Format hard disk for mac os x

How to erase a disk for mac use disk utility to erase format a hard disk, ssd, flash drive, or other storage device. How to format hard drive for mac compatibly in os x disk. When the driver is installed, you format your ntfs disks with disk utility where you select windows nt filesystem as the format. Mac os x installation basics sata drive seagate support asean. How to format usb flash drive to fat32 in mac os x. This will demonstrate how to format a hard disk to be completely mac os x compatible, the entire process is handled through disk utility as demonstrated with an. Connect the usb fash drive to the mac os x computer. In this video we look at the process of formatting a hard drive, flash drive, or ssd on an apple computer. Its a universal format that is compatible with mac os xmacos, windows, linux and dos systems.

Select the partition tab on the right hand side of the disk utility window 4. Use disk utility to erase format a hard disk, ssd, flash drive, or other. I am thankful i ignored the update prompts which keep appearing ever few days or so and didnt upgrade to high sierra and i really resent the continued attempts by apple to force me to upgrade to high sierra. Click on the erase option from the four options available in the main window. Select the seagate drive on the left that shows the capacity 3. How to format a hard drive in mac os x connecting external hard drives. Choose view show all devices from the menu bar in disk utility. Apple file system format or the older mac os extended format, and it. Both mac os x and windows allow users to format their hard drives using builtin utilities. Disk utility is a free application that comes with mac computers. How to install macos or os x on a new hard drive for your mac. Step 2 on the left side of the utilities screen, find the name of the external hard drive you want to.

Follow the instructions that appear on screen, license agreements and all, and choose the hard drive to use in. Then proceed to highlight your computers hard drive. Heres a look at how to use disk utility to perform this function. How to format usb flash drive to fat32 on mac os xmacos. Read only ntfs from native mac os x to readwriteformat ntfs from mac os x, here are some alternatives. Apfs vs mac os extended which mac disk format is best. How to format external hard drive mac 2 simple methods revealed. One of the major limitations of this format is that its not able to write files larger than 4gb, which can be quite a setback. Make your mac feel like new again with a fresh install of os x. For apple mac users, the easier way to format usb flash drive to fat32 is using the disk utility. To format an external hard drive for mac with time machine, you must follow the steps below.

If you dont plan on using the drive for time machine, skip steps 5 to 11 below and continue with step 12. Both windows and mac os offer builtin disk formatting tool. How to format a disk to ntfs using mac os x ask different. It can happen for external usb and firewire as well as internal disks. The apple file system apfs is the file system used with mac devices running macos 10. 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. If a wireless network is available, you can choose it from the wi. Step 2 follow the steps above to format the drive, and then you can use it with time machine on your mac system.

The simplest way to install macos or os x on a new hard drive is by using internet recovery mode. For instructions on how to format a drive in mac os 10. Just select the one you want to format and click on the erase tab. Use the security options to format a previously used hard drive. Open disk utility applicationsutilities disk utilities 2. Quickly format an external hard drive for mac and windows pc. How to format external ssd for mac time machine mashtips. Select erase and ensure that the format is mac os extended journaled. Launch disk utility and then click to select the external hard drive listed on the left.

The usb drivers come with the fat format by default. But luckily, there are file systems well supported by both mac and windows pc, and they are fat32 it might be called msdos on mac and exfat. Click the erase tab, choose a volume format from the dropdown menu and then type a. File system formats available in disk utility on mac. Its a multipurpose tool that handles formatting, erasing, repairing, and partitioning hard drives, among other things.

How to wipe your mac and reinstall macos from scratch. If you need to recover formatted mac hdd, simply install the recovery tool. Mac os x installation basics sata drive seagate support us. In the volume format dropdown menu, select mac os extended journaled if you plan to place the mac tiger operating system on this drive to make it a bootable drive. The best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac. Before using an external hard drive on a mac, you should format it using disk utility. If you are using a mac, you can run the builtin disk utility to quickly format a hard drive or external hard. Yet when you connect a macformatted drive to windows, youll be informed that you need to format the disk in drive x. Formatting would erase data completely, make sure that you have a data backup. Jan 02, 2016 msdos fat is the most popular format amongst external hard disks, as its both readable and writable by nearly all operating systems, windows and os x included. However, os x and windows both can read and write to a format called fat32, which used to be used for windows all the way back into the msdos days.

To do this, open disk utility and connect the drive to your mac. Once you open the disk utility app, you can see all the drives on your mac are listed on the lefthand sidebar. Jan 02, 2017 select the mac partition we created in windows 10, click erase on the menu bar, choose mac os extended journaled in the format list box, then click erase. How to format an external drive for mac compatibility. Read only ntfs from native mac os x to readwrite format ntfs from mac os x, here are some alternatives. While os x can read and write to fatbased filesystems, ntfs is read only on. You can still use either file system for your hard drives and attached storage devices, with both having their own pros and cons. Oct 06, 2016 have you ever tried to format a disk in mac os x and disk utility wont unmount the hard drive for formatting. The format is good for handling the files between both os under 4gb size. Mac os extended journalled should work fine with high sierra even if you cant format the disk on your own mac.

Install, boot, and run mac os x from an external hard drive. How to format an external drive for mac launch disk utility. To format a usb flash drive to fat32 in mac os x follow these steps. Jan 31, 2016 this will demonstrate how to format a hard disk to be completely mac os x compatible, the entire process is handled through disk utility as demonstrated with an external hard drive attached to a. If youre having problems with your hard drive or need to make changes to it, os x mavericks disk utility is a good place to start. How to achieve format recovery on mac os x the tutorial. After you connect an external drive to your mac, open the applications folder from the finder window. Then select disk utility from the utilities window and click continue. Ntfs, fat, and all derivatives of fat are only for msbased operating systems. Start by clicking a disk or volume in the column on the left and then click one of the five tabs. Open disk utility applicationsutilitiesdisk utilities 2. If you want to permanently erase data on the hard drive, you can try the solution 3. The different partition format types on mac the different partition format types on mac when you attach a storage disk to a mac with the purpose of erasing or repartitioning it, youll be presented with the option of selecting one of the three available partition maps.

How to format external hard drives on a mac sweetwater. The format apple support for mac owners for time machine is mac os extended journaled. Launch awecleaner for mac click disk manager select the hard drive and click on format button. The data formatted by awecleaner can be recovered by data recovery software. Reformatting an external hard drive for use with mac osx is not as. Choose one of the following apfs formats for mac computers using macos 10. This mode is only available on apple computers made after 2009 that were running os x lion or later. If what you formatted is external drive usb pen drive, memory card, memory stick etc, connect the device to you mac machine first and then install the format recovery program. Aug 30, 2016 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. For this reason i prefer to format the hard disk and perform a new installation. Jan 15, 2020 learn how to use macos recovery to reinstall the mac operating system on your builtin drive or an external drive. Compare the different options for formatting an external hard drive to work with windows and mac. If youre preparing a mac for resale or troubleshooting a misbehaving machine, you might opt to format your macs hard drive. Bonus tip data recovery from formatted hard drive on mac.

Apple system disk for mac free download and software. This is a simple procedure and is achieved the same way for all drive types and through. Format a hard drive using mac os x disk utility iclarified. Step 1 open finder, applications, then go to utilities and disk utility. How to reinstall macos from macos recovery apple support. If you want to be super security conscious, you can select the security options button. Partition a hard drive for macos time machine and windows 10. Under external in the left hand menu, click on your external hard drive and then click on the erase button. Step 1 connect the external hard drive you want to format to your mac, then start the disk utility app that you can find under applications. Guid partition map, master boot record, and apple partition map. How to access mac osx extended formatted hard drive in. Next, we will head over to the mac, where we will need to prepare the mac portion of the external hard disk for use with the macos.

The sidebar now shows your disks devices and any containers. What disk utility looks like in lion through yosemite. 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. I tried to start the snow leopard installation dvd on startup, to reinstall it, but the hard disk is not detected. Os x can default read ntfs disks, but not write to them. So, if users anticipate using the flash drive with more than one operating system, they will definitely benefit from the fat32 file system. Learn how to use macos recovery to reinstall the mac operating system on your builtin drive or an external drive. For this reason i prefer to format the hard disk and perform a.

How to force a hard drive to unmount for formatting in mac. Have you ever tried to format a disk in mac os x and disk utility wont unmount the hard drive for formatting. Tutorial how to format hard drive on your mac os x the. The disk utility application is located in the utilities subfolder.

How format the hard disk in singleuser m apple community. Apfs apple file system is only for newer macs running macos. Sep 06, 2019 the simplest way to install macos or os x on a new hard drive is by using internet recovery mode. So i would like to format the hard disk because when i start the mac, it cant load the operating system. Apr 30, 2020 to format an external hard drive for mac with time machine, you must follow the steps below. Format an external hard drive or usb flash drive for mac os x. For apple mac users, there are two ways to format a usb flash drive to fat32, including disk utility and. Power on the computer while holding down the option key. Partition a hard drive for macos time machine and windows. If youre preparing a mac for resale or troubleshooting a misbehaving machine, you might opt to format your mac s hard drive.

Now in this interface, you will see a format option. How to reformat mac os x without a recovery disc or drive. The file format has to be mac os x journaled and you have to use the guid partition map. Launch disk utility, located in applications utilities. 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 method of erasing any disk only. Dont click the format disk button or windows will erase the contents of the driveclick cancel.

Quit out of the disk utility app, and this time choose reinstall os x and continue. How to force a hard drive to unmount for formatting in mac os. Apfs apple file system this is the new file system that apple bought to macs with high sierra and it will be the default if you are using that. How to format external hard drive mac 2 simple methods. How to recover data from formatted external hard drive on mac. If you already used your external hard drive on a pc, be sure to back. Msdos fat is the most popular format amongst external hard disks, as its both readable and writable by nearly all operating systems, windows and os x included.

Step 1 open finder, applications, then go to utilities and disk utility step 2 follow the steps above to format the drive, and then you can use it with time machine on your mac system part 3. Once disk utility is open youll see the list of available drives on the left. Locate the drive name from the left hand side of disk utility and click on it. Even though most people associate formatting with system installation, there are many other reasons why you might want to format your hard drive. Give the drive a descriptive name and leave the default settings. 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. For windows, it offers quick format feature when you rightclick the hard drive on the computer.

Dec 29, 2015 give the drive a descriptive name and leave the default settings. 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. This insures that you will have a compatible hard drive with. If your mac is from before 2009 or never had os x lion, click here to jump to the next section. In disk utility, of os x utilities, select the partition in the lefthand column that you created in the previous step. Fat32 is the crossplatform format for windows and mac os x. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac. Uses the apfs format and is casesensitive to file and folder names. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac laptop mag. Select mac os extended if you plan to use the drive as a media capture scratch drive.