To format an external hard drive for Mac with Time Machine, you must follow the steps below. Step 1 Open Finder, Applications, then go to Utilities and Disk Utility. Step 2 Follow the steps above to format the drive, and then you can use it with Time Machine on your Mac system. Part 3: Bonus Tip – Data Recovery from Formatted Hard Drive on Mac. How to format an drive to use with a Mac & PC If you want to format a drive so that you can copy files between a Mac and a PC you'll want to follow the tutorial above, but choose ExFAT from the. The process to format an external hard drive or USB flash drive for your Mac is pretty easy and straightforward. Plug in your external hard drive or USB flash drive to your Mac computer; Launch the Disk Utility app which can be found in Applications Other; Select the drive from the left side of the window; Click the Erase tab at the top of. It is advised not to change the default format of a Mac hard drive under any circumstances. You can check the format of a drive inside the Disk Utility Menu bar. Just click on the Get Info option and you'll know the current format a drive is using to store files. Open the System information and select the storage.
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- Format For Mac Hard Drive
Not every USB drive can be used with a Mac out of the box, you'll need to format the drive to compatible with the MacOS extended file system. If you want to ensure full Mac compatibility on your USB drive or flash disk, just read this article. And you will find two ways which will teach you how to format a USB drive on Mac, including Disk Utility and Terminal command. And if you lost your important data because of formatting, you can use a data recovery tool to recover data from a formatted USB drive on Mac.
1 What You Should Do First Before Formatting USB Drive on Mac
Yоu hаvе tо be sure that уоu know whаt уоu are doing whеn you execute thе соmmаndѕ, because you саn еrаѕе your еntirе hаrd drivе if уоu do this wrоng.
The only way to be sure of the content you are formatting is to first remove the USB drive from Mac, know the title of other storage disks, insert the USB disk again and note the name of the disk. Now you are sure not to be formatting a wrong disk this way. Next, drag the USB data to a safe location for backup/recovery measures before formatting it. Then you are set to get it done!
2 What is the Best Format to Choose When Formatting USB Drive on Mac
You'll be given several format options when you try to format a USB drive on Mac, including OS X Extended (Journaled), OS X Extended (Case-sensitive, Journaled), MS-DOS (FAT) and ExFAT. If you are using macOS 10.13 or later, you'll also see an option named APFS, which is the default file system of macOS 10.13 and later.
1APFS
APFS is a new file system for macOS. It's the most appropriate format for flash drives and SSDs. However, in order to write to this file system, you need to have the latest macOS. If you're sure that you won't connect the USB drive to a Mac computer running old version, then you can format your USB drive with APFS.
2OS X Extended (Journaled) & OS X Extended (Case-sensitive, Journaled)
This is the default file system for macOS 10.12 and earlier. It doesn't put a limit on the size of files you can save on the drive, and that's the greatest advantage. Windows-running computers can read the files formatted to OS X Extended (Journaled), but can't write to them. In other words, you can transfer files from Macs to PCs without any problem, but you won't be able to transfer files from PCs to Macs. If you need to transfer data between PCs and Macs, you should consider other options.
The biggest difference between OS X Extended (Journaled) and OS X Extended (Case-sensitive, Journaled) is the latter is case-sensitive to folder names. Therefore, if you do not have special needs, you can ignore this option.
3MS-DOS (FAT)
This is Disk Utility's name for FAT32 file system. It's compatible with Windows operating systems and macOS. A USB drive formatted this way can easily transfer data between PCs and Macs. However, a USB drive formatted to FAT32 doesn't support an individual file larger than 4GB.
4ExFAT
ExFAT, the successor of FAT32, offers larger storage space and supports files larger than 4GB. So, if you need to transfer large files between PCs and Macs, ExFAT will be the best format for your USB drive.
3 How to Format a USB Drive on Mac
As earlier stated, you need to first back up your USB drive before formatting the drive as you may not be able to recover the contents again. Now, you can follow the steps highlighted below to get it successfully formatted.
Method 1: Format a USB Drive in Mac OS with Disk Utility
Step 1: Insert the USB to be formatted to a Mac computer.
Step 2: Navigate to Applications > Utilities, and click it twice to open it.
Step 3: Select the drive you want to format and click on Erase.
Step 4: Rename the USB drive (optional), and choose one file system from the options. Create rar archive mac.
Step 5: Then select Master Boot Record for scheme, hit Erase.
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Step 6: Once the process is done, you are ready to reuse the drive with new file system to save data again.
Method 2: Convert/Format USB Drive to FAT32/ExFAT
Step 1: Connect the USB drive to your Mac computer.
Step 2: Click on cmd + space to run spotlight, input terminal then tap Enter key.
Step 3: Type diskutil list to find the location of your USB drive (eg: dev/disk2 is the USB drive in the below picture).
Step 4: Type sudo diskutil eraseDisk FAT32 MBRFormat /dev/disk2.
sudo gives you user right.
Diskutil calls disk utility program.
eraseDisk commands to format.
FAT32 sets the file system.
MBRFormat tells disk utility to format with a Master Boot Record.
/dev/disk2 is the location of the USB drive.
Note: You can replace FAT32 with ExFAT in the command, and your USB drive will be formatted in that way.
After the process completes, type diskutil list Mac os x player. in command once more to check if the USB drive has been formatted successfully.
4Bonus: How to Recover Lost Data after Formatting a USB Drive
Users perhaps format a USB drive by mistake. Only after formatting it, they would realize that they had lost important data. If you don' t have a backup for data, then you can recover lost data from formatted USB drive on Mac with this trusted data recovery software - iMyFone AnyRecover. You can now recover all kinds of data from formatted USB drive on Mac with only 3 simple steps.
Features of iMyFone AnyRecover:
- Your Comprehensive Mac Data Recovery Solution
Format Hard Drive Windows 10
You can get back your lost photos, videos, documents, compressed files, and numerous kinds of data from formatted USB drive easily.
Best Hard Drive Format For Mac
It adopts all-round scan and deep scan simultaneously, which can greatly shorten the scanning time and recover more data.
It supports data recovery on all types of USB drives. It also supports file formats like NTFS, HFS+, FAT32, exFAT, etc.
It allows you to preview scanned files before recovery. And you can recover any 3 files for free.
Follow the simple steps below to recover data after formatting USB flash drive on mac:
Step 1: Make sure you have connected your USB drive to your Mac successfully. Launch AnyRecover software on your system and select the formatted USB drive you are trying to recover from. And press the 'Start' button to start the scanning.
Step 2: The software will immediately begin the scanning process. You can pause the process at any time and resume from that point later.
Step 3: Immediately after the scanning process is complete, the software will list all the files in their respective file formats and folders. Tick on and confirm what you are going to recover, then click on 'Recover' button.
If you want to format a hard drive or USB flash drive on your computer, disk formatting tool is the best choice. 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. Just read on.
Top 5 Disk Formatting Tool for Windows/Mac
When you format a hard drive, you may worry about two things: 1. whether the formatting process takes very long time to complete; 2 whether the formatting operation would cause damage or shorten the service life of the hard drive. Don't worry, the top 5 disk formatting tools bellow are 100% safe disk formatting tool for Windows or Mac OS. They will efficiently format hard drive or external device under Windows or Mac OS. And they will never cause any damage to your hard drive or shorten the service life of the hard drive/SSD/USB flash drive, etc.
No.1 disk formatting tool for Windows and Mac – Built-in Formatting tool
Both Windows and Mac OS offer built-in disk formatting tool. For Windows, it offers quick format feature when you right-click the hard drive on the computer. If you are using a Mac, you can run the built-in Disk Utility to quickly format a hard drive or external hard drive under Mac OS. However, the formatted data can be recovered by data recovery software.
No.2 disk formatting tool for Windows and Mac – AweEraser
Format For Mac Hard Drive
AweEraser is a secure data eraser. It can help you format a hard drive and permanently erase all data on the hard drive, beyond the scope of data recovery. Two versions are available: AweEraser for Windows, AweEraser for Mac. Just free download it here:
If you are going to sell/donate or recycle your hard drive/storage media device, you can run AweEraser on a PC or Mac. Then use this tool 'Erase Hard Drive' to format and erase the hard drive/storage media. Once the hard drive is formatted by AweEraser, the data is permanently lost, can't be recovered by data recovery software.
Step 1: Insert the USB to be formatted to a Mac computer.
Step 2: Navigate to Applications > Utilities, and click it twice to open it.
Step 3: Select the drive you want to format and click on Erase.
Step 4: Rename the USB drive (optional), and choose one file system from the options. Create rar archive mac.
Step 5: Then select Master Boot Record for scheme, hit Erase.
Format Hard Drive For Mac And Pc
Step 6: Once the process is done, you are ready to reuse the drive with new file system to save data again.
Method 2: Convert/Format USB Drive to FAT32/ExFAT
Step 1: Connect the USB drive to your Mac computer.
Step 2: Click on cmd + space to run spotlight, input terminal then tap Enter key.
Step 3: Type diskutil list to find the location of your USB drive (eg: dev/disk2 is the USB drive in the below picture).
Step 4: Type sudo diskutil eraseDisk FAT32 MBRFormat /dev/disk2.
sudo gives you user right.
Diskutil calls disk utility program.
eraseDisk commands to format.
FAT32 sets the file system.
MBRFormat tells disk utility to format with a Master Boot Record.
/dev/disk2 is the location of the USB drive.
Note: You can replace FAT32 with ExFAT in the command, and your USB drive will be formatted in that way.
After the process completes, type diskutil list Mac os x player. in command once more to check if the USB drive has been formatted successfully.
4Bonus: How to Recover Lost Data after Formatting a USB Drive
Users perhaps format a USB drive by mistake. Only after formatting it, they would realize that they had lost important data. If you don' t have a backup for data, then you can recover lost data from formatted USB drive on Mac with this trusted data recovery software - iMyFone AnyRecover. You can now recover all kinds of data from formatted USB drive on Mac with only 3 simple steps.
Features of iMyFone AnyRecover:
- Your Comprehensive Mac Data Recovery Solution
Format Hard Drive Windows 10
You can get back your lost photos, videos, documents, compressed files, and numerous kinds of data from formatted USB drive easily.
Best Hard Drive Format For Mac
It adopts all-round scan and deep scan simultaneously, which can greatly shorten the scanning time and recover more data.
It supports data recovery on all types of USB drives. It also supports file formats like NTFS, HFS+, FAT32, exFAT, etc.
It allows you to preview scanned files before recovery. And you can recover any 3 files for free.
Follow the simple steps below to recover data after formatting USB flash drive on mac:
Step 1: Make sure you have connected your USB drive to your Mac successfully. Launch AnyRecover software on your system and select the formatted USB drive you are trying to recover from. And press the 'Start' button to start the scanning.
Step 2: The software will immediately begin the scanning process. You can pause the process at any time and resume from that point later.
Step 3: Immediately after the scanning process is complete, the software will list all the files in their respective file formats and folders. Tick on and confirm what you are going to recover, then click on 'Recover' button.
If you want to format a hard drive or USB flash drive on your computer, disk formatting tool is the best choice. 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. Just read on.
Top 5 Disk Formatting Tool for Windows/Mac
When you format a hard drive, you may worry about two things: 1. whether the formatting process takes very long time to complete; 2 whether the formatting operation would cause damage or shorten the service life of the hard drive. Don't worry, the top 5 disk formatting tools bellow are 100% safe disk formatting tool for Windows or Mac OS. They will efficiently format hard drive or external device under Windows or Mac OS. And they will never cause any damage to your hard drive or shorten the service life of the hard drive/SSD/USB flash drive, etc.
No.1 disk formatting tool for Windows and Mac – Built-in Formatting tool
Both Windows and Mac OS offer built-in disk formatting tool. For Windows, it offers quick format feature when you right-click the hard drive on the computer. If you are using a Mac, you can run the built-in Disk Utility to quickly format a hard drive or external hard drive under Mac OS. However, the formatted data can be recovered by data recovery software.
No.2 disk formatting tool for Windows and Mac – AweEraser
Format For Mac Hard Drive
AweEraser is a secure data eraser. It can help you format a hard drive and permanently erase all data on the hard drive, beyond the scope of data recovery. Two versions are available: AweEraser for Windows, AweEraser for Mac. Just free download it here:
If you are going to sell/donate or recycle your hard drive/storage media device, you can run AweEraser on a PC or Mac. Then use this tool 'Erase Hard Drive' to format and erase the hard drive/storage media. Once the hard drive is formatted by AweEraser, the data is permanently lost, can't be recovered by data recovery software.
No.3 disk formatting tool for Windows and Mac – Stellar Disk Wipe
This tool can help in formatting hard drive, USB flash drive, memory card and other storage media under Windows or Mac OS. This hard disk formatting software can help you format/wipe your entire hard drive in a single step. The software includes powerful as well as fast wiping algorithms that erase unwanted data from the hard drive permanently.
No.4 disk formatting tool for Windows and Mac – Super Eraser
Super Eraser is another data eraser for Windows/Mac. It also can help you format the hard drive and permanently erase data from the formatted hard drive. It also can selectively erase data from a hard drive or external device.
No.5 disk formatting tool for Windows and Mac – Paragon Disk Wiper
Paragon Disk Wipe allows you to create a bootable USB-flash drive or external hard drive that will help you to completely erase a whole hard disk, a separate partition or just clean free space. It is the reliable disk formatting tool for Windows/Mac. After formatting, the data will be permanently lost. Mac disk image backup.
The top 5 disk formatting tools for Windows and Mac can help you securely format hard drive or external device under Windows/Mac OS. AweEraser is the outstanding one among the 5 disk formatting tools. It will securely format the hard drive and permanently erase the data. Then your hard drive is able to donated, resold, lent, or abandoned.
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