Rather than use a macformatted drive, you should get the important files off of it and use exfatformatted drives for moving data between macs and pcs. Now you will need to select the disk you wish to format. People might need to format a hard drive or an external hard drive in windows 10 for various reasons. Please note that once the hard drive is formatted by aweeraser for mac, all the data on the hard drive will be permanently erased, cant be recovered by data recovery software or. Therefore, it is necessary to present a tutorial guide here to. How to convert mac only external hdd to windows compatible. Format a disk for windows computers in disk utility on mac apple. How to format new or second hard drive on windows 10mac. Once the partition has been created on the storage device, the mac os installation files. Choose the exfat file system in the list and click start. If you buy a new external hard drive, you may notice that working between mac and pc is an often difficult but it doesnt need to be. 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. But thirdparty tools fill the gap and provide access to. Thats all because its been initialized with windows nt file system ntfs, which is primarily for pcs.
Formatting a disk or volume erases all the files on it. To format a hard drive for windows, open the file explorer and click on this pc. For this reason, a macformatted hard drive is not directly compatible, nor readable. I had information from a broken mac backed up at best buy, but because my mac broke, now i only have a windows computer. That said, if you are using both a pc and mac in the workflow, youll need to use a different. Please backup your data off the hard drive that is being formatted. How to format an external hard drive for mac and pc. Follow these easy steps to format a hard drive in windows 10, windows 8, windows 7, windows vista, or windows xp. How to format external hard drives for mac and windows. While formatting, you would be asked to pick a file system for the disk. In the main interface, right click the partition on that need. Rightclick the new hard drive and select the format option. Hard drive format software for mac mac disk format software. You cant format the hard disk on which windows is stored while windows is running, for the same reasons that you cant work on a cars engine while you.
Both mac os x and windows also support the fat32 file system, but we dont recommend it for hard drives. Some people are asking for a way to format a hard drive for mac. Click go on the top tool bar, and select utilities. The process for wiping a drive in macos is no harder than windows, though it will be slightly different depending on the type of drive you plan to. Quickly format an external hard drive for mac and windows pc. If it does not you will need to rightclick and delete the volume first. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac laptop mag.
In this video i help you guys convert your mac only external hdd into a windows compatible one. You have to set it up correctly before getting starting. External hard disks and usb drives are generally formatted with the windows fat32 file system for maximum compatibility. If your mac or pc has a windows os installed, then you wont face any trouble managing it. Securely format external hard drive on windows and mac with super eraser. How to format your hard drive seagate support canada. To format external hard drive for mac with time machine, you must follow the steps below. How to share an external hard drive between mac and windows. To format the drive in windows, rightclick it in the file explorer window and select format. In disk utility on your mac, you can format an external disk for a windows computer. Rightclick on it and select the format option from the context menu. Select the external hard drive on the lefthand side. Both fat32 and exfat can be used on windows pc and mac.
Apple mac machines support a different file system. Once in the folder, youll see an application named disk utility, doubleclick on it to launch the program. Of course, if you have a backup already, ignore this step. File system formats available in disk utility on mac. One simple way to make the drive readable on both platforms is to format it to exfat, which both operating systems can understand. How to format drive with compatible file system for mac. How to format a mac formatted drive to ntfs for it to work on windows 10 and other versions of windows that read ntfs. When you plug a drive thats been formatted for mac into a windows pc, you may find that it isnt readable. For instance, users want to write data to and read data from, to do a clean installation of the windows system, to get rid of a virus or malware, to erase the data before giving the drive to someone else or throwing it away. Macos extended if you primarily use mac with a secondary exfat partition, or ntfs if you mainly use windows 10 with a secondary. A system repair disc does not install windows 7 and you will not need a product key to use a system repair disc.
Change the partition layout from current to 1 partition. The formatted files erased by disk utility also can be recovered by free mac data recovery software. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac. How to format a hard drive on windows or mac avast. Use the file system dropdown menu, and select ntfs recommended. You can select the exfat format when using the disk utility to format the drive.
Download paragon partition manager free if you have not already, then install the software. Understanding hard drive partitioning with disk management. This works with any hard drive, flash drive, ssd, usb drive, or just about any other. Windows cant normally read macformatted drives, and will offer to erase them instead. Windows will format the drive as exfat and youll be able to use the drive on both windows and mac. Now in this interface, you will see a format option.
A vast majority of video production will be done on a mac or windows operating system, so we arent going to cover linux. How to format or partition an external hard drive for mac. To format a hard dr ive means to erase any information on the drive and to set up a file system so your operating system can read data from, and write data to, the drive. How to format external hard drive mac 2 simple methods. So, you just bought an external hard drive or a portable ssd and wanted to use it on your mac. Here is a tutorial help you read mac drive on windows. For a windows computer to be able to read a hard drive, it needs to have a file system format that is compatible with windows. Once you open the disk utility app, you can see all the drives on your mac are listed on the lefthand sidebar. How to format a hard drive windows 10, 8, 7, vista, xp.
However, you have to reformat the drive to make it functional with your mac computer. In the value label field, type a descriptive name for the drive. It seems they formatted the drive to the mac format, but i have no way to access the data, at least i think. Well show you everything you need to know about the.
Buying an external hard drive is one of the best options for adding the storage space to the mac computer system. This file system is specifically for mac systems and windows cant read this file system. How to convert a macformatted drive to a windows drive. Run aweeraser for mac choose erase hard drive select hard drive click on erase button format the selected hard drive. External hard drives use either spinning disks or solid memory to save your files. How to format a new or second hard drive on mac mac is obviously a very much different operating system from windows, let alone their features and steps to format a hard drive. Find the hard drive you want to format, and highlight it. Just select the one you want to format and click on the erase tab. How to wipe a hard drive in windows 10 and macos techradar. You need to format a hard dr ive if you plan on using it in windows. The system tells you what key to press during the restart, so pay attention to your screen and be quick at pressing the right key.
Can a windows computer read a macformatted hard drive. If the external hard drive is pre formatted for mac, disk management will list 3 partitions and you will not be able to delete the health efi system partition because its a protected partition. Also, you can manage the internal partitions, merge them, create new. How to use the format command to write zeros to a hard drive. While you have bought this drive, you will find the drive already formatted for your mac or windows system. If you want to format your external hard drive to work with mac and windows computers, you should use exfat. There are a number of tools that can help you in this regard. If youre lucky, you can just rightclick each partition on the mac drive and select delete volume to remove the partitions. 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. Read mac formatted drives with windows the tech guy. If the hard drive you want to format is connected to your pc, it should be there. How to format new hard drive on windows 10 windows central.
Format hard drive on windows 7 or earlier versions step 1 restart your computer and press f8 or del key to enter the bios settings. Step 1 open finder, applications, then go to utilities and disk utility. But somehow, macos doesnt allow you to write data to the drive. Compare the different options for formatting an external hard drive to work with windows and mac. Open disk management, the hard drive manager included with all versions of windows. Convert formatted drive from mac to windows info remo. Opening disk management can be done a number of ways depending on your version of windows, but the easiest method is to type diskmgmt. How to format a hard drive on mac to work on mac and pc. 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. Before digging in, select a primary format youll use the most. As both windows and mac provide native solutions to format hard drive, you should avoid using any unreliable thirdparty tool.
Under the format menu, choose the file system you want to use. With exfat, you can store files of any size, and use it with any computer made in the last 20 years. File systems compatible with windows include fat32 and ntfs why not. On mac computers, use the finder app to browse and manage files on your computer and external hard drives. How to format hard drive for mac and pc on windows. Disk utility on mac supports several file system formats. Step 2 follow the steps above to format the drive, and then you can use it with time machine on your mac system. Mac os journaled is the formatting option for mac and ntfs or msdoc is the formatting.
Go to the applications folder on your macs hard drive, then go to the utilities folder, and launch disk utility. How to use mac formatted external hard drive on windows. You could convert the drive to fat32 or exfat that both mac and windows can read. How to format external hard drives on a mac sweetwater. Select your drive in the lefthand sidebar and go to the erase tab. Insert the flash drive or hard drive you want to format for windows compatibility. Neither mac os nor windows recognize each others volume formats. The best ways to format an external drive for windows and. Every major version of the operating system provides a dedicated solution to format hard drive as well as external storage units. You can format an external hard drive or thumb drive to work seamlessly with both mac and windows by using the exfat file system. While the program loads, it will scan the disks attached to the system and present a list.
Easily format external hard drive on windows or mac. To format external drive to file system compatible with mac and pc, connect the drive to your computer and follow the detailed steps given below take formatting hard drive to exfat in windows 7 for example. Bonus tip data recovery from formatted hard drive on mac. How to format an external hard drive for mac and windows. A system repair disc can be created from any working windows 7 computer and can then be used to write zeros to any drive using the included format command, including the primary drive, no matter what windows operating system is on the computer. Now that you know which format to use, check out our guide on how to format your hard drive on. Macs may also create a protected efi partition on these drives that you cant delete with the usual diskpartitioning tools. How to format a flash drive for mac and pc compatibility.
The mac drive may have an efi system partition on it. To format the primary drive the hard disk where the operating system resides you need to boot into the setup program on windows 7 or windows 10 and use it to format your drive. It is a quick way to format external hard drive on mac. The exfat format supports virtually any size hard drive and file, unlike the outdated fat32 format. If you dont want to format the external hard drive for mac exclusively, you can choose msdos fat or exfat. The two solutions above can help you format external hard drive on windows or mac. The best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac.
Rather than use a mac formatted drive, you should get the important files off of it and use exfatformatted drives for moving data between macs and pcs. Before a hard drive can read or write data, it must first be formatted, or erased and reconfigured. So, if you want to use an external hard drive on both windows and mac, you need to format it to a filesystem that is compatible with windows pc and mac. Just transfer all useful files out from the external hard drive to other devices on mac.
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