Save any files you need to another volume before formatting. Although in principal, formatting means to erase existing data and free up space for utilization, the procedures are not exactly the same for mac and windows. The best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac cnet. How to format a new or second hard drive in windows 10. First, note the number of the disk in the disk management window. Both fat32 and exfat can be used on windows pc and mac. If a wireless network is available, you can choose it from the wi. Connect your macformatted drive to your windows system, open hfsexplorer, and click file load file system from device. Mac os x uses the hfs plus file system, while windows uses the ntfs file system. Jan 15, 2020 learn how to use macos recovery to reinstall the mac operating system on your builtin drive or an external drive. Type in disk management from the quick search box or directly move to the administrative tools to locate the disk. Apr 14, 2020 why need to format external hard drive for mac and pc. Aug 22, 2019 as both windows and mac provide native solutions to format hard drive, you should avoid using any unreliable thirdparty tool. To format the drive in windows, rightclick it in the file explorer window and select format.
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. This thing is still unknown for many users but doesnt worry its not complex. Some people are asking for a way to format a hard drive for mac. To put it simply, if you want to share external hard drive between mac and pc, you need to format an external hard drive for mac and pc. Pc youll have to format the drive so that it can be read by the windows operating. Note that using a drive frequently between windows and mac could increase the chances of file corruption, so make sure you have backups of. How to share an external drive between a mac and a pc. In this guide, we show you virtually every method to format a usb flash drive and quickly erase its contents or fix data corruption and other issues using windows 10s builtin tools. The best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac. Aborted lacie setup assistant while it was formatting.
And, if you just need to get files off of a mac formatted drive once, you can just use the trial and be done with the application by the time it expires. How to share an external hard drive between mac and windows. Compare the different options for formatting an external hard drive to work with windows and mac. Aug 16, 2019 in this guide, we show you virtually every method to format a usb flash drive and quickly erase its contents or fix data corruption and other issues using windows 10s builtin tools. Give the drive a descriptive name and leave the default settings. But compared with formatting, an ntfs for mac driver like iboysoft ntfs for mac is a better and feasible solution. Both mac os x and windows also support the fat32 file. But to get a hard drive to be compatible for both mac and pc, you have to choose the. When formatting partitions, windows 7s disk management utility. A user has to know how to convert mac formatted hard drive to windows formatted.
Moving files from macformatted external hard drive to pc. Format a disk for windows computers in disk utility on mac apple. If you are techy and use windows and mac computers frequently, then you might need to transfer data between mac and pc. How to make external hard drive to work with mac and windows pc duration. Apr 18, 2019 heres how to wipe the data off a hard drive, ssd, or external drive in windows 10 and macos. In this article, we will introduce 5 disk formatting tools for windows and mac to help you securely format hard drive usb flash drive or memory card on a pc or a mac.
Apr 10, 2020 formatting a drive may vary in terms of different operating systems, like windows and mac. How to format drive with compatible file system for mac and. Therefore, make sure that the file system is supported by your mac or windows. Apr 26, 2016 the best file formatting settings that i can recommend for mac users are. Lacie mobile drive user manual optional formatting and.
In the main interface, right click the partition on that need. Today this video will show you how to format an external hard drive on windows and mac. In general, windows builtin tools disk management and diskpart can format drive to exfat easily. From all above, you can have a general idea of fat32 and exfat file system. With macdrive 10 pro, you can access apple formatted raid disks as well as raid sets created with softraid. Format a disk for windows computers in disk utility on mac. Choose the exfat file system in the list and click start. If you move a hard drive between the two operating systems, heres what you need to know.
Sometimes windows 10 setup can become confused if it sees a thumb drive. But dont forget to back up your important data in the drive into a safe place before formatting. For instance, is the hard drive internal or external. How to format a hard drive windows 10, 8, 7, vista, xp. How to format a usb flash drive on windows 10 windows. Simply rightclick its icon from my computer and from the context menu, click on the format option. When you plug a drive thats been formatted for mac into a windows pc, you may find that it isnt readable. Lacie setup assistant helps you to quickly format the storage device according to your needs. Compare the different options for formatting an external hard drive to work with. Neither mac os nor windows recognize each others volume formats. In disk utility on your mac, you can format an external disk for a windows computer. How to format an external hard drive for mac and pc. Windows 7 professional, windows 7 ultimate, windows 8. Jan 17, 2019 starting clean how to format new hard drive on windows 10 formatting is an essential task before starting to use a new drive, and in this guide, well show you how to do it on windows 10.
How to wipe a hard drive in windows 10 and macos techradar. How to format drive with compatible file system for mac. For instructions on how to format your hard drive on a mac, please reference the following links. Sep 26, 2018 windows pc and mac use different filesystems. The easiest way to do that is hit cmd and the spacebar at.
Heres how to wipe the data off a hard drive, ssd, or external drive in windows 10 and macos. The windows system uses a hard drive with a different file system than the mac systems. Mar 12, 2018 want to format a hard drive for mac and pc compatibility. It is time to learn how to format your external hard drive or other external drives to a common file system for mac and windows. Aug 30, 2019 today this video will show you how to format an external hard drive on windows and mac. Choose a file type and formatting option and click on the start button to format the disk. Formatting a disk or volume erases all the files on it. How to format an external hard drive for mac and windows. A vast majority of video production will be done on a mac or windows operating system, so we arent going to cover linux. You can also securely delete files and folders from your disk and easily create iso images and mount sparse images. Want to format a hard drive for mac and pc compatibility.
You can use lacie setup assistant to format your lacie hard drive when it is first connected to a computer windows or mac. How to convert an external hard drive from apple to pc. Im here to use a windows 10 based hp laptop to format my lexar drive. Convert formatted drive from mac to windows info remo software. Dec 29, 2015 how to format a hard drive for both windows and mac. 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. Mac os journaled is the formatting option for mac and ntfs or msdoc is the. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac laptop mag. How to properly format a new hard drive on windows 10. 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.
How to choose the best format for usb drive on windowsmaclinux. But if you try to use an external hard drive thats been formatted for mac os. May 29, 2018 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. Nov, 2019 here, we will introduce you to how to format hard drive in windows 10 with windows builtin disk management tool, a partition manager, and command lines. If you want to format a hard drive or usb flash drive on your computer, disk formatting tool is the best choice. As formatting will delete all the data on the hard drive, make sure that you have successfully backed up your files to another safe place before windows 10 disk format.
While formatting, you would be asked to pick a file system for the disk. Macdrive 10 pro gives you the power of mac raid on your windows pc. For example, in windows xp my computer is equivalent to this pc on windows 10. You will learn the easiest way to format drive on mac and windows as exfat. Format a usb drive as exfat for mac and windows compatibility. Read mac formatted drives with windows the tech guy. How to format external hard drives for mac and windows. Heres how to format a drive if you are planning to use it with a mac. To sum up, it is easy to format an external hard drive for both mac and windows pc. In specific, if you want to know how to format a new or second hard drive in windows 10, dont. Windows also lets us format an external device like sd card, pen drive, etc. Seagate backup plus is preformatted exfat for compatibility with both mac and windows computers. How to format external hard drive to use on mac and pc. Next, open a command prompt window as administrator.
Feb 12, 2019 but using a third party all the time for accessing a hard drive on windows is not good. 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. When formatting a disk for storage use between mac and. How to format an external hard drive on windows and mac. How to convert a macformatted drive to a windows drive.
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. How to reinstall macos from macos recovery apple support. How to format a usb flash drive on windows 10 windows central. Lacie mobile drive is preformatted exfat for compatibility with both mac and windows computers. If you are on an earlier operating system like windows 7, xp, etc.
One simple way to make the drive readable on both platforms is to format it to exfat, which both operating systems can understand. You have to set it up correctly before getting starting. How to convert a macformatted drive to a windows drive back up the drive s data first. If you want to use the drive between a windows and mac machine, you can format it to fat32. Windows uses ntfs and mac os uses hfs and theyre incompatible with each other. This scenario enables you to have the best computing experience while keeping the compatibility with other oses. How to format new or second hard drive on windows 10mac. Quickly format an external hard drive for mac and windows pc. Seagate backup plus slim user manual optional formatting. How you format a mac hard drive is entirely dependent on what kind of drive you plan on formatting. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac.
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