Format usb hard drive for mac and windows

Heres how to format a drive using a mac including how to format a drive for windows and mac so the contents can be read on both platforms, and what format to use for time machine. In the value label field, type a descriptive name for the drive. How to format an external hard drive with pictures wikihow. If you keep your hard drives outofthebox ntfs format for all the reasons fat32 displeases, theres a workaround that will allow your mac to read and write files to the drive.

Rightclick on the drive you want to format, click on format. Formatting a hard drive can change the file system to make it compatible with your computers operating. How to format drive with compatible file system for mac. The easiest way to do that is hit cmd and the spacebar at the same time and type in disk utility to find the program. Ntfs3g is an opensource program that, when coupled with macfuse, will let you use your ntfs drive on your mac. If you need to expand your storage space with an external hard drive and you use both mac and pc, youll likely run into a few obstacles. Next, under the partition layout column, specify the number of partitions you want. If you run into the issue of not having enough space format it to be the ex fat as.

How to format an external hard drive on windows and mac. This is useful if a drive is being used under both operating system osto. A western digital external hard drive can be used on both windows and mac osx. Compare the different options for formatting an external hard drive to work with windows and mac.

Rightclick the new hard drive and select the format option. Seagate backup plus slim, especially for largecapacity removable storage devices. Mac os journaled is the formatting option for mac and ntfs or msdos. The best ways to format an external drive for windows and. 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. Plug in the external hard drive into the system and open windows explorer by clicking on the computer section in the side bar, you will see your external hard drive get attached to your system.

How to format an external hard drive for mac and windows. How to format an external drive to work seamlessly with macs. The best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac. In the main interface, right click the partition on that need. This works with any hard drive, flash drive, ssd, usb drive, or just about any other. How to format a usb flash drive on windows 10 windows. On windows 10, the ability to format a usb flash drive can come in handy in a number of scenarios. Run easeus partition master, rightclick the hard drive partition you intend to format and choose format. But to get a hard drive to be compatible with both mac and pc, you.

The best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac cnet. The drive will now be formatted for use by windows systems. However, this format doesnt support larger files, which can be problematic for transferring 4k videos and so on between macs and windows 10. How to share an external hard drive between mac and windows. In the new window, set the partition label, file system ntfsfat32ext2ext3exfat, and cluster size for the partition to be formatted, then click ok. 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. In this video tutorial, i show you how to easily format an external hard drive to work on both a mac and a pc. Use the file system dropdown menu, and select ntfs recommended. Format a usb drive as exfat for mac and windows compatibility. How to format new hard drive on windows 10 windows central. How to convert a macformatted drive to a windows drive. Both fat32 and exfat can be used on windows pc and mac. How to format an external hard drive for mac and pc.

With disk utility open, locate the hard drive you want to partition and select partition. How to format a hard drive to work on mac and pc youtube. However, fat32 has a maximum 4gb file size limit whereas exfat can work with. There will be no space wasted by protected mac partitions. Under file system box, select exfat for this drive. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac. The quickest way is to search on spotlight and click. Use the wizard to create a partition with the ntfs or fat32 file system. Initially, you need to know that formatting the drive is gonna wipe off any of the data stored in it, so if it contains any important piece of information, take your time and perform a full backup of the data stored. Format a disk for windows computers in disk utility on mac apple. All data has to be put in a file format that the operating system can read off the hard drive.