Reformat passport hard drive for mac

Youll find below the ten quick steps, using words and pictures. You should then a see it mount on the desktop, and b automatically get a prompt to use the drive for time machine if not, you can go into the time machine menu top right of the screen, go to tm preferences, and select it. How to erase my passport and reformat wd portable drives. For example, here wed type select disk 2 finally, type clean and press enter. Read about it and found that id have to reformat it in mac os extended journaled. This sleek, portable drive is designed for photographers, graphics professionals and roadwarriors who want to take their digital life with them.

Want to reformat my wd passport so i can use it on a pc. Once you open the disk utility app, you can see all the drives on your mac are listed on the lefthand sidebar. Now, i will show you the two methods to format wd my passport portable hard drive on mac. If you want to create multiple partitions on your external hard drive in fact, you should for better file organization, heres a stepbystep guide. External hard drives are key in a content creatoryoutubers life. Read the warning message and check the i understand checkbox. Now, i have a new macbook pro and all my data is still on that external hd. Formatting a hard drive can change the file system to make it compatible with your computers operating system, as well as fix any nonphysical errors on the drive itself. Now in this interface, you will see a format option. Want to reformat my wd passport so i can use it on a pc instead of apple only. But unfortunately it bit the dust and i decided to get a pc. However, you need to make doubly sure that you complete a quick format. Formatting a hard drive for windows will be discussed in another article.

Format wd my passport for mac, 10 quick steps mactakeawaydata. Format your western digital my passport external hard drive to fat32 or exfat format so to transfer the data between a mac and windows system conveniently. Mar 31, 2020 if you buy a new external hard drive, you may notice that working between mac and pc is an often difficult but it doesnt need to be. How to format a hard drive windows 10, 8, 7, vista, xp. Click go on the top tool bar, and select utilities. My passport wont format external drives for mac wd. If you buy a new external hard drive, you may notice that working between mac and pc is an often difficult but it doesnt need to be. Format external hard drive for mac with disk utility. Well show you everything you need to know about the.

Step 6 once formatting completes, you can then use your drive in mac as a usual hard drive. How to reinstall macos from macos recovery apple support. Step 2 follow the steps above to format the drive, and then you can use it with time machine on your mac system. A lot of people including you, storing important data on seagate external hard drive instead of on your pc mac hard drive. How to reformat passport external hard drive from read only to read and write for use with mac computersimportant. Reformatting a western digital my passport hard drive to function well on windows and macintosh systems is neither timeconsuming nor technologically demanding. After having confirmed that the wd my passport is formatted with ntfs, many people will choose to convert ntfs to apfs for macos catalina, mojave and high sierra or reformat the wd my passport hard drive to make the wd external hard drive compatible with mac. Hence, you must backup your important files before reformatting the drive if you want to save them.

The price of hard drives has really come down since you got the one you have. With my previous laptops pcs, ive always stored my data on an external hard drive. How to erase wd my passport external hard drive in windows. Mar 15, 2018 but you can open hfsexplorer, read a macformatted drive, and copy the files to your windows pc without paying a dime. Reformatting a drive on windows is a pretty straightforward process. Pick your wd my passport in the external hard drive list. How to format a wd my passport portable hard drive for mac. If you experience the same issue, your only recourse is to reformat it in one of two formats.

There is a video after that you can watch as extra help. If the wd my passport for mac drive is still not showing up in finder or on the desktop, you can see whether it is showing up in disk utility or not. How to format a wd hard drive to exfat or fat32 file system. Tech support scams are an industrywide issue where scammers trick you into paying for unnecessary technical support services. Rightclick the hard drive and choose wipe hard drive. Open the disk utility app and highlight your external hard drive.

Now follow this guide you can easily format your wd my passport portable hard. All is set, then you can go ahead to format the drive on your mac. Step 1 open finder, applications, then go to utilities and disk utility. Feb 08, 2020 how to partition an external hard drive on mac. Or you can choose wipe hard drive to completely delete the hard drive. How to format external hard drive mac 2 simple methods. Before you can use it though, you need to properly format or reformat a hard drive so that it will become compatible or readable with the operating system that you are using. From here, in format, select mac os extended journaled, give it a name. 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. A quick format only deletes the organizational structure of the files on the drive, without removing the actual files.

Highlight your drive and click partition in disk utility. How to format wd my passport in windows system just like disk utility on mac, there is an inbuilt tool known as disk management in windows. Or if youre desperate to know how to reformat wd my passport for mac. And the plugs used to connect the hard drive to your mac or your windows pc.

Your wd my passport drive uses an external hard drive standard called usb 3. Once wd drive utilities is running, click on the drive erase option. How to format wd my passport for mac and pc easeus. Easily format wd my passport portable hard drive on mac. If you want to use wd my passport or any other hard drive on mac and pc. Aug 16, 2019 try selecting the wd at the hard drive level i. Be sure to doublecheck this you could accidentally wipe the wrong drive if you select the wrong disk here.

Connect it, power it up, go to disk utility in applicationsutilities, select the wd disk on the left, go to the erase tab, and choose mac os. Select your macs hard drive in the lefthand column, to reveal more options, then select the partition button. A lot of people including you, storing important data on seagate external hard drive instead of on your pcmac hard drive. Apr 30, 2020 to format an external hard drive for mac with time machine, you must follow the steps below. How can i reformat my external hard drive without losing. This command erases the entire selected disk, including all its files and partitions whether. How do i format a wd my passport ultra hard drive from. How to format or partition an external hard drive for mac. It will list all the hard drives and devices on your mac computer. Yet when you connect a macformatted drive to windows, youll be informed that you need to format the disk in drive x. Mypassport for macs seem to always be out of stock, so i bought the 4tb. My passport wont format external drives for mac wd community. Easy to use my passport ultra for mac portable storage is ready to use out of the. This applications readonly nature isnt necessarily a bad thing.

In the partition layout dropdown menu, select 1 partition. After you plug it in and the mac recognizes it open up disk utility, located under applicationsutilities on your hard drive. Disk utility is a mac application, you can run it on your mac. Its enough to know that the different usb standards define the speed the drive works at. This is useful if a drive is being used under both operating system osto move files between the two environments. Oct 18, 2019 this wikihow teaches you how to change an external usb hard drive s format on windows and mac computers. How to get external hard drive to work with mac os x guiding tech. Jan 15, 2020 learn how to use macos recovery to reinstall the mac operating system on your builtin drive or an external drive. 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.

If a wireless network is available, you can choose it from the wi. In this guide i will show you how you can properly format reformat a hard drive for mac os. In fact, installing an ntfs for mac driver is a much easier way. Just select the one you want to format and click on the erase tab. How to reformat my external hard drive for windows 10.

How to get external hard drive to work with mac os x. Format an external hard drive or usb flash drive for mac os x. Go to sidebar tab, tick external disks under devices to show your wd my passport hard drive for mac in finder. This process wont actually convert the file system. Dont click the format disk button or windows will erase the contents of the driveclick cancel. Deborah, if you plan to use drive for quicken backup only, the drive needs no special formatting. You were right, you did indeed have to select wd my passport screen shot 20170625 at 6. Wd my passport this time not untitled and then erase. Learn how to use macos recovery to reinstall the mac operating system on your builtin drive or an external drive. I can find it under device manager and disk management but thats it. Windows computer, see reformatting the drive and troubleshooting. If you have not yet embarked on this project, consider this. Hi, we understand that you wanted to use your hard drive now for windows. How to format wd external drive for mac apple community.

Wd passport much like my wd my passport ultra, most. Now either because of time, corruption or because it may have been formatted for a mac when i plug it into my pc i cant access it. A notification will be displayed when the process has finished. What is important is if you are using a pc you use a pc formatted drive, but if you are using a mac you should use a preformatted for mac drive, it will make your life easier. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac. How to format external hard drives for mac and windows. For a hard drive to be able to be read and written to in both a pc and mac. It will take a while, but that will set your drive up to be used on the mac.

Instead, well just be wiping the drive and starting over from scratch. How to share an external hard drive between mac and windows. How to reformat wd my passport for mac mediakits report not. A western digital external hard drive can be used on both windows and mac osx. Whether you need to know how to format wd my passport for your mac. Change the partition layout from current to 1 partition. Can i reformat my wd passport external hd to work for a. You dont need to understand the ins and outs of this standard. Formatting an external hard drive would erase everything on it. How to properly format reformat a hard drive for mac os. First, back up the data on the macformatted drive if you have anything important on it. A hard drive or hard disk can be used in any type of computer, whether for pc windows or for mac.

How to reformat an external hard drive without losing your. How to format an external hard drive with pictures wikihow. Fat32 will let you directly plug the drive into both windows and mac. To format an external hard drive for mac with time machine, you must follow the steps below.

If you have a mac lying around, you can plug the drive into a mac and back up the files. Wd 2tb silver my passport for mac portable external hard. Bonus tip data recovery from formatted hard drive on mac. How to properly formatreformat a hard drive for mac os. Have you tried formatting your hard drive from the file explorer by rightclicking the drive and choosing format. Back up all important information on the drive before beginning. Select the external hard drive on the lefthand side. Apr 16, 2020 step 6 once formatting completes, you can then use your drive in mac as a usual hard drive. How to format external hard drive mac 2 simple methods revealed.

My passport for mac portable hard drive rapid transit for your digital life. Fix wd my passport for mac not showing upnot working on mac. You can help protect yourself from scammers by verifying that the contact is a microsoft agent or microsoft employee and that the phone number is an official microsoft global customer service number. Oct 11, 2018 want to reformat my wd passport so i can use it on a pc instead of apple only. Now, from the left column select 1 tb wd my passport or whatever your hard drive name is, and click on the erase tab. The reason is perhaps that seagate external hard drive has been well known for a long time as one of the most reliable drives for storing data. In the partition information box, enter an appropriate name for. The easiest way is to drag it from one drive to another. Then, click on the erase drive button below to begin erasing the drive. How to convert a macformatted drive to a windows drive. Easily use your wd my passport for mac and windows in 7 steps.