Well show you everything you need to know about the. How to format a hard drive using the command prompt toms. If you are trying to format mac external hard drive, you can go over the process step by step. You want to quickly and permanently erase all content from your mac and restore it to factory settings, such as when youre selling, giving away, or trading in your mac.
Mar 22, 2012 the best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac. Sep 05, 2015 heres how you can erase and change format of an external hard drive or usb stick on mac os x. How to erase, change format of usb external hard drive in. When you buy a mac, do they give you a copy of the os on disc like buying a windows pc. The easiest way is to drag it from one drive to another. Changing hard drive format from ntfs to mac compatible. Also, if your current hard drive is more than 5 years old, it probably is nearing the end of its service life and needs to be replaced. Upgrading the hard drive can be one of the best things you can do for your mac. Installing windows on external drive with mac partition on. Completely erasing a disk drive formatting it is a rather easy task to pull off on os x, but for a. Howeverif you reformat your hard drive, you may need to reenter the wep passphrase or wpa encryption code to logon to your neighbors router. For instance, is the hard drive internal or external. Can you reformat it without losing all of your data.
Now, change the format of the external hard drive to fat32 by converting the file system. I have been asked to replace a hard drive in a macbook. How to reformat an external hard drive without losing your. This is the full video on how to replace your macbook pro existing internal hard drive with a n new seagate 1 tb sshd hard drive. I dont know how to install a clean hard drive on a mac and start from scratch. This file system is specifically for mac systems and windows cant read this file system. With my external hd still empty, i went to utility disk, selected erase, changed the format to mac os ext journaled and selected guid partition. For example, if you install macos on an internal or external drive, your mac can recognize that drive as a startup disk. If you dont want to lose data from your hard drive, export the data or back it up before continuing. How do i replace the primary drive with a larger one.
Open the disk utility app and highlight your external hard drive. The first step is to clone your macs hard drive onto the ssd. The way you change a hard drive in an imac depends on your model of imac. Please remember that all data will be deleted from the drive, so make sure you have made a backup. The volume representing your startup disk is macintosh hd, unless. To format a driveon a mac, youll need the builtin disk utility application. Lacie porsche design mobile drive user manual optional. There are a number of tools that can help you in this regard. How to format or partition an external hard drive for mac. How to format external hard drives on a mac sweetwater. Do you save backups of your hard drive onto an external hard drive. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac. Aborted lacie setup assistant while it was formatting. I have a hard drive which i used to use on my windows computer, and is in ntfs format, so i can only read files on it with my macbook.
To format a drive on a mac, youll need the builtin disk utility application. If you have bought something like a baseline macbook pro and saved a little cash, but then soon hit with the storage issue when trying to install windows using bootcampwe all know that 128 gb is not enought these so we might have bought something. Now it is become quite easy to change format of external hard drive without deleting files. Changing the icon for your drives is a quick way to visually tell them apart. The best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac. How to format an external drive for mac launch disk utility. Formatting a hard drive or ssd is the same as buying a new hard drive since the process erases all the data in one fell swoop. Once your computer is back on, its time to format the hard drive so its ready to store files. Format an external hard drive or usb flash drive for mac os x. In this video we look at the process of formatting a hard drive, flash drive, or ssd on an apple computer. So ive done some research and ive realised that to allow files larger than 4g into my external hard drive i need to change the format from fat32 to another, but this is the point ive come to. The hard drive is too small to accommodate all the software on my other mac so migration assistant will not work. Before using an external hard drive on a mac, you should format it using disk utility.
How to format a hard drive using the command prompt tom. How to format your hard drive seagate support australia. How to install os x on new hard drive on a late 2012 mac mini. In this post, youll learn how to format an external drive to a mac compatible file system and recover files from a reformatted hard drive. When you format your hard drive, you can clean internal as well as. How to convert a macformatted drive to a windows drive back up the drive s data first.
How to change an imac hard drive with pictures wikihow. Im able to physically swap out the drive, but i have no idea how mac software works. This insures that you will have a compatible hard drive with. After going onto disk utility im finding it hard to know what format to change to or even if im. How to select a different startup disk apple support. You can also change the size of each of the partitions by dragging. Note that some of the connections in this mac are more fragile to disconnect and more difficult to reconnect than in other macs. Why need to format external hard drive for mac and pc. How to reinstall macos from macos recovery apple support. Apr 14, 2020 why need to format external hard drive for mac and pc. Quickly format an external hard drive for mac and windows pc.
Hence, you must backup your important files before reformatting the drive if you want to save them. But what happens if that drive becomes corrupted, and you have to reformat it to make it accessible again. Its easy to reformat your hard drive using disk utility in macos or os x. Click go on the top tool bar, and select utilities. Damaging your imac while doing any maintenance may void your. Dec, 2007 format hard drive from mac to pc by century mar 25, 2014 7. Understanding hard drive partitioning with disk management. How to format external hard drives for mac and windows. If you want to use a different file system on your usb drive, youll need to format it. Otherwise, the only way to change a mac address is to replace the hardwareperipheral device or the entire computer itself. 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. If the process seems too complicated, take it to a professional. Click on the erase option from the four options available in the main window. How do i reinstall os x after the hard dr apple community.
You can use lacie setup assistant to format your lacie hard drive when it is first connected to a computer windows or mac. Disk utility can be used to format external drives as well. Does the mac address of a computer change after formatting. Installing windows on external drive with mac partition on mac. Open finder and choose applications utilities disk utility to launch. Changing hard drive format from ntfs to m apple community. If i put in a new hard drive, will i have to reinstall an operating system. I had an authorized apple repair facility replace the hard drive on my imac when the original drive died. Formatting an external hard drive would erase everything on it. Once thats done, copy the data you backed up to the new drive and youre set. If you connect a lot of drives to your macor connect a particular external hard drive to a lot of different macsit can all be a lot to keep track of. Heres how you can erase and change format of an external hard drive or usb stick on mac os x. How you format a mac hard drive is entirely dependent on what kind of drive you plan on formatting. I have the mac os x install dvd which says to start up from mac os x, hold down the c key as the computer starts up.
How can i reformat my external hard drive without losing. How to format a hard drive windows 10, 8, 7, vista, xp. Jun 22, 2012 how do i reinstall mac os x after the hard drive has been replaced. For instructions on how to format your hard drive on a mac, please reference the following links.
How to share an external hard drive between mac and windows. You can format an external hard drive or thumb drive to work seamlessly with both mac and windows by using the exfat file system. Damaging your imac while doing any maintenance may void your warranty. Use disk utility to erase format a hard disk, ssd, flash drive, or other. Apr 06, 2020 by default, your mac starts up from its builtin hard disk, but a startup disk can be any storage device that contains an operating system compatible with your mac. Know how to change format of external hard drive without. Dec 29, 2015 follow these instructions if you plan to share an external hard drive between pc and mac computers. If you want to create multiple partitions on your external hard drive in fact, you should for better file organization, heres a stepbystep guide. Lacie setup assistant helps you to quickly format the storage device according to your needs. How to restrict word from changing your formatting. There is no room in the model for two sata drives as in previous models. That said, if you are using smaller file sizes fat32 can suffice. Jan 28, 20 how to replace your macbook pros hard drive with an ssd.
The maximum individual file size for exfat is 16 eb. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac laptop mag. You can then follow the steps in this article to start up. Learn how to use macos recovery to reinstall the mac operating system on your builtin drive or an external drive. Feb 14, 2016 macbook pro hard drive replacement full video. 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. The above disk management technique to change the format of the external hard drive can only format files which is smaller than 32 gb. How to format usb flash drive to fat32 in mac os x.
Make sure that the sidebar in disk utility shows the name of your startup disk. This guide is thorough in explaining how to remove each part thats in the way of the hard drive, but experienced repairers may be able to move the fan and. Mac mini mid 2011 hard drive replacement ifixit repair guide. Connect the usb fash drive to the mac os x computer. Feb 08, 2020 how to partition an external hard drive on mac. Name the drive if you want, the name can be changed at any point. After going onto disk utility im finding it hard to. This wikihow teaches you how to change the hard drive in your imac. Feb 03, 2020 you want to quickly and permanently erase all content from your mac and restore it to factory settings, such as when youre selling, giving away, or trading in your mac. Once disk utility is open youll see the list of available drives on the left. Youre changing the format of a disk, such as from a pc format fat, exfat, or ntfs to a mac format apfs or mac os extended. Sep 06, 2019 if you dont want to lose data from your hard drive, export the data or back it up before continuing. You can select the exfat format when using the disk. Convert formatted drive from mac to windows info remo.
From sierra and high sierra, apple has a new drive format structure. Once you open the disk utility app, you can see all the. How to install macos or os x on a new hard drive for your mac. How to format an external hard drive with pictures wikihow.
How to replace your macbook pros hard drive with an ssd. Set the format to mac os extended journaled and the scheme to guid partition map. Compare the different options for formatting an external hard drive to work with windows and mac. Again, formatting a drive will erase it completely, so make sure you have everything backed up that you want to keep. Formatting would erase data completely, make sure that you have a data backup. Youll need to replace a hard drive after a failure or to increase storage. How to reformat mac external harddrive for pc march 2014. Format external hard drive for mac with disk utility. How to convert a macformatted drive to a windows drive. Highlight your drive and click partition in disk utility. Select disk utility from the utilities window in macos recovery. I know how to put secondary drives in and format them.
Since formatting an external hard drive will erase all of its files if you wish to save them you must back them up copy. For apple mac users, the easier way to format usb flash drive to fat32 is using the disk utility. You can remove the auto format manually by it becomes tedious to pick and remove all the format differences. How to format a hard drive on mac to work on mac and pc. 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. If a wireless network is available, you can choose it from the wi. Use this guide to completely replace your minis hard drive. Heres how to replace a hard drive in your desktop, laptop, or tablet. Heres how to format a drive if you are planning to use it with a mac.
The first step is to clone your mac s hard drive onto the ssd. To format a usb flash drive to fat32 in mac os x follow these steps. Need to replace a hard drive in a macbook ask different. Format hard drive from mac to pc by century mar 25, 2014 7. How to erase, change format of usb external hard drive. How can i change the format so that i can write files to the hard drive with my macbook. 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.
You can also open a finder window, select applications in the sidebar, and head to utilities disk utility. How to upgrade your mac mini with an ssd 2019 updated. 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. All is set, then you can go ahead to format the drive on your mac. Mar 29, 2019 how to format a hard drive on mac to work on mac and pc. Follow these instructions if you plan to share an external hard drive between pc and mac computers.
636 535 298 743 215 766 1411 482 690 1239 587 833 522 83 310 157 1257 284 455 368 1081 479 604 810 280 251 318 1393 1365 919 1450 841 63 1249 696 447 725 114 1234 130 866 259 123 493