Unfortunately, disk utility in macos high sierra doesnt make that option easy to find. That will format your drive and you can reinstall your os the way it was when you first got it. Unfortunately, disk utility in macos high sierra doesnt make that option easy to. 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 part 3. How do i install and format new hard drive in mid2012 macbook pro. Open the disk utility app and highlight your external hard drive. This will demonstrate how to format a hard disk to be completely mac os x compatible, the entire process is handled through disk utility as demonstrated with an external hard drive attached to a. Dec, 2019 you can format the external hard drive or usb drive to make it compatible with both mac and windows machines. 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. Now im not too sure how to set this new hard drive up as in putting an os on it and formatting it correctly im not concerned with getting any of my old data back on it, i just want to set it up as a new macbook.
Hard drive format software for mac mac disk format software. Currently, if you only have a mac computer with macos high sierra or above and couldnt find a windows computer to use our windows version, you can still try to install and run mac os x 10. Fortunately, there are some mac hard drive format software or smart disk formatting applications can help you securely and easily format, reformat, or erase hard drive under mac os. How to format an external drive for mac compatibility.
This insures that you will have a compatible hard drive with. Apple file system format or the older mac os extended format, and it automatically chooses a compatible format for you. The best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac. 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. The previous defunct hd was also fat32, which i did not realize upon receiving and using. Whether you are planning to make a clean installation mac os x or you need much larger file to store more files, in both cases you will need to format your hard drive. Bonus tip data recovery from formatted hard drive on mac. This is a simple procedure and is achieved the same way for all drive types and through. Feb 08, 2020 how to partition an external hard drive on mac. How to format usb flash drive to fat32 on mac os xmacos. Follow the instructions that appear on screen, license agreements and all, and choose the hard drive to use in. I received a replacement 750gb external hard drive from western digital.
Format a hard drive using mac os x disk utility iclarified. How to access mac osx extended formatted hard drive in. How to wipe your mac and reinstall macos from scratch. Mac os x can only be installed on a hard drive formatted in mac os extended journaled, filesystem. All without the need for a recovery disc or thumb drive. If a wireless network is available, you can choose it from the wi. These steps can be used for both internal and external drives. Jan 31, 2016 this will demonstrate how to format a hard disk to be completely mac os x compatible, the entire process is handled through disk utility as demonstrated with an external hard drive attached to a. How to format external hard drive mac 2 simple methods. For instance, is the hard drive internal or external.
If you want to create multiple partitions on your external hard drive in fact, you should for better file organization, heres a stepbystep guide. Tutorial how to format hard drive on your mac os x the. For apple mac users, there are two ways to format a usb flash drive to fat32, including disk utility and. Use disk utility to erase format a hard disk, ssd, flash drive, or other storage device. Run mac os x on an appletv with an external hard drive how to. Mar 22, 2012 the best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac. Read only ntfs from native mac os x to readwriteformat ntfs from mac os x, here are some alternatives. If you are trying to format mac external hard drive, you can go over the process step by step.
Partitioning a hard drive is the process of dividing a hard drive into separate, discrete sections, called volumes. Highlight your drive and click partition in disk utility. They will efficiently format hard drive or external device under windows or mac os. External hard drives are usually formatted for windows. Whether youre selling your computer, trying a new operating system, or setting up an external drive for backups, sometimes you need to completely erase and format a. Aug 30, 2016 this is an article for mac, it is erasing a hard drive from a mac command line, it is not a windows tutorial. Make your mac feel like new again with a fresh install of os x. Learn how to use macos recovery to reinstall the mac operating system on your builtin drive or an external drive. In this tutorial i will go through all steps you need to follow in order to format your entire hard drive or just a.
Jul 12, 2017 how to format a drive as apfs in macos sierra. Step one if your hard drive is an external drive, connect it to the computer. Formatting would erase data completely, make sure that you have a data backup. To change the format, you will need to use the disk utility option. If youre preparing a mac for resale or troubleshooting a misbehaving machine, you might opt to format your macs hard drive. How to format usb flash drive to fat32 on mac os xmacos easeus. Compare the different options for formatting an external hard drive to work with windows and mac. In this video we look at the process of formatting a hard drive, flash drive, or ssd on an apple computer. Why need to format external hard drive for mac and pc. Apr 17, 2020 to format external hard drive for mac with time machine, you must follow the steps below. You can choose to format a usb drive, sd card, or external hard drive with apfs. There are several reasons you might need to install a new copy of macos or os x on the hard drive in your mac or macbook. Dec 26, 2017 if you want a truly clean installation, however, you need to first wipe your hard drive. Instructions for how to format your external drive so that it will be fully usable in macos.
Quit out of the disk utility app, and this time choose reinstall os x and continue. You can, however, format a windows hard drive from a mac if you connect the windows hard drive to the mac and format it through disk utility, or the command line as described above. Whether youre selling your computer, trying a new operating system, or setting up an external drive for backups, sometimes you need to completely erase and format a hard drive. Fortunately disk utility, built right into macos, can help. Whether you are trying to backup mac to an external hard drive, wipe out any personal information and sell the computer, or even use a new operating system, you need to format the hard drive on your mac or pc. My hard drive finally went kaput on my mac, and it is in the mac hospital getting a replacement. This thing is still unknown for many users but doesnt worry its not complex.
If you desire encryption, then select mac os extended journaled, encrypted format instead. When done, quit disk utility to return to the utilities window. How to format usb flash drive to fat32 in mac os x. 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. Here are two outstanding mac hard drive format software tools you can rely on. Be sure to select the correct drive to use if you have more than one. How to recover data from formatted external hard drive on mac. So, if users anticipate using the flash drive with more than one operating system, they will definitely benefit from the fat32 file system. How to reformat mac os x without a recovery disc or drive. Access the disk utility by going to finder and clicking on applications.
Verify that the volume format popup list is set to mac os x extended journaled 7. Open finder and choose applications utilities disk utility to launch. As i run my installer, what would i erase and reinstall on to. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac laptop mag. Jan 15, 2020 learn how to use macos recovery to reinstall the mac operating system on your builtin drive or an external drive. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac. Formatting a drive so you can install and boot macos requires the guid partition map. If you havent done so already, follow these instructions to format your hard drive to work with macos or os x. Disk utility is a free application that comes with mac computers. Create a bootable install usb drive of mac os x 10. 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 easiest way to do that is hit cmd and the spacebar at.
Disk utility shows the recommended mac format by default. You can format the external hard drive or usb drive to make it compatible with both mac and windows machines. To format a drive on a mac, youll need the builtin disk utility application. For apple mac users, the easier way to format usb flash drive to fat32 is using the disk utility. Use disc utility to erase format a hard disc, ssd, flash drive or other storage device.
If you want a truly clean installation, however, you need to first wipe your hard drive. Format an external hard drive or usb flash drive for mac os x. How to format external hard drives on a mac sweetwater. How to format an external disk or a flash drive for mac. Mac os x installation basics sata drive seagate support us. This is an article for mac, it is erasing a hard drive from a mac command line, it is not a windows tutorial. Feb 21, 2020 its a universal format that is compatible with mac os xmacos, windows, linux and dos systems. If you are techy and use windows and mac computers frequently, then you might need to transfer data between mac and pc. I knew this was going to happen soon, so earlier this year i. Your mac downloads the latest compatible version of macos or os x over the internet and installs it on your hard drive. How to install and run mac os x from an external hard drive. This mode is only available on apple computers made after 2009 that were running os x lion or later.
Smaller external hard drives, ssds, and usb flash keys format quickly, while a larger hard drive may take a while longer. Select reinstall os x and click on the install button. Here are the following most common reasons why would you like to format an external disk or a flash drive for mac under mac os extended journaled. Instructions for installing an internal drive as a bootable or a storage drive in macos x. When the driver is installed, you format your ntfs disks with disk utility where you select windows nt filesystem as the format. Once you open the disk utility app, you can see all the. And they will never cause any damage to your hard drive or shorten the service life of the hard drivessdusb flash drive, etc. How to format usb flash drive to fat32 in mac os x admfactory. When trying to save large files in final cut pro, the hard drive would save numerous.
How to format external hard drive mac 2 simple methods revealed. How would i completely reformat my mac h apple community. Before using an external hard drive on a mac, you should format it using disk utility. How to reinstall macos from macos recovery apple support. Dont worry, the top 5 disk formatting tools bellow are 100% safe disk formatting tool for windows or mac os. Connect the usb fash drive to the mac os x computer. Launch disk utility and then click to select the external hard drive listed on the left. These are instructions on how to format a hard drive using mac os x disk utility.
Its a universal format that is compatible with mac os xmacos, windows, linux and dos systems. I would like to know how i would reformat my mac completely, leaving no data what so ever. When prompted, select the mac os extended journaled format. Click on the partition button and wait until the process has completed. Apr 14, 2020 why need to format external hard drive for mac and pc. Using it, you can erase a hard drive, create new partitions, and even repair your disk as well. To format a usb flash drive to fat32 in mac os x follow these steps.
Follow the instructions that appear on screen, license agreements. The videos below demonstrate the complete process of formatting an external hard drive for full mac os x compatibility, this uses the. Even though most people associate formatting with system installation, there are many other reasons why you might want to format your hard drive. 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. In this tutorial i will go through all steps you need to follow in order to format your entire hard drive or. The mac os x extended volume format is optimal for macs. Give the drive a descriptive name and leave the default settings. If you have a large hard drive, this can take a very long time. Dec 29, 2015 how to format a hard drive for both windows and mac. Verify that the correct hard drive is selected in the left column. Its a multipurpose tool that handles formatting, erasing, repairing, and partitioning hard drives, among other things. Some people are asking for a way to format a hard drive for mac. Choose either apfs or mac os extended journaled to format as a mac volume. Apr 25, 2009 do a reinstall and select any one out of zeroout data, 7pass erase or 35pass erase.
Click install and select your hard drive as the destination. Jan 02, 2016 formatting a drive on your mac is quite easy. How you format a mac hard drive is entirely dependent on what kind of drive you plan on formatting. You can format an external drive in os x using disk utility and terminal. How to format or partition an external hard drive for mac. You can also open a finder window, select applications in the sidebar, and head to utilities disk utility. How to install macos or os x on a new hard drive for your mac. Just like windows, macos also gives us a seamless option to format hard drive for mac and pc. Formatting hard drive in any operating system is not a complicated procedure, and its the same with mac os x.
When the driver is installed, you format your ntfs disks with disk utility where you select windows nt filesystem as. Reformatting an external hard drive for use with mac osx is not as. This is the new file system that apple bought to macs with high sierra and it will be. Click the erase tab, choose a volume format from the dropdown menu and then type a name for the drive.
However, if you want to test apfs out before then, youll have to wipe a drive and reformat it with the apfs file system. Both mac os x and windows allow users to format their hard drives using builtin utilities. How to format a drive with the apfs file system on macos. Quickly format an external hard drive for mac and windows pc. If your mac is from before 2009 or never had os x lion, click here to jump to the next section. Os x can default read ntfs disks, but not write to them. The operating system has an inbuilt tool, which is known as disk utility. How to format a drive with the apfs file system on macos sierra. If you are having a hard time using the command line, try the disk utility app, which is simpler and uses the gui. How to format hard drive for mac compatibly in os x disk. Sep 06, 2019 the simplest way to install macos or os x on a new hard drive is by using internet recovery mode. The world wide geek demonstrates how to format an external hard drive for mac os x.
Use the disk utility application to erase the drive. Fortunately, there are also several ways to do it, ranging from internet recovery to installation discs. Reformatting the drive will erase all data on the drive, so you should copy any data you want off the drive prior to formatting. How to format external hard drive to use on mac and pc. Choose mac os extended journaled partition for the volume format. To format external hard drive for mac with time machine, you must follow the steps below.
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