How to get external hard drive to work with mac os x. Some people are asking for a way to format a hard drive for mac. Because the file system on the wd passport for mac external hard drive is a mac os extended journaled file system. May 09, 2019 the best external hard drives for mac in 2020.
Of course, if you have a backup already, ignore this step. Using onboard disk management utilities to format your drive to exfat. The wd my passport hard drive comes in a variety of colors and with options for 1, 2, 4 and 5tb. But i only got windows was unable to complete the format when i tried to format it form windows explorer.
Please note that if youre using a mac, you should opt for the applefriendly wd my passport for. Hi guys, my wd my passport ultra 1tb external hard drive isnt reading on my mac right now. So, i followed the steps i went into disk utility, selected my passport, clicked erase, selected os x extended journaled as the format, and. This article analyzes why the wd my passport for mac hard drive is not mounting on mac and how to fix this issue.
Compatible with usbc and usba devices, my passport for mac comes equipped to connect with todays latest technology. Wd my passport ultra 2tb setup and driver installation. Now, im trying to format it so that i can use it on pc instead of mac. Wd 2tb my passport for mac portable external hard drive, usbcusba wdblpgbbkwese. Since i use a mac, i need to reformat the hard drive in order for it to be used. If the my passport hard drive icon doesnt appear on the desktop when you plug in. Wd 4tb my passport for mac portable external hard drive. This tutorial will show you how to fix wd my passport not mountingshowing uprecognizeddetected on macos catalina 10. I recently purchased a 4tb wd my passport external hard drive from costco. Lacie rugged mini 4tb external hard drive portable hdd usb 3. If you worry about losing data from this hard drive, you can recover lost data with iboysoft mac data recovery at first. How to format seagate drive for mac and pc quickly and. I know mac operating system doesnt fully supports ntfs formatted drive.
Format an external hard drive or usb flash drive for mac os x. Designed to fit in the palm of your hand, theres plenty of space to store a massive amount of photos, videos, music and documents. I believe the drive is bad because i cant erase it. How to share an external hard drive between mac and windows. In the main console, locate the partition on the wd passport external hard drive, right click it and choose format partition. Whether you are trying to backup mac to an external hard drive, wipe out any personal information and sell the computer, or even use a new operating system, you need to format the hard drive on your mac or pc. Passport not reading on mac external drives for mac wd. My passport for mac is trusted, portable storage that perfectly complements your onthego lifestyle. Use a windows pc to format your wd my passport drive first to exfat. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac.
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. You just need to know how to format external hard drive for ps4. Mac os extended journaled file system is how its referred to on your mac. My passport wont format external drives for mac wd community. For this great price, the wd my passport ultra for mac silver portable external hard drive is widely respected and is always a popular choice for most people. If you run into the issue of not having enough space format it to be the ex fat as. Aug 29, 2015 much like my wd my passport ultra, most external hard drives out there are customized to work with windows, not os x. Everything else free delivery possible on eligible purchases. May 21, 2018 in this video tutorial, i show you how to easily format an external hard drive to work on both a mac and a pc. Best external hard drives for macs in 2020 techradar. Format wd my passport for mac, 10 quick steps mactakeawaydata.
However, all of the solutions can be divided into two types. Western digital my book for mac 4tb wd 4tb black my passport portable external hard drive usb wdbyftbbkwesn. How to reformat wd my passport for mac mediakits report not. A new window will pop up asking which file system youd like to format the external drive to. Mar 22, 2012 the best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac. This is a great external hard drive for your mac if you are concerned about keeping your data safe and secure. Connect the western digital my passport hard drive to the computer. The best ways to format an external drive for windows and. Wd 12tb my book duo desktop raid external hard drive usb wdbfbejbknesn. Well show you everything you need to know about the. Plug in the external hard drive into the system and open. Hi, i have a 2tb wd my passport portable hard drive and a macbook pro. My passport wont format external drives for mac wd.
No need to worry or try to claim warranty because your new external hard drive is fine. When i try to erase it, i am getting unable to write to the last block of the device. Jun 15, 2015 wd has released a seventh generation of their popular my passport line of external hard drives. The my passport for mac drive includes usbc and usba cables, so you can save tomorrows content with the mac computers of both today and yesterday. Go to disk utility and expand the external hard drive list there step 4 above. I want to fix this but in a way where i dont have to reformat my drive because i have some important files on it. Product title wd 4tb my passport for mac portable external hard dr. How to reformat an external hard drive without losing your. The 8 best external hard drives and ssds for mac and pc users.
This reduced power draw helps preserve the battery life of the mac you plug the drive into. Mar 31, 2020 if you buy a new external hard drive, you may notice that working between mac and pc is an often difficult but it doesnt need to be. How to format seagate drive for mac and pc quickly and securely. Simply put, your ps4 isnt recognizing the file system of your drive, which is most probably. Quickly format an external hard drive for mac and windows pc. Wd my passport portable hard drive external hdd manual set up guide for macbook pro, imac, mac mini, mac pro, macbook air. Please see below on how to reformat your external hard drive on mac and windows. How to format or partition an external hard drive for mac. On a windows computer, i can plug in any external hard drive i have here and slide over folders of info on to it, easy peazy. Mar 11, 2020 if you want to make use of your mac s thunderbolt port, then this is the best external hard drive for macs. How to backup mac to an external hard drive 5 steps.
Just transfer all useful files out from the external hard drive to other devices on mac. I am looking for a solution to format the wd my passport portable. Wd has released a seventh generation of their popular my passport line of external hard drives. The western digital ultra portable 2tb external hard drive is a small and portable hard drive that can securely store your files offline. If your my passport drive shows up in the list go ahead and format. Western digitals passport external drive for mac isnt eternally bound. Compare the different options for formatting an external hard drive to work with windows and mac. Two easy methods to format wd my passport portable hard drive on mac. How to fix wd my passport for mac hard drive not mounting. Of course, there are more than two methods that can help you format a wd my passport portable hard drive under mac os. Lacie rugged usbc 4tb external hard drive portable hdd usb 3. You can format your western digital my passport external hard drive to fat32 or exfat format to transfer the data between a mac and windows system conveniently. If youre planning to add to your systems storage or backup your important data without another costly hard drive in it, then the wd my passport external hard drives are the best options.
Easily use your wd my passport for mac and windows in 7 steps. Connect your western digital my passport hard drive to your windows pc through the usb cable. How to get external hard drive to work with mac os x guiding tech. Also, if your current hard drive is more than 5 years old, it probably is nearing the end of its service life and needs to be replaced.
The best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac. However, while doing this, there are things you have to keep in mind and follow the correct steps. Buy wd 2tb my passport for mac portable external hard drive blue, usbcusba wdba2d0020bblwesn. The best external hard drives for mac in 2020 pcmag. Western digital my passport ultra features cloud storage and 256aes encryption. When i bought the wd my passport ultra drive, i was surprised to see that it.
If you are techy and use windows and mac computers frequently, then you might need to transfer data between mac and pc. Find low everyday prices and buy online for delivery or instore pickup. The most notable upgrades with this line are an increase in maximum capacity 3tb, customization options, improved backup capabilities, and a line of models designed specifically for use with mac. Reformatting a western digital my passport hard drive to function well on windows and macintosh systems is neither timeconsuming nor technologically demanding.
On this popup screen, choose ntfs, fat32 or exfat among listed file systems and click ok. Dec, 2007 ive an external hard drive that ive used on mac. If you buy a new external hard drive, you may notice that working between mac and pc is an often difficult but it doesnt need to be. How to format an external hard drive on windows and mac. External hard drives are key in a content creatoryoutubers life. External hard drives are formatted in a way which will make them. Wd my passport external hard drive set up guide for mac. Open the disk utility app and highlight your external hard drive. I show you how to format a western digital or any brand hard drive for use on any device be it a mac, pc, linux, ps3, xbox 360, etc. Oct 25, 2018 i have purchased a 1tb portable external seagate hard drive and i would like to use it with both my mac and windows computer. A windows pc cannot see, read, write to that file system. The wd my passport ultra for mac silver portable external hard drive is certainly that and will be a perfect purchase. Pick your wd my passport in the external hard drive list. This thing is still unknown for many users but doesnt worry its not complex.
Back up all important information on the drive before beginning. The other type of wd my passport hard drive comes in a for mac version. Designed for mac and time machine ready usbc and usba compatible. Heres what you need to know, along with our toprated applefriendly drives. List of all wd firmware and software available for download. There are specific thirdparty systems, like digital camcorders, and sony playstation 3, which need the drives to be formatted in either fat32 or exfat format to perform read from and write operation. From here, in format, select mac os extended journaled. Click the icon for your external hard drive in the sidebar on the left. Launch easeus partition master, rightclick the partition on your external hard driveusbsd card which you want to format and choose the format option. However, it just wont recognize it, even though the hard drive is showing up on your computer. My passport for mac portable hard drive, with the wd security and wd drive. Do you save backups of your hard drive onto an external hard drive. I was using it and out of nowhere, it ejected itself and couldnt be read when i plugged it back in. From the volume format menu, choose mac os extended.
How to reformat mac external harddrive for pc march 2014. The wd my passport ultra comes with the software which can be easily installed on your windows mac computer. To share that drive between a mac and windows pc you need software. How to reformat passport external hard drive from read only to read and write for use with mac computersimportant. Highlight your drive and click partition in disk utility. Do i need to format my external hard drive macrumors forums. Feb 08, 2020 how to partition an external hard drive on mac. Click the finder, open the applications folder, open the utilities folder and choose disk utility. Jul 31, 2019 unable to format wd passport external hard drive having a 1tb wd passport external hard drive with raw file system, i want to format it to exfat for using in mac and windows computer.
Enter a name for the external hard drive in the name field. Hello all, today i bought the 4tb my passport from best buy. Drive speed is measured in revolutions per minute rpm, based on how fast the drive can spin. I want to know that what i should format the seagate external hard drive to, so that it can be compatible both with mac and pc. You can format the external hard drive or usb drive to make it compatible with both mac and windows machines. How can i reformat my external hard drive without losing data. If you want to create multiple partitions on your external hard drive in fact, you should for better file organization, heres a stepbystep guide.
While its convenient to purchase the hard drive that will work with your computer right out of the box, most external hard drives can also be reformatted so youre not limited to your initial choice. Most external hard drives hd are sold in a format called ntfs, which is designed to work with windows. Wd 2tb my passport for mac portable external hard drive blue, usbcusba wdba2d0020bblwesn 4. Now, from the left column select 1 tb wd my passport or whatever your hard drive name is, and click on the erase tab. Shop wd my passport ultra for mac 4tb external usb 3.
Can you reformat it without losing all of your data. The my passport for mac drive s builtin 256bit aes hardware encryption with password protection helps keep your digital lifes contents secure. But what happens if that drive becomes corrupted, and you have to reformat it to make it accessible again. According to the solutions above, the easeus partition tool stands out for its convenience and easiness. Format your western digital my passport external hard drive to fat32 or exfat format so to transfer the data between a mac and windows system conveniently.
Dec 29, 2015 follow these instructions if you plan to share an external hard drive between pc and mac computers. How to format wd external drive for mac apple community. How to format or partition an external hard drive for mac by jp zhang updated feb 8, 2020 60 comments so, you just bought a new external hard drive or a portable ssd and wanted to use it on your mac. Select that disk and click the erase button, the one highlighted in red in the screenshot below. Wd external hard drive wont format what should i do. Jun 24, 2017 i was a windows guy, who moved over the mac but only recently started saving things to the mac file system on my macbook pro. Wd my passport ultra for mac silver portable external hard. How to format wd my passport for mac and pc easeus. The most notable upgrades with this line are an increase in maximum capacity 3tb, customization options, improved backup capabilities, and a line of models designed specifically for use with mac os.
Looking to add storage, or for a smart way to back up your mac. Aug 30, 2019 today this video will show you how to format an external hard drive on windows and mac. How to format external hard drive to use on mac and pc. Cannot access wd my passport external hard drive wd repair. To format western digital my passport for mac or windows, you can rely on inbuilt applications of your system to format your wd my passport in exfat or. Connect it, power it up, go to disk utility in applicationsutilities, select the wd disk on the left, go to the erase tab, and choose mac os. Choosing the right format for your external hard drive b.
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