How to format or partition an external hard drive for mac. In the main console, locate the partition on the wd passport external hard drive, right click it and choose format partition. Wd quick formatter for mac lies within system tools, more precisely file managers. Disk utility fails to format the drive as max os x extended journaled with a format failed. Finally i format again the hard disks with the system drivers. How to partition and format a wd drive on windows and macos. The wd quick formatter is only for external drives, like wd my passport ultra. In the box hard drive, usb cable, ac adapter, wd security, wd drive utilities, quick install guidefeatures heatdissipating, aluminum enclosure encased in a streamlined aluminum enclosure that remains cool to the touch, this drive complements your mac, and as always, takes up minimal space on your desk. If you want to use the drive with a windows computer, see reformatting the drive and troubleshooting. The quick drive test checks the drive for major performance problems. How to reformat passport external hard drive from read only to read and write for use with mac computersimportant. How to format external hard drive on mac compatible with windows, mac, time machine duration. Wd my passport portable hard drive external hdd manual set up guide for macbook pro, imac, mac mini, mac pro, macbook air. Each time it passes drive status check and quick drive test.
I bought a new wd 3tb my cloud and used the usb socket to connect a docking station into it, having removed the hdd out of the old unit. Wd my passport external hard drive set up guide for mac. Some mac osx version does not know how to handle a drive that preformated as gptntfs. Product firmware product if your product is not listed above, please visit the product page.
In the welcome screen, click continue to move to the next screen 4. Download the latest version of wd drive utilities for mac configure, manage, and diagnose your wd drive. The my passport for mac drives builtin 256bit aes hardware encryption with password protection helps keep your digital lifes contents secure. Once the system detects your connected drive and mounts it. I purchased a wd cloud storage and have worked with it for many weeks. If you own a wd elements drive in ntfs, it will be only readable. Once the process begins, all the data on the drive will be lost. If you own a wd elements drive in ntfs, it will be only readable but not writable on mac. How long does it take to format a hard disk of 500gb, 1tb or 2tb capacity. 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. Jun 15, 2015 once it is plugged into a usb port, wd utilities can be downloaded and users can begin managing the my passport for mac. Run quick drive test and run complete drive test are used to check the drive for performance issues. Quickly format an external hard drive for mac and windows pc.
Look for your wd my passport drive on your desktop. Setup time machine and setup to work in windows pc and mac. Just activate password protection and set your own personalized password using wd discovery. This is useful if a drive is being used under both operating system osto. Oct 26, 2007 i was using my external hard drive with my mac and its formatted in the mac hfsomething like that file system. How to use wd quick formatter to format external drive in. Optionally, create quick backups before processing. Download wd quick formatter to format external drive in windows. My old wd my cloud drive died due to a main board issue.
How to format a wd hard drive to exfat or fat32 file system. Twice now i have had problems formatting a new western digital my book external drive under 10. Next, wd quick formatter tool will scan for wd external drives to be formatted. Western digital provides data storage solutions, including systems, hdd, flash ssd, memory and personal data solutions to help customers capture and preserve their most valued data. Disk wont format external drives for mac wd community.
How to format an external hard drive with wd quick. I have a western digital hard drive that i was using on my mac. Jan 23, 2018 the latest version of wd quick formatter is 1. Once it is plugged into a usb port, wd utilities can be downloaded and users can begin managing the my passport for mac. Apr 14, 2020 why need to format external hard drive for mac and pc. If western digital included any mac compatible utilities, do not use or install any. However, aomei partition assistant is superior to command prompt as to fat32 capacity requirement, let alone other powerful functions. My book external hard drive western digital wd it is formated in exfat. In the end user license agreement page, click on accept. My passport wont format external drives for mac wd. Whenever the computer sleeps, when was activated, it shows message of wrong unmount of wd external hard disks.
You can use the g drive mobile with the time machine option in the mac device. So, follow the steps mentioned below on your system step 1 to start the process, connect your wd my passport drive to your mac system. How to make external hard drive work with mac and pc youtube. Wd quick formatter, also known as wd advanced format drivers afds, is an external hard drive format utility for windows and mac, developed by western digital technologies, inc. If you use a mac, the likelihood that youll have to reformat the drive is. How to format wd external drive for mac apple community. How to format an external hard drive with wd quick formatter. And have your wd elements for mac and lose your issues. Now, again select a quick format option, then click start option, wait for a few minutes to get your drive reformatted with the fat32 file system.
The app is developed by western digital corporation. Pick your wd my passport in the external hard drive list. Many factors account for wd quick formatter not working, from poor external drive contact to hard drive corruption. If you want to use the drive with a mac computer, see reformatting the drive and troubleshooting. This process is data destructive and cannot be undone. Oct 25, 2018 wd quick formatter, also known as wd advanced format drivers afds, is an external hard drive format utility for windows and mac, developed by western digital technologies, inc. Heres something your my passport for mac quick install guide might not tell you. Make sure that the gtechnology g drive mobile usb 3. Feb 08, 2020 rightclick on the icon for your external drive on mac desktop, then select get info. Rightclick on the icon for your external drive on mac desktop, then select get info.
In general, you might in one of following situations. Our antivirus scan shows that this mac download is clean. Try wd advanced format utility alternative easeus external hard drive formatter to format disk while wd external drive format failed with wd quick formatter tool. By default, wd quick formatter will format the drive to fat32 or ntfs and. My passport for mac portable storage is ready right out. Buy wd 3tb my book for mac desktop external hard drive usb 3. The diagnose tab allows users to check for drive failures with run drive status check. This answer explains how to use the wd quick formatter to format a wd external drive in windows 8, 7, vista, or xp and mac osx leopard, snow leopard, lion, mt. I thought i reformat the drive and use it as a regular external hd but the drive isnt visible in the disk utilities. You dont need them and there have been reports of problems associated with their use. Free download western digital fat32 formatting tool for. No diagnostic or details or suggestions as to how to repair it. Click the wd drive download for mac and install it on your system once the download process is complete.
The first time this happened, i found an obscure firmware update at western digitals forums. You can discover other articles on the site all about your wd elements drive. Dont worry in 10 quick steps youll know how to format wd my passport for mac. To partition and format the drive with disk utility, follow these steps. Other similar situations like wd quick formatter error, wd quick formatter doesnt work, wd quick formatter cannot open device etc. Download wd quick formatter to reformat wd external hard drive to ntfs, fat32, etc in windows 1087. It is a perfect match for file managers in the system tools category.
Equipped with usbc technology, the my passport ultra for mac portable drive offers an easy way to expand your storage with a modern metal design that complements your pc. Setting up and using wd security and wd drive utilities. Of course, there are more than two methods that can help you format a wd my passport portable hard drive under mac os. How to format your hard drive for mac and pc seamlessly. To download the driver for your mac system, specify the mac os version in the correct textbox. 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 extended. Overwrite exfat format of 8tb external drive with ntfs. On this popup screen, choose ntfs, fat32 or exfat among listed file systems and click ok. Easily format wd my passport portable hard drive on mac. To put it simply, if you want to share external hard drive between mac and pc, you need to format an external hard drive for mac and pc. A western digital external hard drive can be used on both windows and mac osx. Now your external drive has been formatted to be fully compatible with apple macos, and you can edit, read, and write files to it as you want. Format an external hard drive or usb flash drive for mac os x. External drive like wd elements, my book and my passport can be formatted to fat32 via this tool.
To change a mac drive to a windows drive of identical function, simply run the wd quick. Why need to format external hard drive for mac and pc. Please see below on how to reformat your external hard drive on mac and windows. Wdeasystore external hard drive set up guide for mac. External hard drives free delivery possible on eligible purchases. We would like to show you a description here but the site wont allow us. After installing the software, connect your wd drive to the system and start using it. 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. Download and run the wd quick formatter for windows 10 87. Disk drive format your my book drive is formatted as a single exfat partition for compatibility with all updated windows and mac operating systems. The my passport for mac drive s builtin 256bit aes hardware encryption with password protection helps keep your digital lifes contents secure. I now have a pc with windows 8 and it does not find the hard drive in explorer. Disk drive format your my passport drive is formatted as a single ntfs partition for compatibility with all updated windows operating systems.
Open disk utility clicking on the main disk not the secondary click on erase an put as format. Choosing the right format for your external hard drive b. Jun 18, 20 first of all use disk utility to format the disk. However, while doing this, there are things you have to keep in mind and follow the correct steps. Download free wd quick formatter for macos mac informer.
Feb 05, 2018 here is a quick and informative tutorial on how to make our hard drive work with mac and pc seamlessly buy the same hard drive as me, and its onsale. Wd elements vs my passport which is best for your mac. What to do if hard drive takes forever to format in windows 10, 8. The power connector, interface port, and a security slot on the back usb 3. Wd 3tb my book for mac desktop external hard drive usb 3. To format wd elements for mac, fat32 and exfat are recommended file system because they are supported by both windows and mac. This answer explains how to format a wd drive for use on windows and macos. Wd drive utilities functions to diagnose the physical integrity of the hard drive, and as. How to convert a macformatted drive to a windows drive. Here, hard drive format solutions are provided to help accelerate the format process without hanging, stuck or taking a long time to respond.
Wd quick formatter tool allows you to reformat wd external hard drive to ntfs, fat32. Wd quick formatter be very careful to choose the right disk. Your disk utility program lives within a folder called utilities. Two methods mentioned above apply to formatting wd passport for mac as well. Installation get online installation help for your wd product or software. About your wd drive my passport for mac user manual 2. However, all of the solutions can be divided into two types. How to format wd external drive for mac more less apple footer this site contains user submitted content, comments and opinions and is for informational purposes only. Our software library provides a free download of wd quick formatter 1. Wd my passport external hard drive set up guide manual for mac. The complete drive test which takes an hour or more and is supposed to detect bad sectors says complete test failed.
Download wd quick formatter to format external drive in. 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. Passport ultra accessing mac formatted drive on a pc. The wd quick formatter is only for external drives. If you want to use the wd passport for a time machine backup, format the disk as mac os extended journaled. Formatting wd elements for mac by quick workarounds.
I would like to format that external hard drive such that the file system is either ntfs or fat32 so that i can use it on my windows partition running on boot camp. 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. Two easy methods to format wd my passport portable hard drive on mac. Format wd my passport for mac, 10 quick steps mactakeawaydata. Wd quick formatter tool, also called wd advanced format drives afds, is a format utility developed by western digital technologies, inc. Physical description as shown in figure 2, the my passport drive has. The time machine dialog box opens automatically if you are connecting the g drive hard disk for the first time.
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