Most external hard drives are designed to work for Windows computers. So if you’re trying to connect an external hard drive to a Mac, you might have to format the drive before you can use it. Here’s how to do that:
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Jul 02, 2020 Use Disk Utility to erase (format) a hard disk, SSD, flash drive, or other storage device. Erasing your disk: 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. Feb 08, 2020 Note: if your hard drive is not showing on the left panel, it must have been hidden. Click on this icon on the top left corner and select “Show All Devices”. Step 3: Select “Mac OS Extended (Journaled)” in Format. A new window will pop up asking which file system you’d like to format the external drive to. Feb 08, 2020 Note: if your hard drive is not showing on the left panel, it must have been hidden. Click on this icon on the top left corner and select “Show All Devices”. Step 3: Select “Mac OS Extended (Journaled)” in Format. A new window will pop up asking which file system you’d like to format the external drive to.
How to Format a Hard Drive for Mac
Note: If you already used your external hard drive on a PC, be sure to back up any files on it. Formatting your drive will wipe out all the data in it.
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- Connect an external hard drive to your Mac. Some external hard drives need to be plugged into an outlet to work.
- Go to Spotlight Search, type in Disk Utility, and click the first option. This will open the Disk Utility app, where you will find all the internal and external drives that are connected to your Mac.
- Then click View in the top-left corner of the window and select Show All Devices.
- Click the external hard drive you want to format. You can find this on the left-hand side of the screen under External Hard Drives. For the best result, select the disk (the highest option in the external tree).
- On the top menu, click Erase. This will open a small pop-up window with a warning that erasing the drive will delete all data stored on it and that it can’t be undone.
- Choose a name, format, and scheme for your drive. You can choose whatever name you want, and you should choose GUID Partition Map for the Scheme in most cases. However, you can choose between the following formats:
- Mac OS Extended (Journaled) is the best option for most Mac users since it is compatible with all Macs.
- APFS (Apple File System) is only for newer Macs running macOS 10.13 or later.
- exFAT is compatible with both PC and Mac.
- MS-DOS (FAT) is also compatible with Mac and PC, but you can only transfer files smaller than 4GB.
- When you’re done with providing the setup details, click Erase. This will immediately wipe the entire drive.
If you get an error message that states, “Erase process has failed. Click done tocontinue,” don’t freak out about it. This is an issue caused by Time Machine running on your externaldrive.
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You will need to turn off Time Machine. You can do this by opening System Preferences and unchecking the boxnext to “Back Up Automatically”.Then click Options beside “ShowTime Machine in menu bar.” This will open another window. Click Cancel and it will turn off the Time Machine.
After you turn off the Time Machine, redo steps 4 to 6.
How to Partition anExternal Hard Drive on Mac
If you have formattedyour drive, you can then partition the drive, which will splitthe drive into two formats. This is perfect for anyone who uses Macs and PCsand wants to transfer files between the different operating systems with anexternal drive. Here’s how to do that:
- Open Disk Utility and select the drive that you want to partition. It is best to click View > Show All Devices so you can selectthe disk rather than a container.
- In the top menu, select Partition.
- Then click the plus sign at the bottom of the pie chart. Every time you click this plus sign, a new partition will becreated.
- Choose a name, format and size for each partition. You can also change the size of each of the partitions bydragging the white dots at the edge of the circle.
- Finally click Apply.
Why Partition a Hard Drive?
Partitioning an external hard drive allows youto have separate drives for Mac, PC, and any other operating system. Now youdon’t have to go out and buy hard drives for every computer you use.
A partition also gives you a dedicated space foryour Time Machine back-up files or a bootable backup of your operating system.It also helps protect your data if your drive gets infected with malware, as itwould be contained within one of the partitions.
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Now that you know how to format an external drive for Mac, check out our blog on the difference between an HDD and an SDD.
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by Shirly Chen, updated on 2018-10-08 to Mac Data Wipe
'Hi, is there any way to format an external hard drive in macOS 10.14 Mojave? I will sell an old external hard drive, I want to format the external hard drive on my Mac and remove all data.' – Maris
Many Mac users send us emails and ask how to format external hard drive, USB flash drive on Mac after they install macOS Mojave in the Mac. If you are also looking for a solution to format external hard drive/USB flash drive in macOS 10.14 Mojave, you just come to the right place. In this article, we will show you two solutions to help you easily and securely format external hard drive/USB flash drive under macOS Mojave.
Two solutions to format external hard drive/USB flash drive in macOS Mojave
There are two solutions to help you format external hard drive/USB flash drive in macOS Mojave. Two tools: Disk Utility and DoYourData Super Eraser for Mac can help you securely format external hard drive/USB flash drive under macOS Mojave. Here, you can choose one of the solutions to help you format external hard drive/USB flash drive under macOS Mojave 10.14.
Solution 1: format external hard drive/USB flash drive in macOS Mojave with Disk Utility
Disk Utility is a traditional Mac disk tool. It can help you format external hard drive/USB flash drive after you upgrade your Mac OS to macOS 10.14 Mojave. Just run this app from Launchpad and use it to erase the external hard drive/USB flash drive. It will format the external hard drive/USB flash drive and remove all data on the external hard drive/USB flash drive.
But, please note that the formatted data on the external hard drive/USB flash drive can be recovered by data recovery software after you format it with disk utility. If you want to format external hard drive/USB flash drive in macOS Mojave and permanently erase the data on the external hard drive/USB flash drive, just try solution 2.
Solution 2: format external hard drive/USB flash drive with DoYourData Super Eraser for Mac
DoYourData Super Eraser for Mac is powerful data erasure software for macOS 10.14 Mojave. This is the secure tool to format external hard drive/USB flash drive and permanently erase data in macOS Mojave. Here, you can follow these steps to format external hard drive/USB flash drive in macOS Mojave with DoYourData Super Eraser for Mac.
Step 1: Download and install DoYourData Super Eraser for Mac.
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Download and install this software on your Mac. It is fully compatible with macOS Mojave. Then run it from Launchpad.
Step 2: Choose mode 'Wipe Hard Drive'.
Run DoYourData Super Eraser for Mac on your Mac. Connect your external hard drive/USB flash drive with your Mac. Then choose this data erasure mode – 'Wipe Hard Drive'.
Step 3: Wipe and format external hard drive/USB flash drive.
Select the external hard drive/USB flash drive and click on 'Wipe Now' button. DoYourData Super Eraser for Mac will format and erase the external hard drive/USB flash drive.
Please note that once the external hard drive/USB flash drive is formatted by DoYourData Super Eraser for Mac, all data information on the external hard drive/USB flash drive will be permanently erased, can’t be recovered by data recovery software.
The two tools above can help you easily and securely format external hard drive/USB flash drive on macOS Mojave. If you are going to sell, donate or abandon your external hard drive/USB flash drive, we strongly recommend you to use the solution 2 to format your external hard drive/USB flash drive.
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