#Apple macbook external hard drive how to
#Apple macbook external hard drive for mac
#Apple macbook external hard drive mac os
#Apple macbook external hard drive windows

The choice is yours and you’ve now got all the information you need! Or you can format any hard drive yourself. You can get one that is pre-formatted to work with your Mac’s operating system. You’ve a lot of choices in choosing an external hard drive for your Mac. In ClosingĪnd now you have your external hard drive formatted for your Mac.

#Apple macbook external hard drive for mac

Partition Hard Drive For Mac and Windows.

#Apple macbook external hard drive how to

You’ll find an article that shows you how to do it right here on the site. And you want to format and partition your drive. When you have a new hard drive that’s a decent size.

#Apple macbook external hard drive windows

What If I Want To Partition A New Hard Drive For Windows And Mac? Run a check on your external hard drive to make sure all is well with it. I Click On Erase And Get An ErrorĬlick on ‘First Aid’ at the top of your pop up window. More steps you’ll have that all set up too.

#Apple macbook external hard drive mac os

Then pick the Mac OS Extended format for your drive.Īnd if you want to know how to hook up your new hard drive to Time Machine. So, if you’re sharing your Time Machine backup drive with older Mac’s. And for now, Apple has no plans to add that option to those older operating systems. Or older operating systems can’t read a Time Machine backup on APFS. Came in with the Big Sur operating system version. The option to do a Time Machine backup to an APFS formatted drive. Can only be read by a Mac running Big Sur. You’ll need to format it to APFS or Mac OS Extended File system.īut understand that your Time Machine backup on your APFS formatted drive. Want to use your shiny new drive for Time Machine? Format For Your Mac’s Time Machine Backup As that’s the compatible format for older Macs. If you’ve older Macs running the operating system High Sierra or earlier. Or ExFAT if you plan to use your drive to share between Windows and Mac. Or drag and drop your files to your drive. When you want to copy and paste your files. Format An External Hard Drive For Your Files And you can change that in 5 minutes or less. The great thing about your Mac is that it’ll use any drive out there. Why Format An External Hard Drive For Mac?īecause a lot of hard drives out there on the market are NTFS formatted.īut you won’t be able to copy any files onto an NTFS drive. Right Click to Eject Format External Hard Drive For Mac Frequently Asked Questions 1. And it’s all ready for you to use.Īnd when you’re ready to pack your drive away be sure to Eject your drive first. You’ll see it with the name you’ve given it. Your drive will then show up on your Mac’s desktop. But of course your external hard drive is way bigger. When formatted you can use your drive just as you would a USB stick. And once done your external drive is ready for you to use. Your Mac will take a few minutes to format a hard drive. The red arrows in the picture show you where you can find the format and scheme list of options. Then format again.ĪPFS will come up as an option the second time round.īut still pick GUID Partition Map for your Mac. Pick Mac OS Extended (Journaled) the first time you format. Can’t see APFS (Apple File System) as an option? Or you’ll have all sorts of odd problems using your drive later on your Mac. Your Mac needs the GUID Partition Map scheme. Pick ExFAT if you want your drive read and writeable by both Mac and Windows.Īll the above formats allow you to copy and paste from your Mac to your drive.ĭrag and drop your files to your external hard drive.īut only APFS or Mac OS extended (Journaled) can you use for your Mac’s Time Machine backup. But you can format your hard drive as APFS if you want. Mac OS Extended (Journaled) is the format that’s the most compatible with newer and older Macs.