On mac computers, use the finder app to browse and manage files on your computer and external hard drives. Format a disk for windows computers in disk utility on mac apple. By default, they format disks with the mac only os x extended file system. Jul 05, 2017 macs support a variety of file systems. Constantly repairing exfat drive on osx macrumors forums. Once the formatting process is finished, you can store the files in this newly formatted usb flash drive or.
In the format partition section, select the file system. For instance, you might wish to format as sd card, pen drive, external hard disk, etc. The easiest way is to drag it from one drive to another. Continue below to format an external hard drive or learn more about disk management. How to format external hard drive mac 2 simple methods. This tutorial explains how to format external hard drive usb flash drive exfat in windows 10. Jan, 2020 because of its system suitability for both windows and mac computers and large file support features, exfat system has been widely used in big storage media like usb flash drive and external hard drive. How to format an external hard drive for mac and windows. How to recover a corrupted external exfat hard drive ask different. To access the disk management tool, click the windows icon and type disk management. Formatting an external hard drive would erase everything on it. Format external hard drive for mac with disk utility. For pc and mac compatibility, select exfat format and master boot record scheme. How to fix raw external hard drive without formatting.
Apr 17, 2020 follow any of the methods listed below to successfully format your external and internal hard drive to exfat file system. This is a 3 tb external seagate hard drive formatted in mac s disk utility as a single non bootable exfat partition. Exfat exfat format allows files to be read and written to both mac. Please, backup any data you are interested in keeping which is already. Feb 03, 2020 you want to quickly and permanently erase all content from your mac and restore it to factory settings, such as when youre selling, giving away, or trading in your mac. It doesnt appear in disk utility, finder, diskutil list or about this macsystem reportusb. Format external hard drive for mac and pc with exfat.
How to format external hard drives on a mac sweetwater. In disk utility on your mac, you can format an external disk for a windows computer. Format drive to exfat in windows 10 so it is readandwrite in mac os as well. Here, we will show you four methods to format an external hard drive so that it is compatible for mac and windows pc.
All is set, then you can go ahead to format the drive on your mac. Find out how to format an external drive or usb disk making the drive work with both windows pc and mac can read and write. After you connect an external hard drive to your mac, if everything is working fine, the operating system will automatically recognize, read, and mount your external drive, as well as show it in the finder and on the desktop. Some hard drives may also include drivers, firmware, or format wizards so be sure to check the user manual before formatting the hard drive. Also, you should know that while mac can format the source, it will change its file format in the end. To deal with the raw external hard drive issue, there might be the need to format the drive to turn the raw files to ntfs. The best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac. How to troubleshoot and fix external drive not detected. Follow these instructions if you plan to share an external hard drive between pc and mac computers. Format a usb drive as exfat for mac and windows compatibility. While you can select and repair individual volumes partitions for.
Aug 30, 2019 how to format an external hard drive on mac. Cannot mount external hard drive on mac, how to fix. The only way i have found to fix it is to boot into windows and run the standard scan disk for errors function that pops up on connecting the drive. But, if you plan on using an external drive with both macs and pcs, you should format the disk with the exfat file system instead. It got unplugged from the computer and now the computer is unable to read it. Both windows and mac os x have full readwrite support for exfat drives. Choose this format if the size of the disk is over 32 gb.
After the external hard drive is completely formatted, you need to safely eject it and replug it back to the computer. If you want to format your external hard drive to work with mac and windows computers, you should use exfat. Easy ways to format external hard drive for mac and windows pc. Apr 17, 2020 to format external hard drive for mac with time machine, you must follow the steps below. How to format an external hard drive the easy way in 2020.
Formatting an external hard drive will remove all the data already present on it. Lacie rugged mini 4tb external hard drive portable hdd usb 3. Format your external drive with exfat for both mac and. External hard drives use either spinning disks or solid memory to save your files. This tutorial explains how to format external hard driveusb flash drive exfat in windows 10. If you want to format external hard drive to ntfs file system, you need to install a ntfs for mac tool on your mac. Follow any of the methods listed below to successfully format your external and internal hard drive to exfat file system. And yes, after installing that softwaredriver, you can format the external hdd with ntfs as format. Both fat32 and exfat can be used on windows pc and mac. For me, it was my seagate external hard drive 2tb one that got corrupted. This article will show you how to fix and repair a corrupted hard drive without losing data. External hard drive corrupted so you cannot access all saved data. I run a macbook pro retina late 20 and on my 512gb hard drive i have 3 partitions150gb mac osx partition currently running mavericks150gb windows 8.
Rightclick on the icon for your external drive on mac desktop, then select get info. Choose the solution selectively on how you want your hard drive to be formatted. This post will teach you how to format your macs hard disk and fix common errors. Format external driveusb exfat in windows 10 in simple steps. This is a 3 tb external seagate hard drive formatted in macs disk utility as a single non bootable exfat partition. Now your external drive has been formatted to be fully compatible with apple macos, and you can edit, read, and write files to it as you want. Error on external hard drive that will not scan and fix. How to format external hard drive, usb flash drive on mac. Its much simpler to format any drive thats isnt running the operating system such as the c. Sep 12, 2019 format drive to exfat in windows 10 so it is readandwrite in mac os as well.
But if you want the external hard drive to also work on a mac, you should choose exfat. Jan 03, 2020 how to format external hard drive compatible for mac and windows pc. Please remember that all data will be deleted from the drive, so make sure you have made a backup. You want to quickly and permanently erase all content from your mac and restore it to factory settings, such as when youre selling, giving away, or trading in your mac. If you are able to fix the hard drive or ssd in your mac or an external drive using disk utility you will hopefully be able to recover your files. This would have changed your raw drive into ntfs file system and the data you have stored in it can be used again. How to format your hard drive to exfat file system on windows. If you need to format external hard drive mac or windows, you may also consider the exfat files system. Hey guys this is how you fix your exfat drives on mac. How to format an external hard drive for windows 10. Hi, i dont know if this is the right place to ask, but i think it kind of is. Format your internal hard drive to exfat file system through diskpart just like formatting the drive to any other file system, you can use diskpart to format your drive to exfat file system as well. How to format your hard drive to exfat file system on. Compare the different options for formatting an external hard drive to work with.
Hence, you must backup your important files before reformatting the drive if you want to save them. Before a hard drive can read or write data, it must first be formatted, or erased and reconfigured. The macmacbook can mount and read the external usb hard drive successfully now. My external hard drive exfat and used only on macbook suddenly started showing read only. Huge partitions are also supported by exfat file system, up to 128 pebibytes. How to fix a corrupted external hard drive on macmacbook. Additional disks are generally used for data storage and data transfer, such as an external usb hard disk, memory card, or a thumb drive. Format an external hard drive or usb flash drive for mac os x. Once youve gotten all the data off the macformatted drive, youll probably want to format it with the exfat file system. I have an exteranl drive that is pretty new and is formated exfat because i need to go back and fourth between pc and mac.
Both mac os x and windows allow users to format their hard drives. But compared with formatting, an ntfs for mac driver like iboysoft ntfs for mac is a better and feasible solution. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac. Now that you know which format to use, check out our guide on how to format your hard drive on. Buying and using an external hd is one thing, getting the most out of it is quite another. To sum up, it is easy to format an external hard drive for both mac and windows pc. Drive fixer how to troubleshoot and fix external drive not detected issues on windows 10 if your pc isnt detecting an external hard drive, use this guide to resolve the issue. By default, they format disks with the maconly os x extended file system.
How to format external hard drive compatible for mac and windows pc. Follow offered methods here to repair the corrupted external hard drive, usb drive or sd, etc. Depending on the size of the drive, and if there are files to be deleted in it, this can take a few to several minutes to. Youre changing the format of a disk, such as from a pc format fat, exfat, or ntfs to a. Great fix for sd cards, flash drives and all other external hard drives that. So if you are formatting a drive that has already been used, be sure to copy any files you will ever want to see again onto a computer or backup drive. A drive can be formatted with exfat using either a windows or a mac computer. Very often an exfat external disk stops appearing in os x. Feb 08, 2020 rightclick on the icon for your external drive on mac desktop, then select get info. You will learn the easiest way to format drive on mac and windows as exfat. Repairing a corrupted mac osx exfat partition craig smith.
Macos external drive not showing not reformatting fix. Youre changing the format of a disk, such as from a pc format fat, exfat, or ntfs to a mac format apfs or mac os extended. Oct 16, 2019 the best format for external hard drives. This article will show you why the exfat drive not recognized in windows 10, and provide you different ways to solve exfat external hard drive not recognized on windows problem. I think it might have accidentally been pulled out. Dec 29, 2015 follow these instructions if you plan to share an external hard drive between pc and mac computers. Plug in the external hard drive into mac and open the finder. From what i understand, windows doesnt always like the way mac s do the formatting on some larger drives, though, so give it a try and if your windows machines dont like it, just format the drive with windows. The following tutorials will teach users how to format an external hard drive for both mac and pc to exfat on mac osx and windows 10. Whats the difference between fat32, exfat, and ntfs. How to format an external hard drive with pictures wikihow. How to format external hard drive mac 2 simple methods revealed. How to format a hard drive on windows or mac avast. Exfat external hard drive opens readonly apple community.
How to recover a corrupted external exfat hard drive ask. Click on the erase button to format usb flash drive or external hard drive. The mac macbook can mount and read the external usb hard drive successfully now. 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. Thats why countless people from around the world have turned to disk drill, selecting it as their data recovery tool of choice. Because of its system suitability for both windows and mac computers and large file support features, exfat system has been widely used in big storage media like usb flash drive and external hard drive. How to format an external hard drive for mac and pc. How to repair a corrupted exfat partition on macos sierra quora.
It helps to verify and repair a range of issues related to startup hd and external drive problems. For instructions on how to format your hard drive on a mac, please reference the following links. With exfat, you can store files of any size, and use it with any computer made in the last 20 years. No need for deleting any files before that, as formatting takes care of it. How to format an external hard drive on windows and mac. After you connect an external hard drive to your mac, if everything is working fine, the operating system will automatically recognize, read, and mount your external drive, as well as show it. We use an exfat drive for editing and we constantly need to repair its files and permissions before we can mount it on osx again. 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.
The best format for your external hard drive the hellotech blog. Data recovery from a reformatted exfatfat disk more and more drives are using the exfat file system. How to format or partition an external hard drive for mac. How to format hard drive and fix disk format errors on mac.