The best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac. This is because the ps4 uses a format not recognised by windows. Windows 8 enables you to scan your pcs hard drives often both internal and external for potential problems. So the first step you must do is move all of your important data to your pc mac, or to cloud storage service. Reformat ps4 hard drive for pc in windows 1087 easeus. In the disk utility app on your mac, choose view show all devices. How to format drive with compatible file system for mac. Sep 12, 2019 want to format your old or used ps4 hard drive in order to use it as an external drive for your pc. To format new hard drive or partition in windows 8. You can format an external hard drive or thumb drive to work seamlessly with both mac and windows by using the exfat file system. Jan 15, 2020 learn how to use macos recovery to reinstall the mac operating system on your builtin drive or an external drive. Thus in order to make the hard drive windows formatted, you have to convert the file system to ntfs or fat32. Sep 12, 2019 usually, you will think about internal utility, disk management in windows 7 or 10, to do this job. Thus, the professional partition manager minitool partition wizard is recommended.
How to format a hard drive on windows or mac avast. Even though most people associate formatting with system installation, there are many other reasons why you might want to format your hard drive. To format the drive in windows, rightclick it in the file explorer window and select format. 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. How to format a hard drive using the command prompt tom. Format a disk for windows computers in disk utility on mac. This page shows you how to reformat or format the ps4 hard drive for windows 10 8 7 pc step by step. Right now, our top pick for best external hard drive is the western digital my passport 4tb, which is a mechanical hard drive. 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. Windows formatted hard drives have either ntfs file system of an fat32 file system. Rightclick the new hard drive and select the format option. Apple mac machines support a different file system. File system formats available in disk utility on mac.
In this video i demonstrate how to reformat an external hard drive in windows 8 8. Save any files you need to another volume before formatting. How to format a hard drive with ease in windows 1087. How to format a disk or drive in windows 10 format is the process of preparing a data storage device such as a hard disk drive, solidstate drive, or usb flash drive for initial use to accept windows files. A hard drive can be used on any type of computer pc or mac. Whether youre selling your computer, trying a new operating system, or setting up an external drive for backups, sometimes you need to completely erase and format a h ard drive. Formatting my hard drive and installing a fresh new copy of windows 8 i have a dell xps 8500. How you format a mac hard drive is entirely dependent on what kind of drive you plan on formatting. You cannot format the whole hard drivedoing so would erase your operating systembut you can format a portion of the hard drive after creating a partition. How do i reformat it to ntfs for use with windows 8. Basic tutorial explaining how to format a hard drive using built in windows software. If you need to make the external hard drive be compatible with. How do i reformat a mac hd to ntfs for use with windows 8.
Enter a name for the external hard drive in the name field. As complicated as that might sound, its not really difficult to format a hard drive in any version of windows. But somehow, macos doesnt allow you to write data to the drive. Reformat ps4 hard drive for pc in windows 10 8 7 jean updated on sep 12, 2019 to partition master howto articles i replaced the ps4 hard drive with an ssd on my laptop and i planned to reformat and use the old ps4 hard drive on my windows 10 pc. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac. The good news is, yes, you can using disk management to format data partition. Opening disk management can be done a number of ways. Mar 16, 2017 hi guys, tech james here, this quick tutorial will show you how to format a hard drive hdd so its ready for a new operating system to be installed onto it. You can select the exfat format when using the disk. Mar 22, 2012 the best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac. Read mac external hard drive on windows 8 free downloads. How to check your hard drives in windows 8 dummies. Rather than use a mac formatted drive, you should get the important files off of it and use exfatformatted drives for moving data between macs and pcs.
If you want to format a hard drive without os installation, you can rightclick one partition and select format, and then click ok. 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. However, you might do two passes via this method just to be safe. If you want to format a hard drive or usb flash drive on your computer, disk formatting tool is the best choice. Meanwhile, there should also be support on linux and appels mac. When you first set up a hard drive for use with a computer, you have to format it using a file system. If you have both windows and mac computers in your office, its important to understand their different storage requirements before buying an external hard drive. The windows system uses a hard drive with a different file system than the mac systems.
The hard drive will be empty and need to be either initialized by another operating system for storage or have an operating system installed on it. In the new window, set the partition label, file system ntfsfat32ext2ext3. Hard drives dont malfunction and errors are immediately noticeable. In the sidebar, select the disk you want to format to use with. Format hard drive for any operating system ntfs 2017. Hard drive format software for mac mac disk format software. For instance, is the hard drive internal or external. How to format new hard drive on windows 10 windows central. However, you can recover files from formatted hard drive windows 8 using yodot hard drive recovery software.
The free magic partition software aomei partition assistant standard edition is more easytouse and advanced in comparison to windows 88. So if you are formatting a drive that has already been used, be sure to copy any files you will ever want to see again onto a computer or backup drive. Sep 20, 2019 this wikihow teaches you how to format your computers builtin hard drive. How to erase and format a hard drive lifehacker australia. The two solutions above can help you format external hard drive on windows or mac.
How to convert a macformatted drive to a windows drive. Choose the exfat file system in the list and click start. Jan 04, 2012 smaller external hard drives, ssds, and usb flash keys format quickly, while a larger hard drive may take a while longer. Formatting my hard drive and installing a fresh new copy.
The 8 best external hard drives and ssds for mac and pc. First, note the number of the disk in the disk management window. How to format an external hard drive with pictures wikihow. In disk utility on your mac, you can format an external disk for a windows computer.
In the value label field, type a descriptive name for the drive. How to format external hard drives for mac and windows. How you format a mac hard dr ive is entirely dependent on what kind of drive you plan on formatting. How to wipe a hard drive in windows 10 and macos techradar. You repeat these steps, until you format all partitions on that drive. It is a quick way to format external hard drive on mac. Choose one of the following apfs formats for mac computers using macos 10. Quickly see macformatted disks mounted to your computer. Mar 19, 2020 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. Jan 24, 2020 if you dont have access to windows installation media, but you do still have access to a working copy of windows 10, windows 8, or windows 7, you can create a system repair disc or recovery drive depending on your version of windows and then boot from that and format c from there. How to format hard drive to exfat in windows 7810 three ways. Format an external hard drive or usb flash drive for mac os x.
From the volume format menu, choose mac os extended. Its useful when installing windows 10 on a used drive. Macdrive also includes powerful features that enable you to create and partition mac disks direct from your pc. Feb 08, 2020 so, you just bought an external hard drive or a portable ssd and wanted to use it on your mac. You can select to use a fat, fat32, exfat, ntfs, or refs file system when formatting. Check the format this volume with the following settings box, then click the file system box and select one of the following.
Formatting a disk or volume erases all the files on it. In this case, we need to complete the task outside of windows. Jan 17, 2019 starting clean how to format new hard drive on windows 10 formatting is an essential task before starting to use a new drive, and in this guide, well show you how to do it on windows 10. This method will work for windows 7, windows 8 and windows vista users. In this article, we will introduce 5 disk formatting tools for windows and mac to help you securely format hard drive usb flash drive or memory card on a pc or a mac. After disk management opens, which might take several seconds, look for the drive you want to format from the list at. If a wireless network is available, you can choose it from the wi. Learn how to use macos recovery to reinstall the mac operating system on your builtin drive or an external drive. 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. The best ways to format an external drive for windows and.
Usually, you will think about internal utility, disk management in windows 7 or 10, to do this job. Mar 15, 2018 rather than use a macformatted drive, you should get the important files off of it and use exfatformatted drives for moving data between macs and pcs. It has many powerful features, such as migrate os to ssd, clone disk and so on. Be absolutely sure you have your files off the drive and that youve selected the correct drive you want to format. You can do that by tapping the f8 or f12 key as the computer is starting it varies on different pcs.
This is particularly necessary for purchases of generic pc drives, which almost always come preformatted to be windows compatible rather than for mac. The videos below demonstrate the complete process of formatting an external hard drive for full mac os x compatibility, this uses the. For instructions on how to format your hard drive on a mac, please reference the following links. Easily format external hard drive on windows or mac. The formatted files erased by disk utility also can be recovered by free mac data recovery software. There are two common misconceptions concerning hard drives. It is able to shrink volume, extend partition, create partition, format partition. Thats all because its been initialized with windows nt file system ntfs, which is primarily for pcs. Just transfer all useful files out from the external hard drive to other devices on mac. I got it as a gift i was trying to use it but then i deleted the volume accidentally im stupid. It is necessary to format hard disk partitions for the purpose of erasing all data, eliminating computer virus and so forth. If you have no idea how to do that, this article summarizes three methods in detail. Both operating systems use different formats for reading and writing to a hard drive. Heres how to format a drive using a mac including how to format a drive for windows and mac so the contents can be read on both platforms, and what format to use.
Remember, this will erase all the files on the drive. To make it work in windows youll need to remove the existing partitions and create a new partition that is recognised by windows. How to reinstall macos from macos recovery apple support. If youre a mac owner curious to give windows 8 a whirl but cant afford a new pc, follow our guide to find out just how easy it is to install windows 8 on a mac. Quit out of the disk utility app, and this time choose reinstall os x and continue. And in the event that your mac disks is having a problem, our robust repair feature can fix basic disk issues. Securely format external hard drive on windows and mac with super eraser. Run easeus partition master, rightclick the hard drive partition you intend to format. Heres how to format a dr ive using a mac including how to format a dr ive for windows and mac so the contents can be read on both platforms, and what format to use. Partition may be formatted while resizing hard drive on your windows 8 computer to expand or shrink size of existing partition. When you format your hard drive, you can clean internal as well as. If you want to insure full mac compatibility of a new external hard drive or flash disk, youll want to format the drive to the mac os extended filesystem. Simple and easy to use, macdrive is recognized as the leader for accessing mac disks from windows for almost 20 years.
That said, if you are using both a pc and mac in the workflow, youll need to use a different format. Like above mentioned scenarios there are many reasons for formatting windows 8 hard drive. Press windows key and r key together to launch run dialog, and type diskmgmt. It is professional partition magic which is designed to optimize partition and disk use. How to format ps4 hard drive for pc in windows 1087. Then you will see a warning window, click ok in it to continue. The maximum individual file size for exfat is 16 eb. How to use the format command to write zeros to a hard drive. These steps will show the process using windows 10, but will be similar for windows 7 and 8. How to format a hard dr ive in windows follow these easy steps to format a hard dr ive in windows 10, windows 8, windows 7, windows vista, or windows xp. Different operating systems such as windows, mac os x. With macdrive 9 standard, you can access, manage, and even create and format disk drives for apples mac os from inside windows explorer. How to format or partition an external hard drive for mac.
This means that if you connect a mac formatted drive to windows, youll simply get a blank drive letter and a message asking to format the disk. Even if youve never had a hard drive crash, youve likely heard. But both of them cant format the hard drive which the mac os is installed on because the mac system doesnt allow other software to destroy the system. That said, if you are using smaller file sizes fat32 can suffice. Disk utility on mac supports several file system formats. You can format your hard drive on both windows and mac computers. For example, in the screenshot below, the macformatted drive is disk 2.
This this tutorial should work just the same on windows 7 and windows 10. How to format a hard drive on mac to work on mac and pc. Convert formatted drive from mac to windows info remo. Not just hard drives, but removable usb drives, too. First of all, as i said before, reformating will erase all your data that stored on the hard drive permanently. Apr 16, 2020 to format a hard drive, you can take advantage of a piece of thirdparty software. Aug 17, 2018 how to format a hard drive using the command prompt. How to format a hard drive windows 10, 8, 7, vista, xp. The two hard drive formatting software for mac can help you securely format hard drive or device under mac os. Jul 30, 2019 dban dariks boot and nuke is a free hard driver eraser that will completely wipe the entire hard drive containing windows 8.
Follow the instructions that appear on screen, license agreements and all, and choose the hard drive to use in. Nov 26, 2017 this is because the ps4 uses a format not recognised by windows. Also, i read somewhere that its possible that i need to format it to be compatible with windows, but i dont. How to reformat ps4 hard drive for pc in windows 1087. To format external drive to file system compatible with mac and pc, connect the drive to your computer and follow the detailed steps given below take formatting hard drive to exfat in windows 7 for example. How to format a startup drive for a mac if you want to format a drive that will be used as your macs startup disk, the procedure is a little different from formatting it for use as a secondary. If you want to transfer files from a mac to windows pc and vice versa using an external portable hard drive then you have to have the external. How to format a hard drive in windows 7, 8 or vista youtube. How to format a hard drive using the command prompt toms. Macdrive 10 features an allnew disk management window that displays any mac disk mounted to your pc and gives you.
Oct, 2015 in this video i demonstrate how to reformat an external hard drive in windows 8 8. Windows will format the drive as exfat and youll be able to use the drive on both windows and mac. Formatting a hard drive or ssd is the same as buying a new hard drive since the process erases all the data in one fell swoop. I would like to format my pc by using the factory image which is stored on a usb flash pen drive. In the main interface, right click the partition on that need. Use the file system dropdown menu, and select ntfs recommended.
Whether youre selling your computer, trying a new operating system, or setting up an external drive for backups, sometimes you need to completely erase and format a hard drive. Click go on the top tool bar, and select utilities. How to format a hard drive with windows 8 techwalla. It can be fully supported by windows systems and readonly supported by mac os. Format a hard drive with windows builtin disk management tool now, we will show you how to format a hard drive with the windows builtin disk management tool. Compare the different options for formatting an external hard drive to work with windows and mac. Stepbystep instructions to format a hard drive in windows 7, including screenshots for each step to make the process easy to follow. Best external hard drives and ssds for mac and pc image credit. We think it offers creatives the perfect balance of speed, reliability, portability and price for both mac and pc users. Some people are asking for a way to format a hard drive for mac.
Next, open a command prompt window as administrator. Use exfat if youre going to share files with a mac computer. Formatting a hard drive can change the file system to make it compatible with your computers. But before you can do anything, you need to make it clear that the hard. Both mac os x and windows allow users to format their hard drives using builtin utilities. Of course, if you have a backup already, ignore this step. From floppies to hard drives, macdrive can handle almost any disk you toss at it. How to format a hard dr ive on mac to work on mac and pc. Quickly format an external hard drive for mac and windows pc.
Windows does not allow users to format c drive when system is running, for formatting c drive removes operating system, installed applications and other data on the partition. Hi, i have a seagate external usb hard drive that i formatted for use with a mac computer. In this guide, you can find several ways to format c drive system partition in windows 10 8 7. Dec 29, 2015 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. This wikihow teaches you how to change an external usb hard drives format on windows and mac computers. How to format the hard disk under windows softwareok. Uses the apfs format and is casesensitive to file and folder names. If you click cancel, youll just get a message stating that the volume does not contain a recognized file system. If you have already written any data to the drive, back it up before proceeding to the next. How to update graphics drivers in windows 10, 8, and 7 how to update audio drivers on a windows pc what is.
1236 1279 1436 164 412 921 409 28 1358 322 240 1141 791 1257 597 1438 423 422 6 330 1336 680 1174 685 1582 149 1603 153 1293 48 645 1387 858 110 1272 648 277 37 54 1311 1303 464 684 1369 1099