How to reformat mac os x without a recovery disc or drive. How to format a hard drive on mac to work on mac and pc. Macclean360 is one of the best disk cleaning and management software for mac os. Click the erase button and the drive will start formatting. Read mac formatted drives with windows the tech guy.
In the disk utility app on your mac, choose view show all devices. How to erase and format a disk in windows 10, 8 or 7. Dont click the format disk button or windows will erase the contents of the driveclick cancel. You can also adjust the partition format if you intend to share the disk with your windowstoting friends, access it as an external disk on a windows computer or use the disk with windows on your mac through boot camp. In the main interface, right click the partition on that need. For most reasons to erase, including when reformatting a disk or selling, giving away, or trading in your mac, you should erase your entire disk. 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.
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. Therefore, it is possible to mount a dmg file on a virtual disk or write it to a dvd and access its contents. This version allows you to fully test the application engine, the disk access routines and the graphical interface under windows. It resembles a grey drive with a red, circling arrow on top of it. If you are not comfortable with the previous method. When you connect a macformatted drive to windows, youll be informed that you need to format the disk in drive x. Fat had been the standard format for floppy disks and hard drives all through the dos years, and versions of windows up to and including windows 8.
Download disk formatting software for mac doyourdata. Jun 30, 2018 you will learn how to format the external hard disk which has default ntfs format, to make it compatible with mac os. Mac os journaled is the formatting option for mac and ntfs or msdoc is the. Dec 05, 2019 rightclick on windows icon, select disk management. Step 5 select format if you are using disc only with mac then from the volume format menu, you can select mac os standard. A window will pop up where you can choose the format ntfs, fat32, or exfat. 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. Format external hard disk drive for mac os and windows. 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. The easiest way to do that is hit cmd and the spacebar at. For example, you might want to reformat a new or used removable storage device to make sure it. To use it, download hfs for windows here and install on your pc. A macos installation package with dmg extension enables creating bootable installer dvds.
Be aware that formatting a drive deletes all of the files on it, so back up anything important before completing this step. How to read a macformatted drive on a windows pc youtube. But thirdparty tools fill the gap and provide access to. Mar 15, 2020 dmg is a disk image format for mac just like an iso file in windows. Give the drive a descriptive name and leave the default settings.
Next, open a command prompt window as administrator. You cant format your disc on a mac the same way you would on a windows computer, but you can erase and re format it to resolve errors. Select the disk from the menu, select your language, then choose disk utility from the utility dropdown menu and proceed to reformat it to the right settings. 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. If you have a cdrw or dvdrw, you can quickly clear or wipe the device to erase any data on it using windows 10 operating systems formatting tools. Macdisk is an utility for reading, writing and formatting apple macintosh magnetic media on an ibm compatible pc, without any hardware modification of the computer and without any addon. You can format an external hard drive or thumb drive to work seamlessly with both mac and windows by using the exfat file system. However, single files on a fat32 drive cant be larger than 4gb. The latter requires to you to use a command line interface, while the former uses a graphical user interface. 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. When you plug a drive thats been formatted for mac into a windows pc, you may find that it isnt readable. Need to format an external hard drive for mac and windows. You can run it on your mac, and use it to format external hard drive or device on your mac. Macs may also create a protected efi partition on these drives that you cant delete with the usual diskpartitioning tools.
To format the drive in windows, rightclick it in thefile explorer window and select format. For windows, it offers quick format feature when you rightclick the hard drive on the computer. Here are the following most common reasons why would you like to format an external disk or a flash drive for mac under mac os extended journaled. Convert formatted drive from mac to windows info remo. 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. May 01, 2020 how to erase a disk for mac use disk utility to erase format a hard disk, ssd, flash drive, or other storage device. It is the fastest way to format an external hard drivedevice under mac os. In the sidebar, select the disk you want to format to use with. If there are any files you want to keep that are on the disc, be sure to copy them to your hard drive. Mar 15, 2018 when you connect a macformatted drive to windows, youll be informed that you need to format the disk in drive x.
Create a bootable usb drive for ubuntu using mac or windows how to. On windows 10, the ability to format a usb flash drive can come in handy in a number of scenarios. Simple and easy to use, macdrive is recognized as the leader for accessing mac disks from windows for almost 20 years. Both fat32 and exfat have advantages and disadvantages. Dmg is a disk image format for mac just like an iso file in windows. For example, in the screenshot below, the mac formatted drive is disk 2. Unlike windows os, mac os doesnt provide quick format tool. Now, click on the top partition, name it windows, and change its format to msdos. Mar 22, 2012 the best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac. If you are using a mac, you can run the builtin disk utility to quickly format a hard drive or external hard. If you want to know exactly how to format a dvdrw on mac so that you can reuse it for other data, here is what to do. Windows cant normally read macformatted drives, and will offer to erase them instead. For most reasons to erase, including when reformatting a disk or selling, giving away, or trading in your mac.
Here are two outstanding mac hard drive format software tools you can rely on. Fat32 works with all versions of windows, mac os, linux, game consoles, etc. Hard drive format software for mac mac disk format software. 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. How to format drive with compatible file system for mac. Apr 22, 2019 most modern macs dont come with cd drives attached, meaning youll need to buy an external cd drive for your mac. Sep 26, 2018 need to format an external hard drive for mac and windows.
Mac can read all the file system formats including windows msdos, fat, fat32. How to format a usb flash drive on windows 10 windows. Choose the exfat file system in the list and click start. Open system information and select storage in the sidebar. May 24, 2017 how to erase and format external disks on mac 1 open disk utility from the dock, launchpad, spotlight or the applicationsutilities folder. Formatting a disk or volume erases all the files on it.
Select the volume in the finder, then choose file get info from the menu bar. 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. There are several ways to format a disk bigger than 32 gb in fat32. How to format drive with compatible file system for mac and. Right click on the partition and select delete volume this will remove the partition. Rightclick on windows icon, select disk management. Once the set up is complete, mount your drive and it will be visible on file explorer. Then i would suggest you to search for a third party software which directly converts the to ntfs format for windows operating system. Mar 31, 2020 step 5 select format if you are using disc only with mac then from the volume format menu, you can select mac os standard. Downloading center solutions for macpc data and file transfer. Save any files you need to another volume before formatting. Jul 16, 20 fat had been the standard format for floppy disks and hard drives all through the dos years, and versions of windows up to and including windows 8. There are a good number of reasons why you might want to format an external disk or a flash drive for full mac compatibility.
Fortunately, there are some mac hard drive format software or smart disk formatting applications can help you securely and easily format, reformat, or erase hard drive under mac os. Copy a data disk uing one optical drive using disk utility on os x how to. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac laptop mag. Apfs or mac os extended select the volume in the disk utility sidebar, then check the information on the right. This article will show how to clear all data off a writeable or rewriteable cd or dvd by formatting it in windows 10. If you are using the mastered format, youll need to click burn to disc once all. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac. Using it, you can erase a hard drive, create new partitions, and even repair your disk as well.
Step 6 start format click on erase to initiate the formatting. Apr 29, 2020 follow these easy steps to format a hard drive in windows 10, windows 8, windows 7, windows vista, or windows xp. How to format a hard drive windows 10, 8, 7, vista, xp. For example, you might want more storage for your mac than you do for your pc. One simple way to make the drive readable on both platforms is to format it to exfat, which both operating systems can understand. When the driver is installed, you format your ntfs disks with disk utility where you select windows nt filesystem as the format. You can select to use a fat, fat32, exfat, ntfs, or refs file system when formatting. I havent tried this one, but it should also do the job. Just like windows, macos also gives us a seamless option to format hard drive for mac and pc. Both windows and mac os offer builtin disk formatting tool. 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. Want to format a hard drive for mac and pc compatibility.
Follow these easy steps to format a hard drive in windows 10, windows 8, windows 7, windows vista, or windows xp. How to erase and format cd or dvd in windows 10 easeus. Make sure the allocation unit size is set to default and type in a volume label. Add virtual cd and dvd drives to your pc with alcohol how to. As long as we format the external hard drive to one of these 2 file systems, it can be shared between mac and windows. Right click on the start button, then click on file explorer on the left side of file explorer, click this pc right click on the cd dvd drive, then click format on the format window, select the specific options for the formatting, then click on start. Udf stands for universal disk format, which means any of the following file.
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. First, note the number of the disk in the disk management window. You can select the exfat format when using the disk utility to format the drive. Open windows explorer, click the computer section in the sidebar and find your drive. Macdisk is a 32bit application and runs under all recent versions of windows vista and 78 included, even 64 bits. 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. Micro center how to format a cd or dvd in windows 10. How to format an external hard drive for mac and windows.
So, lets suppose you are using the drive on your windows but you now need to format it to use it on mac. Select your drive from the list and rightclick on it. The operating system has an inbuilt tool, which is known as disk utility. How to format a drive for mac and pc compatibility macyourself. Mar 12, 2018 want to format a hard drive for mac and pc compatibility. Choosing the right format for your external hard drive b. You have to set it up correctly before getting starting. 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. Quickly format an external hard drive for mac and windows pc. If you are using a live file system, the files will be burned as they are dragged over and the disc will be finalized when you eject it. Open disk management, the hard drive manager included with all versions of windows. How to convert a macformatted drive to a windows drive. In the sidebar, select the disk you want to format to use with windows computers. In disk utility on your mac, you can format an external disk for a windows computer.
Click the scheme popup menu, then choose master boot record. You just need to mount your disk and access all of your files. How to erase a disk for mac use disk utility to erase format a hard disk, ssd, flash drive, or other storage device. How to format an external disk or a flash drive for mac. Downloading center solutions for macpc data and file. Format a disk for windows computers in disk utility on mac in the disk utility app on your mac, choose view show all devices. For example, in the screenshot below, the macformatted drive is disk 2. But if you are planning to use a floppy disk with multiple operating systems, then select fat.
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