As i will be using and working with a mac 95% of the time, i purchased the mac version of the drive. Apple computers configure hard drives differently than windows computers. Now you need to select the usb from the left had side pane. If you want to be super security conscious, you can select the security options button. Yes, connecting an external hard drive or usb flash key to a mac will generally read and work fine as is because the mac can easily read other filesystem formats, including windows msdos, fat, fat32, exfat, and ntfs formats, but unless you intend on using the drive between a windows and mac machine, formatting it to be entirely mac compatible. Highlight your drive and click partition in disk utility. If you want to write to ntfs formatted hard drives in mac os x, youre going to need. How to convert a macformatted drive to a windows drive. Seagate backup plus desktop user manual optional formatting.
So in any case where the fat32 file system is required, you can apply the following two methods to format the external hard drive to fat32 in windows 1087 at once. Hence, please save the data separately before you format it. How to format a flash drive with a mac to fat32 techwalla. How to format usb flash drive to fat32 in mac os x. Fat32 is a system used by microsoft windows for organizing files on disks and drives. Dec 11, 2019 fat32 is a system used by microsoft windows for organizing files on disks and drives.
Low format and partition hard disk to be use in macbook. If you want to create multiple partitions on your external hard drive in fact, you should for better file organization, heres a stepbystep guide. Jul 24, 2017 in the fat32 format window, select the drive to format and type a volume label if you want to. In the fat32 format window, select the drive to format and type a volume label if you want to. Format an external hard drive or usb flash drive for mac os x. Click on start or the windows button, select control panel, then system and security. I have tried formating the drive with wd drive manager on my mac. For a hard drive to be able to be read and written to in both a pc and mac. Mar, 2020 follow the windows 10 fat32 format tutorial to format hdd to fat32 or format external hard drive to fat32 in windows 10. However when i format it to fat32 using wd drive manager on my mac it only formats about 2tb. How to format hard drive to fat32 file system up to 2tb. I am wanting to format all 6tb to fat32 so i am able to use it on my playstation 3, along with my mac and pc. This is at least in part because the secure digital memory. I am currently on a dell desktop running windows vista.
You need to connect your hard drive usb to your mac system and then open disk utility application. Select the external hard drive on the lefthand side. Select administrative tools, then computer management and disk management. How to format a wd hard drive to exfat or fat32 file system.
Open the disk utility app and highlight your external hard drive. Hello, i have recently purchased new transcend ts1tsj25m3 1 tb external hard drive which is in fat32 file system. I get that ps3 and xbox one cant handle it, but you should really consider exfat. Apr 21, 2020 when your seagate drive is formatted as exfat or fat32 successfully, you can type exit to close this window. Connect the usb fash drive to the mac os x computer. There is nothing difficult to format it to fat32 or exfat. For the uninitiated, gtech makes great drives, and q is a fast but wiretethered option. Go finder window on you mac then click on applications the image right. To format a usb flash drive to fat32 in mac os x follow these steps. Format hdd to fat32 in windows 10 with command prompt.
Rightclick on the disk youd like to format and select format. Select the drive you want to format and click erase button. Format an external hard drive to fat32 using command prompt. Will my macbook pro read from a fat32 external drive. It is obvious that you can use seagate external hard drive or flash drive with mac and windows computer as long as you format seagate drive for mac and pc. To format a fat32 external hard drive 1 tb into ntfs. Change the partition layout from current to 1 partition. Cant format external drive as fat32 apple community.
Go to applications utilities double click and open disk utility. I am formatting a new 1 tb western digital hard drive. You can apply either the windows cmd or the thirdparty partition manager to format fat32 in windows 10 even when there is no fat32 option in windows 10 file explorer or disk management. In this video i go over how to format an external hard drive to fat 32 on a mac. How to format usb drives larger than 32gb with fat32 on.
A window pops up to warn you that all data on the drive will be lost. Click on the drive that you wish to format partition the top drive listing for the hard drive that you want to work with once the drive is selected click on partition tab on the right column. Then start up from the old drive, reformat the new drive in disk utility, and clone the old drive to the new drive. How to format a hard drive to fat32 in windows 7 or vista. I wanted to format a 500gb external usb drive to fat32 in windows 7, attempted dos formatting and it started out fine, started formatting etc.
Should i use fat32 when formatting an external hdd wd. There is widespread support for fat32 across different operating systems and devices. Format my 6tb my book studio edition ii to fat32 external. You can format the drive from either the mac or the windows machine. How to format external hard drive to fat32 in windows. I just recently bought my 6tb my book studio edittion ii wd hard drive. However, fat32 is a legacy file system designed for low capacity hard drives and it is not recommended for modern hard drives or operating systems. You can re format it to ntfs to get faster write times, but. I have tried many free format programs on the web for both mac and pc, however they only allow up to 2tb to format to fat32. Fat 32 format external drives for mac wd community. In the dialog that appears, select the file system usually ntfs and enter the allocation unit size.
One of them should be labeled flash storage, with a capacity of 24gb, 32gb, or 128gb. Wondering what the best format for your new external hard drive is. 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. How to format 1tb 2tb hard drive to fat32 smoothly. No luck formatting 4tb seagate to fat32 for media use, help. How to format external hard drives for mac and windows. Fat32 is a system used by microsoft windows for organizing. How to format seagate drive for mac and pc quickly and securely.
One option is to clone the drive with carbon copy cloner. How to format 2tb or 1tb hard drive to fat32 successfully. The mac drive may have an efi system partition on it. You can also format the drive in a variety of other formats depending on your needs. How to format 2tb or 1tb hard drive to fat32 successfully in. For apple mac users, there are two ways to format usb flash drive to fat32, including disk utility and terminal command line. Select the quick format option, and then click the start button. For instructions on how to format your hard drive on a mac, please reference the following links. Format a disk for windows computers in disk utility on mac apple. Formatting a disk or volume erases all the files on it. 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. This is due to the fact that fat32 is an older file system. Please guide which format of external hard disk fat32 or ntfs is compatible with my mac. Or create your disk using ntfs and create a 32gb fat32 partition to exchange the file.
Ive found so many forums where people have had success reformatting an external drive larger than 2tb but none of the programs have worked for me. When your seagate drive is formatted as exfat or fat32 successfully, you can type exit to close this window. Insert the new drive in the macbook and connect the old drive by using a usb sata enclosure or some other way. Supports up to 2tb for computer internal hard disk, windows external hard drive with a xbox360 and sony external hard drive with a ps3. How to format or partition an external hard drive for mac. Therefore, scroll down until you see a folder utilities double click on it.
Its slow because it uses a slow storage format like fat32 or exfat. If you have a fusion drive that has been split, you should see two drives. First of all, there isnt any data in the driveit is free. Select erase and ensure that the format is mac os extended journaled. By default, windows cant format a drive that size to fat32.
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. How to format usb flash drive to fat32 on mac os xmacos. You should then a see it mount on the desktop, and b automatically get a prompt to use the drive for time machine if not, you can go into the time machine menu top right of the screen, go to tm preferences, and select it. From the content above, it is no doubt that aomei partition assistant could make it possible and easy to format 2tb hard drive to fat32. Which external hard disk format fat32 or apple community. Cant format external drive as fat32 i just bought a brand new 4tb seagate external hdd with the notion that i would hook it up to the back of my time capsule.
How to format a new internal ssd in macos high sierra. Need to replace a hard drive in a macbook ask different. The problem windows cannot format drive to fat32 that is larger than 32gb1tb. The best format for your external hard drive the hellotech blog.
Right click the 2tb hard drive and select format partition. You can also change cluster size, and partition label on this window. For instance, some of the modern video doorbells you buy require your storage devices to be in the fat32 format. In disk utility on your mac, you can format an external disk for a windows computer. How to format seagate drive for mac and pc quickly and. Your usb drive isnt slow because you have too much stuff on it. A fat32 partition can reach up to 32gb when formatted on a windows pc. Based on your specific needs and select a proper way to achieve.
It was a snap to transfer the contents of a smaller 500gb usb 2. How to format wd external drive for mac apple community. As the internal storage is not much, i am thinking if buying an external hard disk. Click options, select master boot record, and click ok. Aug 29, 2016 your usb drive isnt slow because you have too much stuff on it. Click on the drive that you wish to formatpartition the top drive listing for the hard drive that you want to work with once the drive is selected click on partition tab on the right column. Formatting with this tool is much quicker than the command. If youre lucky, you can just rightclick each partition on the mac drive and select delete volume to remove the partitions. Id recommend both verbatim fat32 tool and fat32 formatter. I am aware that fat32 isnt a reliable format but its the only format that works with my game consoles ps3, ps4 and xbone. If you see a drive labeled fusion drive, your fusion drive is working and this article doesnt apply to you. I will want this drive accessible for both mac and pc. Its definitely the best choice for external drives like what youre looking at.
How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac laptop mag. Just because you dont see the option to format your hard drive to fat32 in windows user interface doesnt mean the ability is gone completely. How to format a hard drive to fat32 in windows 7 or. To add an external usb drive to the console, they have to format ps hard drive to fat32. Apr 20, 2020 from the content above, it is no doubt that aomei partition assistant could make it possible and easy to format 2tb hard drive to fat32. Feb 08, 2020 how to partition an external hard drive on mac. Ive read that at 1tb and above even dos will complain, however i found that it wouldnt even work with a 512gb drive. This gives you a choice of how secure youd like the erasure of the hard drive to be. Now here is how to format your fat32 external drive on mac. I since replaced that 1tb drive with an ssd and another 2tb second internal drive. So no matter you want to format 64gb, 128gb, 256gb, 1tb or 2tb large drive with fat32 file system, this freeware is a great choice. No luck formatting 4tb seagate to fat32 for media use.
158 459 47 1442 561 929 540 352 905 1280 702 1682 1680 209 469 1216 1645 1274 897 865 1602 1493 269 274 1281 781 1538 51 1357 889 705 768 1583 1366 444 793 568 1398 830 1176 537 686 321 793 1081 43 42 1195 104 442 238