Before you can click on the Erase button located in the Erase tab, you must select which file system you would like to use and give it a name.
At the bottom of the main window are storage device details, including disk description, connection type, USB serial number, total capacity, write status, S.M.A.R.T. The application will appear as shown below with a list of available storage devices on the left and various disk management options on the right.
Let’s take a look at how to format a storage device on a Mac.
The main window of the utility contains a list of storage devices, storage device details, and formatting options. You can launch it from the Applications folder or use Spotlight. With it, it’s possible to easily format a storage device with just a few clicks. MacOS users have at their disposal a handy tool called Disk Utility. How to Format an External Hard Drive on Mac Now that we’ve taken a look at file formats, let’s move into actually formatting the external hard drive. A drawback of this one is that it won’t support larger file formats. Older file system and isn’t as fast or efficient as NTFS. There isn’t much of a reason to use this file format anymore.
You can also use this data format on both Mac and Windows together.įile format used on Mac before APFS. This file format is best for external devices such as USB thumb drives and external hard drives due to how it works with USB connections. Uses the Mac format, requires a password, and encrypts the partition. Choose this option if you don’t need an encrypted or case-sensitive format. Uses the Mac format (Journaled HFS Plus) to protect the integrity of the hierarchical file system. It is fast and efficient and this is the file system that you should use unless you have other specific needs. Let’s talk a little bit about each of these file systems and the others that you might consider and the benefits of each.ĭefault and modern file system used by Windows and this is the preferred file system that should be usedĪpple File System is what is what your Mac will use by default. MacOS uses the Apple File System (APFS), while Windows uses the NTFS file system. Let’s take a deeper look into file systems for those that are curious and want to know more. Both of these are the newest, fastest, and securiest file systems available on both operating systems. In short, if you’re on Mac use APFS (Apple File System) and if you’re on Windows, use NTFS. Let’s take a look at and talk about which file system you may want to choose. First and foremost, you need to decide which file system to use. Regardless of why you want to format your hard drive, there are some considerations to be made before you begin. A format can usually fix this as the device might have corrupt data on it.