• This is the process for formatting any External Hard Disk Drive to work with an Apple Mac running OS Mojave or High Sierra. The process is also the same for the MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, iMac Pro, iMac, and MacMini computers.
• Select the external hard drive (left; sorted Internal, External, and Disk Images) and click the Erase button. (optional) Select a single volume to keep the drive format and only erase that volume’s data. Enter a Name, select the Format and Scheme, and click Erase. For PC and Mac compatibility, select ExFAT (format) and Master Boot Record (scheme).

1. How To Format A External Hard Drive For Mac And Pc
2. Reformat External Hard Drive Windows
3. Format External Drive For Mac

Instructions for how to format your external drive so that it will be fully usable in MacOS. These steps can be used for both internal and external drives. Note: Reformatting the drive will erase all data on the drive, so you should copy any data you want off the drive prior to formatting. The following is based on the latest version of macOS. Part 2: Format External Hard Drive for Mac with Disk Utility. Formatting an external hard drive would erase everything on it. Hence, you must backup your important files before reformatting the drive if you want to save them. The easiest way is to drag it from one drive to another. All is set, then you can go ahead to format the drive on your Mac. About formatting external hard drive. External hard drive is popular storage device and it can be used to store all kinds of digital information such as images, documents, apps, emails, etc. You can connect external hard drive to computer via USB cable and then transfer data with internal hard drive. Regardless of the brand or model, the first.

Sep 03, 2020 • Filed to: Solve Mac Problems • Proven solutions

There are lots of people who mistakenly think that the USB drives and hard drives format don’t really matter. But the reality is quite different. Whether it is a hard drive or USB or internal drive, Mac uses different format support. So, you can’t simply use the same drive with both Windows and Mac. As a result, you will need to format the hard drive for Mac. Using the Mac preferred file system is important otherwise the files will be of no use to you.

In this article, we are going to discuss how to format a hard drive for Mac and some related terms too.

Part 1. Situations When Formatting a Hard Drive on Mac:

Before you get deep, you must understand what is the drive formatting. Some people confuse the term with reformatting. Basically, formatting is the process of preparing the storage devices such as hard disk drive, solid-state drive, USB flash drive, or any other for initial use.

The basic operation is termed as low-level formatting which means erasing the existing data on the disk. But it leaves the track to recover the data using the recovery tool.

There is another term related to disk formatting and it is called reformatting. It is called high-level formatting as it is used to prepare the disk for different file system formats. It is usually done during the OS installation or adding a new disk. Reformatting is done to free the storage space from the previous content stored in it.

You can consider disk formatting in macOS in various circumstances. Whether your system has corrupted data, damaged software, impending system upgrade, storage is full, or it is running slow, formatting will fix a lot of issues. Take a look at the scenarios given below and you will be sure that disk formatting will help you.

• If you want to quickly erase all content from the drive permanently without leaving a trace of data on it.
• If you want to change the format of the disk such as PC format like FAT or exFAT to Mac format.
• If you see the message that the disk is not readable by Mac.
• If you want to resolve a disk issue that can’t be fixed by the Repair feature of Disk Utility.
• If the macOS installer can’t see the disk or unable to install it.
• In case the macOS installer says that the drive can’t be installed because it is a part of Apple RAID.

Under all these situations, formatting is most likely to fix your problems and you will be able to use the drive on Mac.

Part 2. How to Format a Hard Drive on Mac:

Formatting is a very simple procedure that is operated in a similar way for all sorts of storage media. So, whether you wish to format the internal hard drive, external drive, or a USB flash drive, the procedure is the same for all. Here is the step by step guide you need to follow to format the hard disk on Mac. Before you erase a disk, make sure that you have a backup of the files you want to keep.

Step 1: Connect the USB drive or external drive to Mac and launch the Disk Utility from Applications.

Step 2: From the left side panel, pick the volume or the drive that you want to format and switch to the Erase tab.

Step 3: As you click on the Erase button, you will see several fields in the section. Enter the given information-

• Name- Enter a name for the disk such as Macintosh HD/SSD/USB Drive or anything else you want.
• Format- You have to choose a Mac supported format from the list. The most recommended format is APFS or Mac OS Extended (Journaled). There are numerous other formats too which will be displayed in the drop-down menu. You can select any format as per your requirement.

• The scheme- If this option is available, then you should choose the GUID Partition Map from the option.

Step 4: After specifying the fields, click on the Erase button at the bottom of the window and Disk Utility will format the drive.

Once the formatting is complete, you can use the disk for a backup drive, sharing, time machine backup, or any other requirement. In case if the drive doesn’t appear in the Disk Utility interface, you will have to disconnect all the extra and non-essential devices connected to Mac. Make sure that the External drive is on and connected properly. Restart your Mac and then carry out the task.

Part 3. How to Perform Mac Data Recovery After Format:

There are situations when Mac users don’t get the chance to create a backup of their data and forced to format the hard drive. But you don’t need to panic. You can get your hands on Recoverit data recovery for Mac. If you have mistakenly formatted the data that you still need, Recoverit is the best chance you have to get the files back. It is a complete data recovery solution that is capable of recovering all kinds of files with wide format support of 1000+.

You can download the software from the official website and install it immediately on Mac. Once the setup is complete, follow the steps below to recover formatted drive files.

Step 1: Specify Location:

Run the program and specify a location from the main drive. If data is lost from an external drive or USB flash drive, then you’ll have to connect the drive with the system and then specify the location.

Click on the Start button to initiate the scanning process.

Step 2: Scan Results:

Depending on the data that is lost or deleted, scanning will take some time. As the process finishes, the files will be displayed on the screen according to their respective format.

You can decide whether you want to look for files according to file type or file path. You can also stop the scanning process in between if the results are displayed before the scanning finishes.

Step 3: Preview and Recover Formatted Data:

As soon as the data is displayed on the screen, you can have a preview of the files. Select as many files as you want and have a preview of the files. Tap on the Recover button to save the files on your system.

As you are retrieving the files, keep in mind not to save the files in the previous location. Depending on the amount of recovery, it will take a while and ultimately you’ll have your files back. If the normal scan doesn’t work for you, Recoverit also has a deep scan mode to look deeper for the deleted and lost files.

Part 4. Different Formats of Hard Drive for Mac:

Mac Hard drives have wide support for formats but there are two major formats that are preferably used by the Mac users. It also depends on the macOS version you are using. The key point to consider is that the drives formatted with the newer versions won’t be recognized by the older devices. So, when you are formatting a USB drive, it will be ideal to choose the right format which is Mac OS Extended.

The supported Mac formats for the drive are explained below:

How To Format A External Hard Drive For Mac And Pc

APFS:

The APFS format is optimal for Solid State Drive such as flash drives. Hence, if you are formatting a flash drive, you should definitely choose the APFS format. Along with the flash drives, this format is also faster and more reliable for Mac hard drives.

Mac OS Extended:

Talking about Mac OS Extended, it is perfectly suitable if you want to use a drive for backup. The Time Machine feature of Mac still doesn’t have support for APFS disk. In case you select this format, Time Machine will prompt you to reformat the drive.

When you are formatting disk on Mac, keep some things in mind. Never ever change the inbuilt format of a Mac drive.

Part 5. Tips for Formatting a Hard Drive on Mac:

Even though formatting doesn’t seem like a big deal, still it can be very helpful. So, you must stay active and keep all things in mind. Here are some tips that might help you when you are about to format a Mac hard drive.

• Disk Utility in macOS Sierra and later chooses a compatible format for you automatically. But you should know the default format for your drive. It is advised not to change the default format of a Mac hard drive under any circumstances.
• You can check the format of a drive inside the Disk Utility Menu bar. Just click on the Get Info option and you’ll know the current format a drive is using to store files. Open the System information and select the storage. In the right-side panel, you will see the respective format for each volume on your Mac.
• If you want to erase your disk before you install the latest High Sierra on your Mac for the first time, then opt-out for the Mac OS Extended format. During the installation of OS, the macOS installer will automatically decide whether to use APFS or Mac OS Extended for the disk.
• You can also use the FAT32 format on Mac for USB drives if you wish to use it on both Mac and Windows. The FAT32 format can be read and written on both OS and hence it is the most versatile format for use.
• If you wish to transfer big files from Windows to Mac, you’ll still have an alternative, i.e. exFAT. This format doesn’t have a file limit but it can only be read on Mac OS X Snow Leopard or later.

So, before you pick out the format, look out for the advantages and the disadvantages of the formats to choose the optimal format for Mac. The Windows supported format is usually listed as an MS-DOS format in the list of formats.

Wrapping It Up:

As you can see, now you know how to format hard drive/ USB flash drive/ internal drive/external drive on Mac. So, from now on whenever someone is in need, you can help them. And formatting doesn’t always finish without complications. So, if you lost some important files while formatting the drive, you can use Recoverit data recovery software for Mac to restore them in the original condition. Recommend the software to your friends and family and let them know that there is a master tool for recovery for both Mac and Windows OS in the market.

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The transition from hard drives to solid state storage on both portable and desktop Macs has meant a significant reduction in storage space for most of us. That in turn has meant that many of us now have at least one external hard drive, SSD, or USB stick on which to store files. But those drives too quickly fill up and so it’s useful to know how to clean up an external hard drive.

How you go about cleaning up depends on what you use the external drive for, so here’s our guide on how to format an external hard drive on Mac.

How to format an external hard drive on Mac

Let's figure out how to format the following types of volumes:

• USB drive or flash stick
• External hard drive
• Internal hard drive

How to format a hard drive for Mac using Disk Utility

If your Mac runs a newer operating system, like macOS Mojave or macOS Catalina, you need to launch the built-in Disk Utility tool. But before that, you'll have to decide: are you erasing just a volume on your drive or your mainstartupdrive? The latter contains your macOS and if you erase it without a prior backup, you'll be in trouble.
Okay. Suppose, you'd like to format a hard drive that is your startup drive. Then, you'll need to start your Mac in a Recovery Mode.

• Shut down your Mac and turn it back on.
• Upon the startup, press and hold Command (⌘) and R keys.
• Release the keys when Apple logo appears.

You are now in macOS Utilities. To format a hard drive for Mac, choose Disk Utility in the list and click Continue.

But if you only need to format a volume (or a partition), you can access Disk Utility without entering a Recovery Mode.
Open the Launchpad in the Dock.
Type in 'Disk Utility' in the search field.
Here it is, Disk Utility where you can easily format external hard drive for Mac or any connected drive.

Select the drive you would like to format and click 'Erase' at the top of the pane. The same works for any type of drive be it a USB stick or external storage. Please, be extra careful and pay attention to what is actually selected.

How to clear space on a Time Machine hard drive

If you use an external hard drive for Time Machine and find that it’s running out of space, you may need to delete older backups. Time Machine will normally warn you when free space is low and offer to delete backups automatically.

If it doesn’t, you can do it yourself from within Time Machine, using Terminal, or by again using an app like CleanMyMac X which has a module designed specifically for slimming down old Time Machine backups. Follow our guide on how to thin Time Machine snapshots.

Tip:
To slim down your Time Machine backups, click on the Maintenance tab in CleanMyMac X.

How to reformat an external hard drive safely

If you're looking to format or reformat an external hard drive on your Mac, there are a couple of safety precautions.

1. Make sure you've got a backup option

Your Mac's hard drive may contain a number of partitions, including a separate partition for the macOS itself. If you accidentally format a part that contains your operating system, you'll have problems. But if that's what you aimed to do, proceed with caution. To prepare the backup, plug in an external drive with enough free space on it. Then, run Time Machine from your Launchpad.

2. Pick an appropriate file format

Disk Utility will make you choose between APFS and Mac OS Extended. Here are a few more considerations:

• APFS is a preferred format for newer macOS versions.
• If you like to roll back to High Sierra, then choose Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
• If your external drive will be used with older Mac that runs High Sierra or older system, again, choose Mac OS Extended.
  

If you want to securely erase the volume, select Security Options and choose them. If your Mac is a new one with an SSD drive, the Security Options may not be available.

3. What if you can't reformat an external hard drive on your Mac?

In some cases Disk Utility will not show your external drive. You can try one of the following:

• Use a different cable
• Shut down your Mac and unplug all peripherals.
• Try to format Mac external hard drive again.
  

Free up space on all your drives at once

Dragging files to the Trash is a very slow way to free up space on a hard drive. However, you can speed it up by identifying those files that will free up the most space the fastest — in other words, the files taking up the most space. By deleting them, perhaps after archiving them on another drive you don’t use on a day-to-day basis — you’ll quickly free up lots of space.

You can identify the largest files on a drive manually by setting the Finder to list view and sorting files by size (click on the top of the Size column). However, you need to do that for every folder on the drive. Old files are another good candidate for deleting, or at least moving somewhere else. If you haven’t opened a file in six months or more, the chances are you won’t need it very often. You can use the same method to identify old files by sorting on Date Modified. Again, you’ll have to do it for every folder, so it could be time consuming. A much quicker way to identify and delete large and old files from your external hard drive or USB flash drive is to use a dedicated app like CleanMyMac X.

Below are two ways of removing files from your drives: the easy way and the manual one. Choose the one you like!

Remove files with CleanMyMac X

CleanMyMac has a utility designed specifically to identify files that are occupying lots of space and those that haven’t been opened for a while.

1. Download CleanMyMac X and launch the app.
2. Choose Large & Old files tab.
3. Choose the disk and press Scan.
4. You can go through files one at a time or click on the categories to the left of the list to filter them.
5. When you find a file you want to delete, check the circle next to it.
6. Click Remove.

There are lots of options for freeing up space on an external hard drive, depending on what you use it for. If it’s a Time Machine backup or iTunes Library, you should do it from within those applications. Otherwise, one of the quickest ways to do it is to use CleanMyMac X to remove large and old files. That way you can reclaim the maximum amount of space for the minimum effort.

Reformat External Hard Drive Windows

Thanks for reading and stay tuned!

Format External Drive For Mac

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