Here are the stepbystep instructions to format the wd my passport hard drive. I recommend doing it this way, as macs can be choosy about what formats their hard drives. How to format or partition an external hard drive for mac. 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. Quickly format an external hard drive for mac and windows pc. If you want to create multiple partitions on your external hard drive in fact, you should for better file organization, heres a stepbystep guide. After youre done, dont forget to remove the external hard. How to format external hard drive mac 2 simple methods revealed. A western digital external hard drive can be used on both windows and mac osx. Wd my passport for mac best overall the western digital 2tb my passport for mac is the perfect 2tb portable external hard drive for mac users. How to format a wd hard drive to exfat or fat32 file system. Format an external hard drive or usb flash drive for mac os x. External hard drives are key in a content creatoryoutubers life. Format wd my passport for mac, 10 quick steps mactakeawaydata.
Now, i will show you the two methods to format wd my passport portable hard drive on mac. And throw up issues when you format the external hard drive on a windows pc and then you use on your mac. For a hard drive to be able to be read and written to in both a pc and mac. There are specific thirdparty systems, like digital camcorders, and sony playstation 3, which need the drives to be formatted in either fat32 or exfat format to perform read from and.
Most users dont have a habit of classifying data, files on their hard drives. You can format a western digital my passport external hard drive to exfat or fat32 format using. There is a video after that you can watch as extra help. Plug in the external hard drive into the system and open windows explorer by clicking on the computer section in the side bar, you will see your external hard drive get attached to your system. How to reformat passport external hard drive from read only to read and write for use with mac computersimportant.
The videos below demonstrate the complete process of formatting an external hard drive for full mac os x compatibility, this uses the. Out of the both its not mac compatible, but you can format it for use. It will list all the hard drives and devices on your mac computer. Open disk management, the hard drive manager included with all versions of windows. Aug 30, 2019 plug in the external hard drive into the system and open windows explorer by clicking on the computer section in the side bar, you will see your external hard drive get attached to your system. Once completed, the erased drive will function on both windows and macintosh systems. Highlight your drive and click partition in disk utility. Apr 16, 2020 can i use wd hard drive on mac and pc. Compatible with usbc and usba, the my passport for mac drive comes equipped to connect with todays latest technology. 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 extended. To format an external hard drive for mac with time machine, you must follow the steps below.
Format drive on mac wd my passport troubleshooting. 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. Sometimes, hard drives cannot be automatically mounted in disk utility, even though mac has detected the hard drive. Follow these easy steps to format a hard drive in windows 10, windows 8, windows 7, windows vista, or windows xp. The mac drive may have an efi system partition on it. Aug 16, 2019 try selecting the wd at the hard drive level i. So its possible that youll see the wd my passport for mac drive not mounting in disk utility. Click your hard drives name in the window near the bottom of the screen.
Mar 23, 2020 how to format reformat wd elements for mac depending on the system that you are using, there are 2 ways to format you hard disk into a mac supported format. If youre lucky, you can just rightclick each partition on the mac drive and select delete volume to remove the partitions. How to format wd external drive for mac apple community. Trying to access from pc via usb cable with only one access point in wd hard drive, but it doesnt show up on the pc. Here then are the best external hard drives for mac of 2020 in order of ranking.
Download the best free hard drive format tool and format hard drive. Opening disk management can be done a number of ways depending on your version of windows, but the easiest method is to type diskmgmt. Its ready formatted for use on mac, time machine ready and small enough to fit in your coat pocket. How to reformat western digital portable hard drive. Formatting a wd external hard drive does not require any additional software. 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. Wd my passport troubleshooting mac format wd hard drive. I think it is necessary to reformat the wd portable hard drive and permanently erase my private data.
Bonus tip data recovery from formatted hard drive on mac. Fix wd my passport for mac not showing upnot working on mac. Before proceeding further, it is recommended to take a backup of your important files. Need to reformat wd hard drive for mac if you connect your wd hard drive without reformatting, youll be unable to copy files to the disk as mac read only supports ntfs file system. Here i recommend you to change the file system of the wd hard drive from ntfs to fat32 or exfat, thus the wd hard drive is able to be used. You can then rightclick in the empty space and select new simple volume to create a partition and format it with the windows ntfs or fat32 file systems. May 21, 2018 in this video tutorial, i show you how to easily format an external hard drive to work on both a mac and a pc. Easily format wd my passport portable hard drive on mac. How to format an external drive to work with mac from ntfs to mac os extended. The prior generation mac wd hdd was much nicer in a silverish sleek enclosure. Format external hard drive for mac with disk utility. Apr 30, 2020 to format an external hard drive for mac with time machine, you must follow the steps below. Be sure to choose your wd elements drive at the top level. 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.
How to format an external hard drive on windows and mac. With a new, stylish design that fits in the palm of your hand, theres space to store, organize, and share all the photos. At this time, you can format wd hard drive to exfat via diskpart. Under file system, choose the file system you want to use. Once you open the disk utility app, you can see all the drives on your mac are listed on. If needed, you can back up the data present in the hard drive before. This is useful if a drive is being used under both operating system osto move files between the two environments. How to format a hard drive to work on mac and pc youtube. Open finder and choose applications utilities disk utility to launch. Youll find below the ten quick steps, using words and pictures. If your product is not listed above, please visit the product page.
Best 4 free hard drive format tool download easeus. Is there any fast way to reformat the wd portable hard drive and erase all the data on the hard drive. I might partition the drive in two 2tb then format to fat32 on mac osx and on windows format in ntfs and then try to. However, in file explorer, if you right click partition on the wd hard drive and choose format, youll find that there is no exfat option. How to format an external hard drive for a mac youtube. To format western digital my passport for mac or windows, you can rely on inbuilt applications of your system to format your wd my passport in exfat or fat32 format. 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. It must be a windows 7 issue because vista would format it just fine. Step 1 open finder, applications, then go to utilities and disk utility. This is useful if a drive is being used under both operating system osto. Nov 19, 2009 my old drive was two 1tb drives and i never had any issues with it. Select the format tab at the top of the new window that appears. How to properly format reformat a hard drive for mac os. How to partition and format a wd drive on windows and macos.
This screen appears after the computer shuts down and begins to restart. Your disk utility program lives within a folder called utilities. Wd my passport external hard drive for mac 2019 password protection with wd security, as well as builtin 256bit aes hardware. You were right, you did indeed have to select wd my passport screen shot 20170625 at 6. In this video tutorial, i show you how to easily format an external hard drive to work on both a mac and a pc.
How to erase a disk for mac use disk utility to erase format a hard disk, ssd, flash drive, or other storage device. In such a case, its necessary to reformat wd hard drive to make it compatible with mac operating system. The method youll learn uses your mac to format your wd passport for mac and windows. The first tool occurs to your mind to format wd hard drive might be file explorer. Tutorial on how to format a western digital elements harddrive for a mac. How to format wd external drive for mac more less apple footer this site contains user submitted content, comments and opinions and is for informational purposes only. 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. Te lights are on on the wd and i can unmount it, but cannot find it anywhere where i can access and copy files over. Can i use a wd elements external hard drive on my mac. How to format wd my passport for mac and pc easeus. Wd my passport for mac portable external hard drive. How to formatreformat wd elements for mac depending on the system that you are using, there are 2 ways to format you hard disk into a mac supported format. As formatting will going to erase everything on your drive and thats why avoid formatting.
The best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac. Hi, i am trying to access my wd hard drive which i have been using on my mac from my pc. 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 a hard drive for both windows and mac laptop mag. In this situation, you can manually mount the hard drive. Disk utility is a mac application, you can run it on your mac. Select a format from the format dropdown menu beneath the name text field, for example, mac os x extended journaled or msdos fat. My passport wont format external drives for mac wd. Before you get the answer, you must figure out what kind of file system can work well on both the macos and the windows system.
Mypassport for macs seem to always be out of stock, so i bought the 4tb. All is set, then you can go ahead to format the drive on your mac. Pick your wd my passport in the external hard drive list. Choose your wd elements external hard drive on your macs external drives list. You can have problems with your mac refusing to format your elements drive if its not picked at the right level. Wd used to be in my view the leaders in storage solutions. Feb 08, 2020 how to partition an external hard drive on mac. Select the file system from the dropdown list, which is available in the format expansion and choose either exfat or fat32. Check if the wd my passport hard drive is connected to your mac computer properly. Easily use your wd my passport for mac and windows in 7 steps. 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. I might partition the drive in two 2tb then format to fat32 on mac osx and on windows format in ntfs and then try to make it one partition, i will keep you guys updated. In the main console, locate the partition on the wd passport external hard drive, right click it and choose format partition. The easiest way is to drag it from one drive to another.
Name the wd external hard drive in the name text field that appears beneath the erase tab. A western digital wd external hard drive can be used with any computer once it has been formatted by the computers operating system. The quickest way to do this is a simple spotlight search. Open the disk utility app and highlight your external hard drive. Step 2 follow the steps above to format the drive, and then you can use it with time machine on your mac system. Name the wd external hard drive in the name text field at the top of the window. One is by using the indigenous file format option in the windows os powered computers and other is through the similar tools found in the mac os. My passport wont format external drives for mac wd community.
I usually use a firewire that connects into the hard drive in two places. Oct 15, 2015 hi, i am trying to access my wd hard drive which i have been using on my mac from my pc. Choosing the right format for your external hard drive b. The name varies by mac but it will appear in the left panel. Whether you need to know how to format wd my passport for your mac. Formatting the hard drive will erase all the data in it. Compare the different options for formatting an external hard drive to work with windows and mac. If you dont see this option, try typing create and format hard disk partitions into start. Hence, you must backup your important files before reformatting the drive if you want to save them. The my passport for mac drive is trusted, portable storage that perfectly complements your onthego lifestyle. How to properly formatreformat a hard drive for mac os.
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. Smaller external hard drives, ssds, and usb flash keys format quickly, while a larger hard drive may take a while longer. How to format external hard drive mac 2 simple methods. How to format a hard drive using the command prompt toms. Apr 16, 2020 to format western digital my passport for mac or windows, you can rely on inbuilt applications of your system to format your wd my passport in exfat or fat32 format. This latest hard drive well, its not very aesthetically pleasing. If you run into the issue of not having enough space format it to be the ex fat as. Heres how to format a drive using a mac including how to format a drive for windows and mac so the contents can be read on both platforms, and what format to use for time machine. Choose your wd elements external hard drive on your. How to reformat wd my passport for mac mediakits report not.
Formatting an external hard drive would erase everything on it. Once you open the disk utility app, you can see all the drives on your mac are listed on the lefthand sidebar. The prior generation mac wd hdd was much nicer in a. A confirmation screen opens, stating that all information on the drive will be lost if erased. Find low everyday prices and buy online for delivery or instore pickup. How to format a hard drive using the command prompt tom. Now in this interface, you will see a format option. A hard drive or hard disk can be used in any type of computer, whether for pc windows or for mac.
Why need to format external hard drive for mac and pc. As a result, many of you may have valuable data saved in the hard drive which you tend to format. Just select the one you want to format and click on the erase tab. Accessing mac formatted wd hard drive from pc external. Mount wd my passport for mac in disk utility manually. Apr 14, 2020 why need to format external hard drive for mac and pc. Wd my passport this time not untitled and then erase. On this popup screen, choose ntfs, fat32 or exfat among listed file systems and click ok. How to format a hard drive windows 10, 8, 7, vista, xp. To make your western digital hard drive work on both mac and windows computers, you need to format the drive with the fat32 file system. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac. Locate the icon assigned to western digital my passport drive and rightclick the connected drive icon and click format in the popup menu. My old drive was two 1tb drives and i never had any issues with it. How to convert a macformatted drive to a windows drive.
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