So youre using disk utility to partition your new hard drive when youre presented with a choice of potential file systems. Although it can create a 2tb drive partition in macs, it still has the 4gb file limit. Quickly format an external hard drive for mac and windows pc. While it is still possible to partition a physical disk in order to. I always format a new drive as mac os extended journaled, immediatly and before use. Select the nonindented entry for your seagate drive. The other type is ntfs formatted and is simply called wd my passport no for mac after the title whether you have the wd my passport for mac or have bought the. Next to format, it should say mac os extended journaled. You can do all of this from macos installation via utilities look at the top menu bar. Mac os extended casesensitive, journaled, encrypted.
Open the disk utility app and highlight your external hard drive. But sometimes performing several tasks on mac are very difficult in this article we went show you how to. Western digital manufactures two types of the wd my passport hard drive. Transfer all the backedup data that you want to access from your windows machine onto the drive formattedpartitioned as exfat. Make sure the format is mac os x extended journaled. Now you can convert mac os extended journaled partitions to apfs without losing data. The unallocated space is just grey and all the buttons like options, revert and apply as well as the format. Before a hard drive can read or write data, it must first be formatted, or erased and reconfigured. Disk utilitys view option shows devices, not just volumes now click the erase tab. While drives are sold as plugandplay, formatting prior to use will give you optimal performance and compatibility with your mac. If the mac os extended partition is not journaled, please journaled it first. How to partition a mac hard drive, ssd or create an apfs. Format and partition your drive using the tutorials above.
The data that you will use in the cinema studies lab for class will then go on the mac os extended journaled partition. The command line approach to disk erasure in macos is a bit different and it requires precise syntax to insure that you are erasing the proper disk, making this. How to create a mac os extended journaled partition on. Tips to help you choose between guid and apple partition. I bought a new external hdd for my mac about a month ago and formatted it to mac os x extended journaled. Simply format one half of the drive as the default mac os extended journaled. If you ever want to be able to read the drive on os 10. With my previous laptops pcs, ive always stored my data on an external hard drive. Formatting the drive will erase all data on the drive, so you should copy any data you want off the drive prior to formatting. 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. On mac computers, use the finder app to browse and manage files on your computer and external hard drives. How to create mac os extended journaled partition and. If you want to create multiple partitions on your external hard drive in fact, you should for better file organization, heres a stepbystep guide.
In the sheet that appears click the partition button and your flash drive will be formatted as a mac os x extended journaled drive. After realizing the respective properties of fat32 and exfat, you should know which file system should be used for your seagate drive. Select that disk and click the erase button, the one highlighted in red in the screenshot below. Seagate backup plus hub user manual optional formatting. A new window will pop up asking which file system youd like to format the external drive to. Pick the right file system for your macs internal or external storage. Fortunately disk utility, built right into macos, can help. Why wont windows recognize an macos partitioned external. The list is longer than youd think, with terms like apfs casesensitive and mac os extended journaled, encrypted to choose from. Enter a name for the disk or volume, such as macintosh hd. Mac os extended journaled uses mac formatting to protect data integrity. Choose either apfs or mac os extended journaled to format as a mac volume. And youll detailed tutorial on how to format seagate drive for mac and windows computer in the following text. The best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac.
Mac os extended journaled, encrypted adds a password and partition. Compare the different options for formatting an external hard drive to work with windows and mac. Find your external hard drive in the list of drives. Wahle entweder apfs oder mac os extended journaled. How to access a mac drive from a windows or linux system. Mac os x one of the best operating system for apple computers there are lots of series of computer available in apple stores. How can i reformat my external hard drive without losing. A stepbystep guide on how to partition a hard drive on.
Then, connect the seagate drive to your pc and make sure that it can be detected by windows. Apfs, disk utility maintains backward compatibility with the original method, listing physical disk for. If you want to format an external hard drive, you have to connect the external hard drive to your mac first. To begin with, it depends on the type preferred by the user.
A format popup window will give you the opportunity to choose one of the following. Guid partition map or apple partition map apple community. How to partition a mac hard drive or ssd, or create a apfs volume. What partition map i should use, guid or apple when formatting external portable harddrive. Why wont windows recognize an macos partitioned external hard drive. Formatting drives cinema studies technology resources.
Some people are asking for a way to format a hard drive for mac. Youve formatted your external drive to be compatible with mac os x, and have confirmed that the formatting process was successful. If it says guid partition table, you can format the drive by selecting mac os x extended journaled in the format popup menu, giving the drive a name, and then clicking erase. Look for the disk storage drive that matches the same information as the one shown in the disk utility app that you are trying to partition 6. Some mac users may require the ability to erase a disk or erase a hard drive from the command line on mac os, a task which is typically performed through the disk utility application from the gui. Theres also the option of macos extended journaled, encrypted which is a good. Select partition to complete the formatting process. Then, select the external hard drive and click partition tab on the top. External hard drives use either spinning disks or solid memory to save your files.
If you wish to change to mac os extended journaled. How to format or partition an external hard drive for mac. Click go on the top tool bar, and select utilities. The most popular options are guid and apple partition maps even though some other god ways exist.
Now that you have prepared your hard drive to work with mac, the next step is to partition it on your mac by following these steps. Some people wonder if this one is the same as mac os extended journaled type. Partition wd my passport for mac, teach yourself in 10 steps. How to erase a disk for mac use disk utility to erase format a hard disk, ssd, flash drive, or other storage device. Set the format to mac os extended journaled and the scheme to guid partition map. If it reads mac os extended journaled, congratulations, you successfully restored the grayedout disk utility and your hard disk is now compatible with macos. Ive ordered a usb to sata cable to format the drive from another mac, but can i format the drive, as os x extended journaled, in windows. Otherwise, if you are using it on macs, leave the format as os extended journaled. You can partition your hard drive depending on the operating system os that you have. Why partition option grayed out in mac and how to resolve it. How to share an external drive between a mac and a pc.
Finally, click apply button to make all changes performed. Pick the right file system for your macs internal or. If you cannot create a new partition on the drive, make sure you select the external drive in the sidebar not the partition on the drive and check the description for partition map. Partitioning a hard drive is the process of dividing a hard drive into separate, discrete sections, called volumes. Open disk utility and select the hard drive which you want to format on the lefthand side you will see your external hard drive icon if connected. Highlight your drive and click partition in disk utility. When you put a new hard drive in your macor connect an external one using firewire or. Read about it and found that id have to reformat it in mac os extended journaled. Make sure the storage device is connected to and mounted on the computer. While mac os x can read hard drives formatted as ntfs, write access is not available. The formatting decides the way the files are stored on your hard disk. How to install macos or os x on a new hard drive for your mac.
Reformatting the drive will erase all data on the drive, so you should copy any data you want off the drive prior to formatting. Mac os extended journaled or hfs plus is a file system developed by apple inc. You may receive the prompt the volume mac is not journaled. Mac os extended is the oldest file system which is compatible with all versions of mac os dating back to 1998. For instructions on how to format a drive in mac os 10. Follow the instructions below, in order to see if your drive was properly formatted. How to format or partition an external hard drive on mac. Run disk utility, select the mac os extended partition in the left column, then select file and select enable journaling. How to format external hard drives on a mac sweetwater. But even if i dont partition the unallocated 20gb at all i cant format them to mac os extended journaled with the disk utility. Now, i have a new macbook pro and all my data is still on that external hd. Seagate backup plus hub is available in two models, windows and mac. How to format seagate drive for mac and pc quickly and. Mac os extended journaled is the normal recomended way to format your drives, internal and external.
Partitioning a hard drive means preparing it to be used by the operating system os, creating a. You can now edit, read, and write files, as you wish. Select the drive description just above the drive name for the device you want to format. After the process has completed, you can check to see if it was successful. A stepbystep guide on how to partition a hard drive on windows and mac.
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