Gpt is a newer format supporting larger capacities, but isnt compatible with older versions of windows. Format to ntfs, and use ntfs3g to readwrite on mac. If you have a usb flash drive inserted in your mac, you can see it under the external in the disk utility. This will prompt a new window asking you to select a partition style for your disk. If you want to transfer files from a mac to windows pc and vice versa using an external portable hard drive then you have to have the external drive formatted in a file system both oss can read. Format a usb drive as exfat for mac and windows compatibility.
How to format or partition an external hard drive on mac. Windows on the other hand cannot read mac formatted drives period. Youll see the drives file system displayed to the right of format under the general heading. In the volume format list, select mac os extended journaled. Gdrive g1 external portable hard drive manual for macbook pro, imac, mac mini, mac pro, macbook air, and others. Open the disk utility app and highlight your external hard drive. Some people may want to format a storage because they want to clean hard drive mac and others might want to install fresh os x. Windows only formatted drives are ntfs and they are readonly on a mac. You can reinitialize if you would like to quickly erase the contents of the drive. Click the erase button and the drive will start formatting. The good news is the disk utility built into the os x comes in handy, like a visual assistant making the process easier. To use hfs explorer, connect your macformatted drive to your pc and go to file load file system from device. Some mac users may require the ability to erase a disk or erase a hard drive from the command line on mac os, a task which is typically performed through the disk utility application from the gui.
For example in a gspeed q with 1tb x4 drives, the end capacity would be 3tb of storage. Gdrive external hard drive set up guide for mac 2019 youtube. How to share an external hard drive between mac and windows. Choosing the right format for your external hard drive b. The software will automatically locate and load the connected drive for you. All drives and volumes on your mac will be listed in disk utility, so make sure you pick the right one. The raid 5 configuration allows you to write partial data across all drives. 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.
Click the format popup menu, then choose an encrypted file system format. Do this to choose volumes, folders or files you do not want to backup. To copy any folders of file, select them and click the extract button. Run aweeraser for mac choose erase hard drive select hard drive click on erase button format the selected hard drive. From the volume format menu, choose mac os extended. Fix you need to format the disk before you can use it. To format a drive on a mac, youll need the builtin disk utility application.
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. In the disk utility app on your mac, choose view show all devices. Just select the one you want to format and click on the erase tab. Rightclick or controlclick the drives icon in the finders sidebar or on your desktop and select get info. Travel and humanitarian photographer colby brown shows how using the gtechnology pc wizard makes reformatting its drives for windows a snap.
Next to format, it should say mac os extended journaled. If this is the case for you, rightclick the drive you want to format and click initialize disk. Then, click erase at the bottom to format the drive. You can format the drive from either the mac or the windows machine. Click the icon for your external hard drive in the sidebar on the left. Now in this interface, you will see a format option.
How to format or partition an external hard drive for mac. Gdrive with thunderbolt supports the following operating systems. Its exactly the same procedure if you need to reformat a flash drive on a mac. When i try to copy the files from the mac to the windows drive, the computer does not allow as the files do not move. For instructions on how to format your hard drive on a mac, please reference the following links. Im not very computer savvy, so i want to ask some specific directions. How to format a hard drive for mac and pc duration.
In the sidebar, select the storage device you want to encrypt. The gtechnology format wizard install is for users who want to reformat their drives for use with windows systems only. The easiest way is to drag it from one drive to another. Encrypt and protect a storage device with a password in. You can format an external hard drive or thumb drive to work seamlessly with both mac and windows by using the exfat file system. This will be the name displayed when the drive mounts. This end user license agreement covers software andor documentation downloaded from the hgst or gtechnology website jointly, the software. How to format an external drive to work seamlessly with macs. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac laptop mag. However, if youre having problems accessing the files and the issue is due to formatting, you will need to connect it to a device it can be read on, and then format the files correctly for the computer you are going to use. If youre going to be using the drive with a version of windows prior to windows vista, youre going to want to go with mbr.
Be absolutely sure you have your files off the drive and that youve selected the correct drive you want to format. All is set, then you can go ahead to format the drive on your mac. Hence, you must backup your important files before reformatting the drive if you want to save them. Next, open a command prompt window as administrator. We can configure os x to automatically mount the drive in the future to save having to do this every time you want to access something. Gtechnology gdrive usb external usb hard drive manual for macbook pro, imac, mac mini, mac pro, macbook air and others.
The command line approach to disk erasure in macos is a bit different and it requires precise syntax to insure that you are erasing the proper disk, making this. Find it quickly with spotlight, click on magnifying glass and start typing disk utility. This will help you format the drive for exfat so that it can be used on both platforms. In order to use the drive on both systems you can just format it exfat and it will be readwrite on both systems. If you keep your hard drives outofthebox ntfs format for all the reasons fat32 displeases, theres a workaround that will allow. First, note the number of the disk in the disk management window. Go to open disk utility, which is located under applications in the finder menu. You can set its options by clicking the options button. The drive is easy to back up since it ships ready for time machine. I believe the 2012 macbook pro was the first apple laptop with usb 3. The drive comes formatted for your mac, making it an easy plugandplay storage device.
Open the finder and go to applications utilities disk utility. Mounting is the technical term for opening the drive to use it. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac. Formatting an external hard drive would erase everything on it. Subject to the terms and conditions of this agreement, hgst grants to the original end user of the products licensee a personal, nonexclusive and nontransferable license to use the specific. It is possible to format a hard drive so it can be read on mac and windows computers, providing you format using exfat. How to format an external hard drive for mac and windows. I have bounced around the web trying to get instructions for formatting this portable drive for windows. Disk utility shows the recommended mac format by default. The missing 1tb of space in this example is used to hold partial amounts of data in the event any 1 drive in the raid fails. Click the scheme popup menu, then choose guid partition map.
To format the drive in windows, rightclick it in the file explorer window and select format. Plug the drive into a usb socket if you have a recent macbook or macbook pro that only has usbc connectors, youll need a usbc to usba adaptor. You can select the exfat format when using the disk utility to format the drive. You can now edit, read, and write files, as you wish. Gdrive mobile is formatted for your mac and time machine ready, making it an easy plugandplay storage device. The exfat format supports virtually any size hard drive and file, unlike the outdated fat32 format. For example, in the screenshot below, the mac formatted drive is disk 2. Please note that once the hard drive is formatted by aweeraser for mac, all the data on the hard drive will be permanently erased, cant be recovered by data recovery software or. Choose the exfat file system in the list and click start. In the sidebar to the left, select your lacie d2 drive.
Youve formatted your external drive to be compatible with mac os x, and have confirmed that the formatting process was successful. Once disk utility is open youll see the list of available drives on the left. In the dialog box that appears, select the gdrive mobile usb. Highlight your drive and click partition in disk utility. However, if you want to use part of the drive for os xs time machine backups, you should do this from the mac, since theres. Once you open the disk utility app, you can see all the drives on your mac are listed on the lefthand sidebar. By installing the gtechnology format wizard, you will only be able to access your gtechnology drive on windows systems. Click on the erase option from the four options available in the main window. Choose either apfs or mac os extended journaled to format as a mac volume. Once os x finds a network drive, you will be able to connect to it and access the resources you have permission to access. How to format an external drive for mac launch disk utility. Select your external hard drive or usb flash drive from the list on the left.
The reasons for wanting to format your mac storage drive may vary depending on immediate need. How to convert a macformatted drive to a windows drive. Gtechnology external hard drive set up guide for mac 2019. Thats how you partition a hard drive for use on both windows and mac. And with up to 4tb1 of mac storage, youre instantly ready to back up your favorite videos, photos, music and documents, wherever you go.
It seems the system does not recognize the windows gdrive. Please note that this will complete erase the drive. Enter a name that you want the volume to have after you erase it, such as macintosh hd. In the screenshot below, the drive is formatted with the exfat file system. Questions about gtechnology 1tb gdrive mobile ssd rseries. The best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac. Both fat32 and exfat can be used on windows pc and mac. Format external hard drive for mac with disk utility. Enter a name for the external hard drive in the name field. How to format a hard drive on mac to work on mac and pc.