc. It supports usbd connectors for superior transfer speeds, and the included security software offers multiple options to keep your files safe from prying eyes. File system formats available in disk utility on mac. Its modern metal design complements your mac, and out of the box, its formatted for macos and time machine compatibility. Below the format options field, make sure to checkmark the box next to the quick format option. How to switch a wd passport from a mac to pc small business. Aug 30, 2017 hi all i am in terrible need for help. Wd my passport for mac portable external hard drive.
This is useful if a drive is being used under both operating system osto. Wd my passport ultra 1tb setup and troubleshooting guide. The my passport for mac drive is trusted, portable storage that perfectly complements your onthego lifestyle. Just turn on your mac and when it boots up, plug in your my passport drive to your wd. Step 2 follow the steps above to format the drive, and then you can use it with time machine on your mac system. Equipped with usbc technology, the my passport ultra for mac portable drive offers an easy way to expand your storage. As formatting will going to erase everything on your drive and thats why avoid formatting. With a new, stylish design that fits in the palm of your hand, theres space to store, organize, and share all the photos. Wd my passport ultra 2tb setup and driver installation. Connect your western digital my passport drive to mac computer, and let the os detect and mount the drive for use. To partition and format the drive with disk utility, follow these steps. Also, if your current hard drive is more than 5 years old, it probably is nearing the end of its service life and needs to be replaced.
Deborah, if you plan to use drive for quicken backup only, the drive needs no special formatting. Wd my passport this time not untitled and then erase. Highlight your drive and click partition in disk utility. And with up to 5tb1 of storage and a 3year limited warranty, you get storage to rely on for years to come. A western digital external hard drive can be used on both windows and mac osx. But i only got windows was unable to complete the format when i tried to format it form windows explorer. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac laptop mag. Luckily, you can easily format wd my passport for your mac.
Just like on windows, your wd passport can be used on your mac too. In the format partition section, select the file system. How to reformat passport external hard drive from read only to read. My passport wont format external drives for mac wd community. Sep 01, 2011 i show you how to format a western digital or any brandhard drive for use on any device be it a mac, pc, linux, ps3, xbox 360, etc. I have now assigned a drive to the external drive using diskpart and it now shows up in file explorer but tells me the drive is empty it is not and i can access the files from a mac. Now, i am trying to use it on my macbook pro, and it lights up, its also recognized by my mac, i can see it on disk utility, but i cant open it. The simple stepbystep guide below will show you how to format your wd my passport on your computer, so pay attention. Do i use disc utilities fat32 or is there some other format.
How to format a hard drive using the command prompt toms. Protect personal data with this western digital my passport ultra drive for the mac. How to format a wd hard drive to exfat or fat32 file system. That said, if you are using smaller file sizes fat32 can suffice. There is a video after that you can watch as extra help. 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 well. Open the disk utility app and highlight your external hard drive.
Apr 30, 2020 to format an external hard drive for mac with time machine, you must follow the steps below. Yet when you connect a macformatted drive to windows, youll be informed that you need to format the disk in drive x. Dec 29, 2015 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 well. Doing otherwise might lead to issues when formatting the wd passport for mac. Pick your wd my passport in the external hard drive list. Disk utility is a mac application, you can run it on your mac. I recently purchased a 4tb wd my passport external hard drive from costco.
Windows 10 wont read external mypassport drive my passport shows up in device manager but not file explorer. Then, i tried disk management but only received the format did not complete successfully. In the main console, locate the partition on the wd passport external hard drive, right click it and choose format partition. Easily format wd my passport portable hard drive on mac. Apr 16, 2020 format wd my passport in macosos x platform. How to fix wd my passport for mac hard drive not mounting. How to format external hard drives for mac and windows. How to convert a macformatted drive to a windows drive. Wd external hard drive wont format what should i do. How to format a wd hard drive to exfat or fat32 file system imageseu.
Find the view button at the top left of your disk utility window and click it. Since i use a mac, i need to reformat the hard drive in order for it to be used. Format an external hard drive or usb flash drive for mac os x. You can find effective ways here to format wd my passport for mac and pc to fat32 or exfat file. What is important is if you are using a pc you use a pc formatted drive, but if you are using a mac you should use a preformatted for mac drive, it will make your life easier. Now, i will show you the two methods to format wd my passport portable hard drive on mac. I recommend doing it this way, as macs can be choosy about what formats their hard drives. Connect it, power it up, go to disk utility in applicationsutilities, select the wd disk on the left, go to the erase tab, and choose mac os.
Whether you need to know how to format wd my passport for your mac. Formatting wd my passport will not only allow you to have full storage of your wd my passport, but will also remove virusinfected files. Clicking it multiple times creates many partitions. How to format external hard drive mac 2 simple methods. Not sure what extended format is and if its suitable. The instructions below are designed to help repartition and format a hard drive. You were right, you did indeed have to select wd my passport screen shot 20170625 at 6. Format wd my passport for mac, 10 quick steps mactakeawaydata. So, i followed the steps i went into disk utility, selected my passport, clicked erase, selected. Bonus tip data recovery from formatted hard drive on mac. How to format wd external drive for mac apple community. Choose the mac os option from the format dropdown list.
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