Are you planning to sell your Mac and you need to delete the files? Is your Mac’s hard drive defective? Are you planning to convert your hard drive into an external storage unit? Or is your newly bought hard drive pre-formatted for Windows? Whatever the reason, the process on how to format a drive on Mac is one of the easiest solutions you can learn.

FAT32 provides greater supports than exFAT; FAT32 doesn’t have have file number limits while exFAT does. Go to Application and Double Click on Disk Utilities. Select the USB drive or External Hard drive that you want to format and then Click on Erase tab. Choose the format type that you want. Choose the format type and then. ExFAT has been around for awhile, but we've never really talked about it. Essentially, it's a file system that's both readable and writable on any modern Mac or Windows machine (sorry, Leopard users).

1. Part 2: Format External Hard Drive for Mac with Disk Utility. Formatting an external hard drive would erase everything on it. Hence, you must backup your important files before reformatting the drive if you want to save them. The easiest way is to drag it from one drive to another. All is set, then you can go ahead to format the drive on your Mac.
2. 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. Connect the drive to your.

It is easy to format your hard drive on Mac using the built-in Disk Utility. However, in cases where you have files and documents still on the drive, re-formatting needs to be your last resort. Try cleaning up your hard drive first by using 3^rd party cleaning tools. This will temporarily delete files, unwanted documents, and unnecessary cache files within your unit. And if you really decide to format or re-format the drive, make sure to back up everything first. Formatting a drive is one of the permanent Mac solutions that can totally erase all of your device’s content.

Steps To Format A Drive On Mac

Before you start the process, you need to be aware of the different kinds of Mac file systems and format types. Browse through the information below:

• APFS (Apple File System) – This file system is the default format for Macs running on High Sierra. It is new, faster, more efficient, and more reliable. However, you won’t be able to read or write on this drive unless you’re also running High Sierra. Plus, it only works on SSDs and flash storage.
• MacOS Extended (Journaled) or HFS+ – If your Mac is not running High Sierra, the default file system will be MacOS Extended. Windows can also read HFS+ drives but cannot write to the drive.
• MS-DOS FAT or FAT32 – If you regularly share drives between PC and Mac, then this format is perfect for you. Some of the drawbacks of this file system are the 4GB file limit, it has no security, and it is prone to disk errors.
• ExFAT – both Windows and Mac can read this file system and it can store files more than 4GB.
• NTFS – This file format is for Windows but Macs can only read but not write on it.

To format your drive, follow these steps:

• Open Finder and click Applications.
• Choose Utilities and then open Disk Utility. You can also use Spotlight to open Disk Utility. All you need to do is press Command + Space and type in Disk Utility.
• The Disk Utility window will show you a list of all the drives on your Mac.
• Choose which drive you want to erase.
• Click Erase.
• A window will pop up asking for the new drive name, format and scheme. Type in your new drive name.
• Disk Utility automatically chooses the file format for your new drive but you can choose which format to use by clicking the Formatting options.
• Once you’ve chosen the format, select GUID Partition Map for Scheme.
• Click the Security Options button to choose how you want the drive to be formatted. The slider goes from Fastest to Most Secure. Fastest means that the header information will be removed but the underlying files will be intact and hidden. This will overwrite the drive once. By sliding to the right, your next option is to overwrite the drive three times. The farthest option to the right is the Most Secure option, which will overwrite the drive seven times. The amount of time needed to format the drive depends on what option you choose, the most secure being the slowest.
• Click Erase again. A progress bar will appear showing how the formatting is going and an estimate of how long it will take to complete and the last step would be to copy your files back to your new drive.

Most external hard drives are designed to work for Windows computers. So if you’re trying to connect an external hard drive to a Mac, you might have to format the drive before you can use it. Here’s how to do that:

How to Format a Hard Drive for Mac

Note: If you already used your external hard drive on a PC, be sure to back up any files on it. Formatting your drive will wipe out all the data in it.

1. Connect an external hard drive to your Mac. Some external hard drives need to be plugged into an outlet to work.
2. Go to Spotlight Search, type in Disk Utility, and click the first option. This will open the Disk Utility app, where you will find all the internal and external drives that are connected to your Mac.
3. Then click View in the top-left corner of the window and select Show All Devices.
4. Click the external hard drive you want to format. You can find this on the left-hand side of the screen under External Hard Drives. For the best result, select the disk (the highest option in the external tree).
5. On the top menu, click Erase. This will open a small pop-up window with a warning that erasing the drive will delete all data stored on it and that it can’t be undone.
6. Choose a name, format, and scheme for your drive. You can choose whatever name you want, and you should choose GUID Partition Map for the Scheme in most cases. However, you can choose between the following formats:
   • Mac OS Extended (Journaled) is the best option for most Mac users since it is compatible with all Macs.
   • APFS (Apple File System) is only for newer Macs running macOS 10.13 or later.
   • exFAT is compatible with both PC and Mac.
   • MS-DOS (FAT) is also compatible with Mac and PC, but you can only transfer files smaller than 4GB.
7. When you’re done with providing the setup details, click Erase. This will immediately wipe the entire drive.

If you get an error message that states, “Erase process has failed. Click done tocontinue,” don’t freak out about it. This is an issue caused by Time Machine running on your externaldrive.

You will need to turn off Time Machine. You can do this by opening System Preferences and unchecking the boxnext to “Back Up Automatically”.Then click Options beside “ShowTime Machine in menu bar.” This will open another window. Click Cancel and it will turn off the Time Machine.

After you turn off the Time Machine, redo steps 4 to 6.

How to Partition anExternal Hard Drive on Mac

If you have formattedyour drive, you can then partition the drive, which will splitthe drive into two formats. This is perfect for anyone who uses Macs and PCsand wants to transfer files between the different operating systems with anexternal drive. Here’s how to do that:

1. Open Disk Utility and select the drive that you want to partition. It is best to click View > Show All Devices so you can selectthe disk rather than a container.
2. In the top menu, select Partition.
3. Then click the plus sign at the bottom of the pie chart. Every time you click this plus sign, a new partition will becreated.
4. Choose a name, format and size for each partition. You can also change the size of each of the partitions bydragging the white dots at the edge of the circle.
5. Finally click Apply.

Why Partition a Hard Drive?

Partitioning an external hard drive allows youto have separate drives for Mac, PC, and any other operating system. Now youdon’t have to go out and buy hard drives for every computer you use.

A partition also gives you a dedicated space foryour Time Machine back-up files or a bootable backup of your operating system.It also helps protect your data if your drive gets infected with malware, as itwould be contained within one of the partitions.

Now that you know how to format an external drive for Mac, check out our blog on the difference between an HDD and an SDD.

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