Formatting a disk or volume erases all the files on it. File system formats available in disk utility on mac apple. However, before format your mac hard drive partition or volume, please back up your data to icloud or a secondary hard disk drive. In the format window choose fat32 from the drop down list of file system click ok and commit. The mac drive may have an efi system partition on it. In the sidebar, select the disk you want to format to use with. Neither mac os nor windows recognize each others volume formats. File system formats available in disk utility on mac. Found in the utilities folder, inside your applications folder, disk utility is a powerful tool that offers a full range of features to manage disks and volumes, encrypt and decrypt them, work with disk images, and much more. Windows, on the other hand, runs off file allocation system or new technology file system. Partition hard drive for mac and windows, in 6 easy steps. It is therefore an excellent crossplatform file system.
However, single files on a fat32 drive cant be larger than 4gb. Jan 30, 2019 rightclick on the partition youd like to format and choose format volume. But somehow, macos doesnt allow you to write data to the drive. Since you mentioned that the drive had a windows format beforehand, that explains why msdos format is selected mac os x assumes you just want to wipe the disk, rather than change the format. To enable the volume slider in the menu bar, click the apple menu click system preferences click sound check the show volume in menu bar box. Open disk management, the hard drive manager included with all versions of windows. For example, in windows xp my computer is equivalent to this pc on windows 10. Jun 06, 2019 one of the main characteristics of a storage volume is that it can contain multiple partitions. Windows uses ntfs and mac os uses hfs and theyre incompatible with each other. I understand that you are facing issues with windows 10. Windows disk management is a tool built in to windows xp, vista, 7, 8.
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. Apple mac machines support a different file system. Uses the mac format journaled hfs plus to protect the integrity of the hierarchical file system. If you wish to boot the drive on a pc or use it with older versions of windows, you may also need to set the partition scheme to master boot record mbr for full windows compatibility. However, we can use disk utility to enable journaling. If you are on an earlier operating system like windows 7, xp, etc. How to create mac os extended journaled partition and. The maximum length for the volume name is 11 characters. The file system column on the storage sidebar displays the current file format. I hope you loved my article partition hard drive for mac and windows, in 6 easy steps. How to share an external hard drive between mac and windows. But, the formatted data can be recovered by mac data recovery software.
But if you want the external hard drive to also work on a mac, you should choose exfat, which is an upgraded version of fat32. Enter a volume name, select the exfat format, and click the apply button. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac laptop mag. Click the erase button or tab, then complete these items. Follow these easy steps to format a hard drive in windows 10, windows 8, windows 7, windows vista, or windows xp. The mac os extended partition created by gparted will not be journaled.
Opening disk management can be done a number of ways depending on your version of windows, but the easiest method is to type diskmgmt. Compare the different options for formatting an external hard drive to work with windows and mac. 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 drive formatted in. How to convert a macformatted drive to a windows drive. To mute, decrease, or increase the volume on your mac, press f10, f11, or f12 on your keyboard, respectively. As long as there is a program running on the mac and a similar one on the pc that can read those files.
Dec 29, 2015 windows uses ntfs and mac os uses hfs and theyre incompatible with each other. The maximum volume size for mbr is 2tb while the more recent gpt format does not assign limits to file or partition sizes. Aug 31, 2016 to create a partition or volume the two terms are often used interchangeably on a hard disk, you must be logged in as an administrator, and there must be either unallocated disk space or free space within an extended partition on the hard disk. Both fat32 and exfat have advantages and disadvantages. Choose exfat as the file system in the format partition screen. Apr 14, 2020 as long as we format the external hard drive to one of these 2 file systems, it can be shared between mac and windows.
To find out the current format of the drive, you can look into the system information. Both fat32 and exfat can be used on windows pc and mac. The ntfs file system is another option to use for windows formatted drives and volumes, but it has limited compatibility with mac os by default. Enter a name that you want the volume to have after you erase it, such as macintosh hd.
Here, the only option left for the users to store the new hard drive is to store it in the multiple memory chunks with a maximum size of 2 gb each, which ultimately degrades the data access speed of the system. In the disk utility app on your mac, choose view show all devices. But to get a hard drive to be compatible with both mac and pc. Format a disk for windows computers in disk utility on mac. Mar 15, 2018 to format the drive in windows, rightclick it in the file explorer window and select format. This also allows you to restore time machine backups on windows. So, you just bought an external hard drive or a portable ssd and wanted to use it on your mac. Disk utility shows the recommended mac format by default. Format a disk for windows computers in disk utility on mac apple. Windows cant normally read macformatted drives, and will offer to erase them instead. Under file system box, select exfat for this drive. Create and format a hard disk partition windows help. How to format drive with compatible file system for 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. Connect the hdd to a mac and format the drive as fat32 and then connect the same mac hdd to windows and convert it to ntfs. Fat32 limits file sizes to 4gb and device sizes to 8tb. Fat32 is not recommended for modern operating systems and computers. Choose this format if the size of the disk is 32gb or less. Copy a data disk uing one optical drive using disk utility on os x how to. How to format a hard drive windows 10, 8, 7, vista, xp. The best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac. Choose the exfat file system in the list and click start. You can select to use a fat, fat32, exfat, ntfs, or refs file system when formatting. For you to be able to store a file greater than 4gb in size, youd need to reformat the drive to either exfat file size is limited to 16eb, or 16 billion tb or a macos.
Windows will choose ntfs for you because thats microsofts native filing system. If you might want to be able to boot a mac sometime in the future with this drive without having to reformat it again you will need to format it with a guid. A window will pop up where you can choose the format ntfs, fat32, or exfat. For windows, it offers quick format feature when you rightclick the hard drive on the computer. How to format an external hard drive for windows 10. So, because of this majority of the mac users who do not utilizes windows on their hard drive desired to format the drive for the mac only. A mac program is designed to run on a mac and wont run on a pc. In disk utility on your mac, you can format an external disk for a windows computer. As long as we format the external hard drive to one of these 2 file systems, it can be shared between mac and windows. How to format drive with compatible file system for mac and. If you are not comfortable with the previous method. If youre lucky, you can just rightclick each partition on the mac drive and select delete volume to remove the partitions.
How to reformat mac os x without a recovery disc or drive. Be absolutely sure you have your files off the drive and that youve selected the correct drive you want to format. Format a usb drive as exfat for mac and windows compatibility. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac. Mar 16, 2020 choose between the format apfs or mac os extended format carefully. Locate your usb stick under this pc, rightclick on it and select the format option. Or it might be that you bought a drive to use with your mac only to discovered it is preformatted for windows. You could convert the drive to fat32 or exfat that both mac and windows can read. Choose one of the following mac os extended file system formats for compatibility with mac computers using macos 10. In the main interface, right click the partition on that need. In this article, we will introduce easytouse tools to help mac users to format mac hard drive partition or mac volume. Remember, this will erase all the files on the drive. Also, when you plug in your usb flash drive, it will be treated as a volume.
Here is a tutorial help you read mac drive on windows. Mac os journaled is the formatting option for mac and ntfs or msdos is the formatting option for pc. However, if you want to quickly and securely format a hard drive on mac, macclean360 is your best choice. The best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac cnet. Partition magic mac mac partition manager to format.
To create a partition or volume the two terms are often used interchangeably on a hard disk, you must be logged in as an administrator, and there must be either unallocated disk space or free space within an extended. In disk utility on your mac, format disks or volumes using apple file system. This tool can help you easily and quickly format hard drive or external device on mac. You can then rightclick in the empty space and select new simple volume to create a partition and format it with the windows ntfs or fat32 file systems. Make sure the allocation unit size is set to default and type in a volume label. How to reformat and partition a hard drive on a windows pc. Nov, 2019 a volume label, sometimes called a volume name, is a unique name assigned to a hard drive, disc, or other media.
How you customize your windows 7 is totally up to you, but we got a tip for you mac lover but windows user you can now add the on screen volume changer indicator in windows 7. A quirk in the apple disk utility allowed me to create a fat32 volume that would not mount in windows. 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. Nov 12, 2016 this is a typical partitioning format that is supported by practically all computers windows, linux and mac os.
If you want to format hard partition or system volume on mac, you are at the right place. How to format a large capacity usb flash drive, fat32, windows. 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. Disk utility on mac supports several file system formats. This is a typical partitioning format that is supported by practically all computers windows, linux and mac os. If the usb drive you connected shows as unallocated space, you can create a large fat32 partition directly in partition. Add virtual cd and dvd drives to your pc with alcohol how to. It is recommended to choose the compatible format that the system lists. So, if you want to use an external hard drive on both windows and mac, you need to format it to a filesystem that is compatible with windows pc and mac. And apfs takes the advantages of strong encryption, space sharing, disk snapshots and is compatible with ssd on new mac.
Msdos fat outdated ms file system, can be used for pcmac compatibility but with files less than 4gb. How to format an external hard drive for mac and windows. How to format a drive for mac and pc compatibility macyourself. Choose either apfs or mac os extended journaled to format as a mac volume.
Dec 25, 2016 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 drive formatted in a file system both oss can read. For mac, the mac os extension is the file system included in mac os 10. If you need to format, partition, or otherwise work with hard drives on a mac, apples disk utility is the tool you use. Both windows and mac os offer builtin disk formatting tool. For example, all disk icons that you see on a macs desktop are volumes.
Lacie mobile drive user manual optional formatting and. Select your drive from the list and rightclick on it. May 29, 2018 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. Create a bootable usb drive for ubuntu using mac or windows how to. Click the partition button in an additional popup window to complete the process. How to partition and format a wd drive on windows and. Or use the following command to format mac os extended to mac os extended journaled. Choose this format if the size of the disk is over 32gb. Aug 30, 2004 since you mentioned that the drive had a windows format beforehand, that explains why msdos format is selected mac os x assumes you just want to wipe the disk, rather than change the format. Rightclick on the drive you want to format, click on format. The right way to format windows disks using a mac techrepublic. Fat32 limits file sizes to 4gb and device sizes to 2tb or 16 tb for 4 kb sectors.
However, you can format the drive to work with both windows and mac by. Macclean360 is an allinone mac cleaner and manager. Yes its those that will animate fade in and fade out volume controls in mac, and you can bring it. 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 for time machine. How to partition and format a drive on windows 10 and 8. The latter requires to you to use a command line interface, while the former uses a graphical user interface. Format anything above 32gb in windows 10 seems not possible, even with the right syntax. For compatibility with windows, all fat32 partitions are msdos style. File system formats available in disk utility on mac apple support. How to format or partition an external hard drive for mac. If you are using a mac, you can run the builtin disk utility to quickly format a hard drive or external hard. Fat32 works with all versions of windows, mac os, linux, game consoles, etc. However, you can format the drive to work with both windows and mac by using the exfat filesystem.
Yes its those that will animate fade in and fade out volume controls in mac, and you can bring it to your windows thanks to 3rvx. When we want to format a volume that is larger than 32gb, windows default format option in the file explorer rightclick context wont list fat32 in the dropdown menu of the file system nor in disk management, youll only see ntfs and exfatdefault, but how can we create a fat32 volume on a 64gb or larger usb drive no fat32 option when the creating a 64gb drive in disk management. Click the format popup menu, then choose one of the following. Sep 26, 2018 windows pc and mac use different filesystems. Itll do the same thing for an hfs disk you have to. Formatting, however, deletes the content of a volume to clean it, and assigns a file system to it so that data can be moved into and out of the volume. Quickformatting 116,2 gb the volume is too big for fat32. A volume has a file system and a name along with its size. Use the mac os extended journaled format if you dont care about accessing the drive from a windows machine. Exfat more modern ms file system any file size can be used. Itll do the same thing for an hfs disk you have to select msdos format yourself if you want to change it. How to partition and format a wd drive on windows and macos. A volume label, sometimes called a volume name, is a unique name assigned to a hard drive, disc, or other media. Save any files you need to another volume before formatting.