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Pro tip: If you want to use the external drive for both Mac and PC, you can also select “ExFAT”. By default, it’s the Windows NT File System (NTFS). Step 3: Select “Mac OS Extended (Journaled)” in Format.Ī new window will pop up asking which file system you’d like to format the external drive to. Click on this icon on the top left corner and select “Show All Devices”. Note: if your hard drive is not showing on the left panel, it must have been hidden. Select that disk and click the “Erase” button, the one highlighted in red in the screenshot below. It should show up on the left panel under “External”. Step 2: Highlight your external drive and click “Erase”. The quickest way to do this is a simple Spotlight search (click the search icon on the upper right corner), or go to Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility. They might be different if your Mac has a different version. Note: The tutorial and screenshots below are based on macOS Sierra 10.12.5.

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How to Format an External Drive for Mac (from NTFS to Mac OS Extended) The problem is that on macOS, you can’t work with files saved on an NTFS drive unless you use a paid app like Paragon NTFS for Mac. What is NTFS? I’m not going to explain here you can read more on Wikipedia. I then right-clicked the external drive icon on Mac desktop > Get Info. If I wanted to use it with Mac OS or Time Machine backup (which is my intent), I’ll need to format the drive for my Mac. It brought me to a webpage on Seagate’s site, where it clearly indicated the drive was initially set up to work with a Windows PC. Since I wanted to use it on Mac, I clicked the blue logo with the text “Start_Here-Mac”. When I opened it, the default content was all there. When I connected the Seagate to my Mac, the drive icon showed up like this. Three weeks ago, I bought a brand new 2TB Seagate Expansion to backup my MacBook Pro before I updated it to the latest macOS. Most External Hard Drives Are Initiated with NTFSĭuring the last several years, I’ve used a few external drives, including a 500GB WD My Passport, 32GB Lexar flash drive, and a few others. I highly recommend you also create multiple partitions.

Pro tip: If your external drive has a large volume, like mine – a 2TB Seagate Expansion. The operation will erase all data and your files will be gone for good. Important note: If you have useful files stored on the external drive, be sure to copy or transfer them to another safe place prior to formatting. Just follow this easy step-by-step guide and you’re all set. In this post, I’m going to show you how to format your external drive for a Mac-compatible file system i.e. Apple Mac machines support a different file system. That’s all because it’s been initialized with Windows NT File System (NTFS), which is primarily for PCs. But somehow, macOS doesn’t allow you to write data to the drive.

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Mac OS X uses HFS+, Windows uses NTFS and used to use FAT32.So, you just bought a new external hard drive or a portable SSD and wanted to use it on your Mac. There are three common filesystems that are used today: HFS+, NTFS, and FAT32. A hard drive format refers to how the operating system stores the data on the drive. OS X, Windows, and Linux all use different hard drive formatting for normal system operations. The drive is mounted in a sturdy metal case, and the 4 TB case is a little thicker than the 2 TB version. It’s the most affordable portable drive we cover in either the 2 TB or 4 TB capacities.

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The portable version of Seagate’s Backup Plus drive is also a bargain. What is the best backup drive for mac?īest Portable Backup Drive: Seagate Backup Plus Portable Drive for Mac.

Most Stylish External Hard Drive: Seagate Ultra Touch SSD 1TB.

Best High-Capacity Desktop External Hard Drive: G-Technology 14TB G-DRIVE.

Best High-Capacity Portable External Hard Drive: WD 5TB My Passport Ultra.

Best USB-C External SSD: LaCie Mobile SSD.

Best External Hard Drive For Mac Overall: Sabrent Rocket XTRM-Q 2TB Thunderbolt 3 External SSD.

Which external hard drive to choose for your mac? Right-Click on the external hard drive in the Volume tab. Right-Click on the Windows icon in the lower left-hand corner. Select the external hard drive on the left-hand side. Connect the external hard drive to the computer.

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Format hard drive for time machine mac scheme