Thus, when you try to use it to format the 3tb hard drive, you will find the file. Format your western digital my passport external hard drive to fat32 or exfat format so to transfer the data between a. How to convert a macformatted drive to a windows drive. May 08, 2012 i just got two new 3tb seagate drives for my mac pro at work 4,1 snow leopard that disk utility will not format. Nov 28, 2016 my old wd my cloud drive died due to a main board issue. The goal was to install windows 7 on the second 3tb drive. Developed by microsoft, this modern file system is optimized for situations where the ntfs file system is not a feasible solution, and the file size limit of the standard fat32 file system is unacceptable. How to format internal and or external drive to work properly on mac and windows computers. If you are techy and use windows and mac computers frequently, then you might need to transfer data between mac and pc. You have to set it up correctly before getting starting.
The third 3tb drive was to be added to the macos installation as a data disk. Compare the different options for formatting an external hard drive to work with windows and mac. A new window will pop up asking which file system youd like to format the external drive to. When i format the drive using win7, osx wants me to initialize it. Nov 22, 2014 how to format a 3tb or 4tb hard drive lee trigs. U kunt een harde schijf gebruiken op elk type computer. Now get minitool partition wizard to convert mbr disk to gpt disk without losing data. Select that disk and click the erase button, the one highlighted in red in the screenshot below. Why need to format external hard drive for mac and pc. If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation. Ntfs format hard disks can be connected to mac os but the drive will run with readonly permission which means you can only copy from hard disk but cant add or. To format a hard drive means to erase any information on the drive and to set up a file system so your operating system can read data from, and write data to, the drive.
How to format a drive for mac and pc compatibility macyourself. How to format seagate drive for mac and pc quickly and. Nov 19, 2009 4tb hard drive formatted for mac os, need help. Then, connect the seagate drive to your pc and make sure that it can be detected by windows. Yes, its recommended to format the drive on a windows computer. I also show to format the drive for usage with macintosh systems. Compatibility may vary depending on users hardware configuration and operating system.
Do you know how to solve the 3tb drive shows 746gb issue. Want to format a hard drive for mac and pc compatibility. The best ways to format an external drive for windows and. I was using windows at that time, so i had no problem with it. Feb 08, 2020 so, you just bought an external hard drive or a portable ssd and wanted to use it on your mac. Compare the different options for formatting an external hard drive to work with. This is the easiest way and simply requires you to plug in your usb drive, open the windows file explorer and right click your drive to view a number of actions that you can perform. Learn a few ways to make your drive mac and pc friendly. Both mac os x and windows allow users to format their hard drives using builtin utilities. Select your drive from the list and rightclick on it. On the disk utility interface, select an external drive click on the erase button from top of the window make.
External data storage devices such as usb flash drives, external hard disk drives hdds, and solid state drives ssds provide one of the easiest ways to transfer files between separate computers without accessing the. How to format external hard drives for mac and windows. However, ntfs is not fully compatible with mac computers. That said, if you are using both a pc and mac in the workflow, youll need to use a different format. How to format your hard drive seagate support australia. Right click on the partition and select delete volume this will remove the partition. In the pane on the left, under storage, click disk management. Apple mac machines support a different file system. Select the mac drive from the list of drives make sure this is the drive you want to work on, if you do it for the windows formatted drive in the list, it may cost you a lot of important data.
However, if the partition is lager than 32gb, the windows disk management can only format it to ntfs. This is the message i get while trying to format the hd. As complicated as that might sound, its not really difficult to format a hard drive in any version of windows. Im sure that many people like me have encountered the following issue. Formatting a 3tb external hard drive microsoft community. I cannot get the darn thing to show up in disk utility. Mar 22, 2012 the best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac. Some users convert basic disk to dynamic to fully utilize 4tb disk.
Jul 06, 2011 i say auxiliary because you can boot windows from a 3tb drive only if its 64bit vista or 64bit windows 7 and then, only if you have a pc with an efiuefi bios. Macyourself blog archive how to format a drive for mac and pc. To let windows 10 use full 4tb hard drive, make sure you do it in the right way. How to format usb drives on windows 10 make tech easier.
Most or we can say almost every external hard disk comes in ntfs windows nt file system format but ntfs format is not supported by mac os. The reason is perhaps that seagate external hard drive has been well known for a long time as one of the most reliable drives for storing data. The best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac. However, i do worry that the motherboard will not be able to see a larger capacity drive. The best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac cnet. When i format it with osx, win7 wants me to format it. Format usbexternal drive to fat32 with disk management. A lot of people including you, storing important data on seagate external hard drive instead of on your pc mac hard drive.
This thing is still unknown for many users but doesnt worry its not complex. Next, under the partition layout column, specify the number of partitions you want. How to format a hard drive windows 10, 8, 7, vista, xp. If you format your fat32 drive in windows, the drive partition cannot be larger than 32gb. Does this mean that they cannot be converted to windows.
People might need to format a hard drive or an external hard drive in windows 10 for various reasons. Im trying to format my 3tb drive to wbfs well, part of it but wbfs manager 3. We recently had a mid 2010 mac pro in the shop which had three 3tb hard drives. How to format internal andor external drive to work properly on mac and windows computers. A lot of people including you, storing important data on seagate external hard drive instead of on your pcmac hard drive. Choosing the right format for your external hard drive b. But youre not sure what file system to choose and which file formats would be compatible with your mac or pc. Rightclick on windows icon and select disk management.
I bought a new wd 3tb my cloud and used the usb socket to connect a docking station into it, having removed the hdd out of the old unit. Such as sony ps3, ps4, xbox one, xbox 360, media player, mac. Seagate expansion 3tb usb 3 drive unboxing and formatting. How to format an external hard drive with pictures wikihow. Windows will format the drive as exfat and youll be able to use the drive on both windows and mac. Every time i go to disk utility and erase, th hello all, i am switching completely from mac to windows. I have a seagate 500gb expansion drive which i brought about a year ago. I am getting a toshiba 3tb hard drive to replace a 2tb as my desktop drive is running out of space. Apr 20, 2020 to let windows 10 use full 4tb hard drive, make sure you do it in the right way. The easiest way to do that is hit cmd and the spacebar at the same time and type in disk utility to find the program. The best format for your external hard drive the hellotech blog.
Wbfs will not work with most programs on the wii and cannot be used in windowsmac os or any os. 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. Requires reformatting for windows operating system note. Dec 29, 2015 how to format a hard drive for both windows and mac. Format to fat32 for usb or external hard drive in windows. Apple file system format or the older mac os extended format, and it automatically chooses a compatible format for you. Therfore, you can connect backup plus desktop to a windows pc without formatting the hard drive. That said, if you are using both a pc and mac in the workflow, youll need to use a. I just got two western digital 3tb external harddrives. What do i need to do to format the entire 3tb drive i.
While its convenient to purchase the hard drive that will work with your computer right out of the box, most external hard drives can also be reformatted so youre not limited to your initial choice. Locate and rightclick on your usb flash drive or external hard drive, select format. Nevertheless, basic is what needed for windows operating system. If you need to format external hard drive mac or windows, you may also consider the exfat files system. The best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac compare the different options for formatting an external hard drive to work with windows and mac. For instructions on how to format your hard drive on a mac, please reference the following links. Morning all, i bought a new 8tb harddrive online, i installed windows 10 on it and its only showing 1.
How to format internal or external 3tb hard drive to fat32 in. Dec, 2019 you can format the external hard drive or usb drive to make it compatible with both mac and windows machines. Make sure the allocation unit size is set to default and type in a volume label. A vast majority of video production will be done on a mac or windows operating system, so we arent going to cover linux. I thought windows only showed 3tb as the largest size, but the bloke in the local computer shop said windows 10 had solved that problem. Seagate expansion 3tb usb 3 drive unboxing and formatting for mac. Format an external hard drive or usb flash drive for mac os x. Usually, you can use windows builtin tools like diskpart to format seagate drive. Meaning i wouldnt have to change the format from mbr to gpt. How to format external hard drive to use on mac and pc.
While browsing the windows forums, i find many people are asking about why their 3tb hard drive only uses 2tb and how to address this. Now, lets take a look at some ways you can format your usb drive on windows 10. How to format a windows disk drive for a mac i get this question a lot i have an external hard drive that is ntfs formatted windows format, and i want to reformat it for my mac hfs. It has an ethernet connection, a usb connection for daisychaining and of course the over the air connection. A window will pop up where you can choose the format ntfs, fat32, or exfat. If this is the trouble you encounter, you can never miss out the best solutions in this post.
Format your western digital my passport external hard drive to fat32 or exfat format so to transfer the data between a mac and windows system conveniently. Install western digital 4tb internal hard drive in 1 partition windows 7810. Recently, i have switched to mac and saw that my hard disk was not writable on mac. Thats all because its been initialized with windows nt file system ntfs, which is primarily for pcs. Quickly format an external hard drive for mac and windows pc. Oct 15, 2015 hi, if you wish to use the disk between a pc and a os x, then choose exfat as the format. Please see below on how to reformat your external hard drive on mac and windows. Even though most people associate formatting with system installation, there are many other reasons why you might want to format your hard drive. Everything you need to know about 3tb hard drives pcworld. I would like to simply reformat the nas drive and start clean to see if that will work, but for the life of me i cannot figure out how to format the darn thing. Are you using a 3tb hard drive but it is only showing 746gb in windows 10. Insert or external hard drive to your windows pc in advance. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac laptop mag. When you need to format 3tb hard drive to fat32, you cannot use windows disk.
Convert formatted drive from mac to windows info remo. If you want to use the external drive for both mac and pc. Please keep in mind that reformatting will result in the loss of all the data on the hard. I get this question a lot i have an external hard drive that is ntfs formatted windows format, and i want to reformat it for my mac hfs. How to format or partition an external hard drive for mac. 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. You can use this tool to format the internal and external hard drive to fat32. Feb 03, 2018 morning all, i bought a new 8tb hard drive online, i installed windows 10 on it and its only showing 1. Quit any disk utilities or other programs that are using this drive, and make sure that no window is displaying the contents of the. Your backup plus desktop is formatted as ntfs for compatibility with windows out of the box.
I say auxiliary because you can boot windows from a 3tb drive only if its 64bit vista or 64bit windows 7and then, only if you have a pc with an efiuefi bios. Im trying to format my wd red 3tb drives so they can be read on both my win7 and osx machines 10. To start, your first step will be to find disk utility. Hi, if you wish to use the disk between a pc and a os x, then choose exfat as the format. Dynamic disks break virtually every disk utility such as disk imaging, partition resizing, offline disk editing, offline password. Reformatting 3tb wd my book for mac to windows wd community. How to format an external hard drive for mac and windows. And youll detailed tutorial on how to format seagate drive for mac and windows computer in the following text. I just got two new 3tb seagate drives for my mac pro at work 4,1 snow leopard that disk utility will not format. Desktop hard drive, usb cable, wd security, wd drive utilities, quick install guide.
Quit any disk utilities or other programs that are using this drive, and make. With disk utility open, locate the hard drive you want to partition and select partition. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac. Format to fat32 for usb or external hard drive in windows 10. You can format the external hard drive or usb drive to make it compatible with both mac and windows machines. How to share an external hard drive between mac and windows. Installed in drive bays 3 and 4 reboot, get message that computer cant read drive, click initialize to open disk utility choose erase tab, mac os extended. Formatting 3tb internal or external hard drive from ntfs to fat32 so. Use disk utility to erase format a hard disk, ssd, flash drive, or other storage device. We did a fresh install of high sierra on the first 3tb drive. Choosing the right format for your external hard drive.
Its good to have an external hard drive which can be used for backup and other purpose. So, you just bought an external hard drive or a portable ssd and wanted to use it on your mac. When i did this, it partioned the drive into two drives 2tb and 700gb, and it will only allow me to format the 2tb partition. Wd 3tb elements portable external hard drive usb 3. Rightclick on windows icon, select disk management. If however, you only need to use this drive on os x, then simply choose mac os extended journaled. For instance, users want to write data to and read data from, to do a clean installation of the windows system, to get rid of a virus or malware, to erase the data before giving the drive to someone else or throwing it away, or some other reasons.
External data storage devices such as usb flash drives, external hard disk drives hdds, and solid state drives ssds provide one of the easiest ways to transfer files between separate computers without accessing the internet. But somehow, macos doesnt allow you to write data to the drive. Mar 30, 2018 windows disk management is the disk manager builtin windows operating system. If you have already joined the data loss club unwillingly, then try running diy applications to recover data from mac and windows.