Configure your mac to work with windowsformatted drives. Jun 16, 2019 insert your ntfs drive or usb stick and click to highlight the disk name in the white box on the lefthand side of the window. 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 format or partition an external hard drive for mac. Step 2 follow the steps above to format the drive, and then you can use it with time machine on your mac system. To sum up, it is easy to format an external hard drive for both mac and windows pc. Various reasons lead to the change of file format to an unrecognizable form. Therefore, slntfs software acts as an interface for the mac os 10. Learn how to format your external hard drive, and what file systems are. Now that you know which format to use, check out our guide on how to format your hard drive on.
So, you just bought an external hard drive or a portable ssd and wanted to use it on your mac. How to format external hard drive mac 2 simple methods. Macs can only read files from windowsformatted external hard drives, but not. How to format a drive for mac and pc compatibility macyourself. How to format external hard drive, usb flash drive on mac. How to format an external hard drive with pictures wikihow. It can be read by macs, and if you install some special software, ntfs can be written by macs. Which format is faster in a data transfer for a 1tb external. How to format a disk to ntfs using mac os x ask different. Format to ntfs, and use ntfs 3g to readwrite on mac. Whether youre formatting an internal drive, external drive, usb flash drive, or sd card, windows gives you the choice of using three different file systems.
Then you will find this external hard drive at the lower right column. How to format drives in ntfs on a macin 3 easy steps tuxera. How to share an external hard drive between mac and windows. How to format a wd hard drive to exfat or fat32 file system. Step 1 open finder, applications, then go to utilities and disk utility. When you have a new hard drive, or when youre reinstalling windows, the os may ask you to format the drive. I havent tried this one, but it should also do the job. If you want to format external hard drive to ntfs file system, you need to install a ntfs for mac tool on your mac.
If given a choice, the two common modes are ntfs and fat32. If you keep your hard drive s outofthebox ntfs format for all the reasons fat32 displeases, theres a workaround that will allow. The best ways to format an external drive for windows and. 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. However, if you want to convert ntfs to exfat to make external hard drive compatible with mac and pc, 3 steps are required. How to format raw drive to ntfs without losing any data. How to format an external hard drive for windows 10. If you intend to use your external drive to move files between macs running. Freeware to format external hard drive to ntfs in window 108. Insert your ntfs drive or usb stick and click to highlight the disk name in the white box on the lefthand side of the window.
If you work on a mac computer and need to read or write files from hdd, ssd or a. Give your drive a name and select the file system you want from the format dropdown. Once the formatting process is finished, you can store the files in this newly formatted usb flash drive or. However, you cant write or delete files from a mac. Enter the command format fsntfs or format fsntfs quick for quick format. How to format an external hard drive for mac and pc. Thats all because its been initialized with windows nt file system ntfs, which is primarily for pcs. Rightclick the windows exfat partition and select format.
How to format external hard drives on a mac sweetwater. Nov 19, 2019 for instance, windows retrieves, stores and formats any flash drive or external hard disk using its default format, that is. How enable ntfs writing on mac write to ntfs drives mactip. 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. But somehow, macos doesnt allow you to write data to the drive. Oct 07, 2017 i believe ntfs is typically faster for readwrites to the disk. I would be inclined to go with fat32 for a flash drive, but ntfs for an external hard drive. On mac computers, use the finder app to browse and manage files on your computer and external hard drives.
For most reasons to erase, including when reformatting a disk or selling, giving away, or trading in your mac, you should erase your entire disk. Format external hard drive to ntfs from fat32 using disk management. Ntfs is native to windows, and most hard drives are preformatted for. To format an external hard drive for mac with time machine, you must follow the steps below. The drive came formatted in the ntfs format but since i use it for both my pc and mac. Most mac users will be better off formatting external drives with exfat, ensuring they work well on both windows and mac os x without any extra work. How to format an external hard drive on windows formatting a hard drive on windows is a simple affair, especially if you leave everything as default. Windows will choose ntfs for you because thats microsofts native filing system. Format external hard drive for mac with disk utility. Feb 08, 2020 so, you just bought an external hard drive or a portable ssd and wanted to use it on your mac.
Use the exfat file system and never format your external. How to format or partition an external hard drive on mac. In order to get started and partition your external hard drive, follow the simple instructions below. The storage drive can convert from ntfs file system to raw drive anytime and that too without giving any indications. The best format for external hard drives if you want to format your external hard drive to work with mac and windows computers, you should use exfat. Formatting can be done with the mac os x disk utility, found in the applicationsutilities folder. Click on the erase button to format usb flash drive or external hard drive. Turn on your macintosh notebook computer or desktop system and login. But if you want the external hard drive to also work on a mac, you should choose exfat, which is an upgraded version of fat32. Then, you can share external hard drive between mac and pc. The speed over the usb connection will physically be the same for both formats, but the ntfs format is smaller in length than the exfat format. Look, having a home media cloud drive thingy is great and. Oct 16, 2019 the best format for external hard drives.
The best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac. Aug 30, 2019 select the external hard drive in the left hand sidebar and click on the erase tab. I can browse all folders except a users profile which i need to copy to another disk. Apr 30, 2020 to format an external hard drive for mac with time machine, you must follow the steps below. Mar 15, 2018 most mac users will be better off formatting external drives with exfat, ensuring they work well on both windows and mac os x without any extra work. Virtually every operating systgem modern enough to. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac. How to format an external hard drive the easy way in 2020.
Meanwhile, the ntfs system used by windows 10 supports large files, but this format cant be read natively by macos. Bonus tip data recovery from formatted hard drive on mac. After youre done, dont forget to remove the external hard. A western digital external hard drive can be used on both windows and mac osx. Format an external hard drive or usb flash drive for mac os x. If you have data on the drive and do not want to lose it then read the paragraph about not losing data below. Developed by microsoft, this modern file system is optimized for situations where the ntfs file system is not a feasible solution, and the file size limit of the standard fat32 file system is unacceptable. 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. To format a hard drive on your mac, follow these instructions. May 01, 2020 how to erase a disk for mac use disk utility to erase format a hard disk, ssd, flash drive, or other storage device. Whatever the reason be, never format the drive instantly when it gets converted to raw. Each time i attempt to access it, i get access denied errors.
If you use a mac, the likelihood that youll have to reformat the drive is higher. Apple mac machines support a different file system. Which format is faster in a data transfer for a 1tb. Select disk utility, and then choose the drive to format. When you cannot formant external hard drive to ntfs for some reasons, you can try aomei partition assistant standard instead. The f switch is the most common of the chkdsk switches. Then double click on utilities icon, which will appear at the screen along other applications you have. If you want to format your external hard drive to work with mac and windows computers, you should use exfat. When the driver is installed, you format your ntfs disks with disk utility where you select windows nt filesystem as the format. Which external hard disk format fat32 or apple community. With exfat, you can store files of any size, and use it with any computer made in the last 20 years. The easiest way to add storage to your mac is to buy an external hard drive.
Any external hard drive will work with pcs or macs, as long as the connectors are there firewire, usb, etc. The fat or file allocation table is quite possibly the most widelysupported disk format in existence today. Once you have it, your first task is to pick a suitable file system for that drive depending on your intended usage. Most external hard drives hd are sold in a format called ntfs, which is designed. Explorer says the disk is ntfs, but chkdsk reports it is raw. This is useful if a drive is being used under both operating system osto move files between the two environments. Which mac file system is best for an external drive.
How to format an external hard drive on windows and mac. The only free application that will let you do this we are aware of is hfsexplorer, which uses java and is really only suitable for the odd file transfer fat32 the most compatible option. How to format usb drives to ntfs on a mac with tuxera disk. Running a mac and having ntfs formatted external disks, you definitely. Once the formatting process is finished, you can store the files in this newly formatted usb flash drive or external hard drive. Fat32 works for both oses, but has a 4gb size limit per file, so it. How to format external hard drive mac 2 simple methods revealed. Formatting an external hard drive would erase everything on it. I believe ntfs is typically faster for readwrites to the disk. See how easy is to format external hard drive for mac and. Generally, you can format external hard drive to ntfs via disk management, file explorer and command prompt. As the default file system in windows, it can only read by mac os, writing to it is not available. Unable to access folder on external ntfs drive microsoft. Ntfs has quite a lot of strong advantages, which may actually make it a good format choice for certain external hard drives, depending on the circumstances.
Find drive format in finder how to format external hard drive for mac and pc in mac. Its a direct continuation of the original dos format used on floppy diskettes and hard drives. The thing is, although apple largely has support for ntfs and other windows formats, write support to ntfs drives is disabled in os x. Most external hard drives hd are sold in a format called ntfs, which is designed to work with windows. How to format a hard drive on windows or mac avast. It will likely already be formatted, either for use with windows using ntfs or for maximum. You should create multiple partitions on your external hard drive, in order to have enhanced file organization. How to erase a disk for mac use disk utility to erase format a hard disk, ssd, flash drive, or other storage device. Learn how to set up or format a usb drive to the ntfs file system using your mac.
Windows can read and write to ntfsformatted drives. Under file system, choose the file system you want to use. Compare the different options for formatting an external hard drive to work with windows and mac. Follow the similar procedure that is used in formatting the fat32 above. Ntfs is resistant against disk corruption caused by a power failure. Jan 09, 2020 4 ways to format external hard drive to ntfs in windows 1087 successfully. If you need to format external hard drive mac or windows, you may also consider the exfat files system. Whats the difference between fat32, exfat, and ntfs. Using apples free disk utility app, you can easily format the drive, give it a label, or even partition it and create multiple volumes from a single. In the format partition section, select the file system. If it does not you will need to rightclick and delete the volume first. Virtually every operating systgem modern enough to supporft usb ports can read and write fat32. Quickly format an external hard drive for mac and windows pc. Luckily, there are thirdparty tools to help you do so.
For a hard drive to be able to be read and written to in both a pc and mac. The quickest way to do this is a simple spotlight search. How to format an external drive to work with mac from ntfs to mac os extended. External hard drives use either spinning disks or solid memory to save your files. However, the write support in the os settings is not active. Nov 26, 2012 i would be inclined to go with fat32 for a flash drive, but ntfs for an external hard drive. It doesnt matter how the drive is formatted out of the box, since you can reformat any way you like.
Choosing the right format for your external hard drive b. If you want to write to ntfs formatted hard drives in mac os x, youre going to. By this way, you can easily format an external hard drive for mac and pc without losing any data. Rightclick the disk here take ext3 partition for exampleyou need to format and choose format partition.
Select the external hard drive in the left hand sidebar and click on the erase tab. This is very easy to carry out, and only requires a few moments of your time. On mac computers, use the finder app to browse and manage files on your computer and. Jul 16, 20 when you have a new hard drive, or when youre reinstalling windows, the os may ask you to format the drive. Well show you how using tuxera ntfs for mac and tuxera disk manager. If you want check disk to scan a drive other than the c.
Youll be notified once the utility completes the format. If the drive is for sharing then fat32 is the way to go. May 21, 2020 by this way, you can easily format an external hard drive for mac and pc without losing any data. Freeware to format external hard drive to ntfs in window. The best format for your external hard drive the hellotech blog. Please remember that all data will be deleted from the drive, so make sure you have made a backup. This section assumes that you are planning to format a brand new drive. The box says that it requires formatting for snow leopard, though the system seems to detect the drive without a problem, and is displaying the space properly, etc.
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