- You may need to format a hard drive to match your computer's operating system before you can use it.
- To format a hard drive in Windows, you'll use the Disk Management utility; on a Mac, you'll use Disk Utility.
- Visit Business Insider's Tech Reference library for more stories.
If you're adding a hard drive to your computer, you probably need to format it to your computer's operating system before you can use it.
This is easy to do with built-in utilities for both Windows and Mac computers, and the process is the same whether you're formatting an internal drive installed on a desktop PC or an external drive plugged into your desktop or laptop.
Keep in mind that when you format a hard drive, it erases all the files and it can be difficult or impossible to recover them. Be careful with this command and always make sure you are choosing the right hard drive in the formatting utility.
Oct 30, 2020 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. Both FAT32 and exFAT can be used on Windows PC and Mac. However, FAT32 has a maximum 4GB file size limit whereas exFAT can work with files as large as 16EB.
The Best Format for External Hard Drives. If you want to format your external hard drive to work with Mac and Windows computers, you should use exFAT. With exFAT, you can store files of any size, and use it with any computer made in the last 20 years. Now that you know which format to use, check out our guide on how to format your hard drive on. Jan 22, 2021 If you see an Initialize Disk pop-up window, it provides two formats: Master Boot Record (MBR) and GUID Partition Table (GPT). The former is older and only supports capacities up to 2TB, but is. To format a hard drive in Windows, you'll use the Disk Management utility; on a Mac, you'll use Disk Utility. This is easy to do with built-in utilities for both Windows and Mac computers. You'll Be Using A Piece Of Software Called Disk Utility. Software that is part of your Mac's operating.
How to format a hard drive on Windows
1. In the Start button search box, type 'Disk Management.'
2. In the search results, select 'Create and format hard disk partitions.'
© Dave Johnson/Business Insider Find the Disk Management utility in the Start button search results. Dave Johnson/Business Insider3. In the list of hard drives, right click the drive you want to format. In the pop-up menu, choose 'Format…'
Format For Windows And Mac
4. In the Format window, choose the file system you want to use. Usually, you'll want NTFS, which is the default for Windows. Make sure there is a check next to 'Perform a quick format.'
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5. When you're ready to format the drive, click 'OK.'
© Dave Johnson/Business Insider You can format a drive with just a few clicks. Dave Johnson/Business InsiderIf you want to format your Windows system drive (the 'C' drive), you can't do that when Windows is running because the drive is in use. Instead, you can download Windows 10 to a USB flash drive using the Windows 10 Media Creation Tool and boot from that. Once you've booted Windows from the USB flash drive, you can format the C drive.
How to format a hard drive on a Mac
1. In the Finder menu, click 'Go' and then, in the drop-down menu, choose 'Utilities.'
2. In the Utilities folder, choose 'Disk Utility.'
3. In the pane on the left of the Disk Utility window, click the drive you want to format.
© Dave Johnson/Business Insider Select the drive you want to format and then choose 'Erase.' Dave Johnson/Business Insider4. At the top of the window, click 'Erase.'
5. In the pop-up window, choose the file system you want to use. Usually, you'll want ExFAT, which is the default for the MacOS.
6. When you're ready, click 'Erase.'
Hard Disk Format For Both Mac And Windows
If you want to format your Mac's system drive, you can't do that when the Mac is running normally because the drive is in use by the operating system. To get around that problem, hold down the Command + R keys when you turn on your Mac and let go when the logo appears. You'll see the MacOS Utilities window; choose 'Disk Utility.' Now you can choose to erase your startup drive, and choose 'Mac OS Extended (Journaled)' as the operating system.
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If you want to format a hard drive or USB flash drive on your computer, disk formatting tool is the best choice. In this article, we will introduce 5 disk formatting tools for Windows and Mac to help you securely format hard drive/USB flash drive or memory card on a PC or a Mac. Just read on.
Top 5 Disk Formatting Tool for Windows/Mac
When you format a hard drive, you may worry about two things: 1. whether the formatting process takes very long time to complete; 2 whether the formatting operation would cause damage or shorten the service life of the hard drive. Don't worry, the top 5 disk formatting tools bellow are 100% safe disk formatting tool for Windows or Mac OS. They will efficiently format hard drive or external device under Windows or Mac OS. And they will never cause any damage to your hard drive or shorten the service life of the hard drive/SSD/USB flash drive, etc.
No.1 disk formatting tool for Windows and Mac – Built-in Formatting tool
Both Windows and Mac OS offer built-in disk formatting tool. For Windows, it offers quick format feature when you right-click the hard drive on the computer. If you are using a Mac, you can run the built-in Disk Utility to quickly format a hard drive or external hard drive under Mac OS. However, the formatted data can be recovered by data recovery software.
No.2 disk formatting tool for Windows and Mac – AweEraser
AweEraser is a secure data eraser. It can help you format a hard drive and permanently erase all data on the hard drive, beyond the scope of data recovery. Two versions are available: AweEraser for Windows, AweEraser for Mac. Just free download it here:
If you are going to sell/donate or recycle your hard drive/storage media device, you can run AweEraser on a PC or Mac. Then use this tool 'Erase Hard Drive' to format and erase the hard drive/storage media. Once the hard drive is formatted by AweEraser, the data is permanently lost, can't be recovered by data recovery software.
No.3 disk formatting tool for Windows and Mac – Stellar Disk Wipe
This tool can help in formatting hard drive, USB flash drive, memory card and other storage media under Windows or Mac OS. This hard disk formatting software can help you format/wipe your entire hard drive in a single step. The software includes powerful as well as fast wiping algorithms that erase unwanted data from the hard drive permanently.
No.4 disk formatting tool for Windows and Mac – Super Eraser
Super Eraser is another data eraser for Windows/Mac. It also can help you format the hard drive and permanently erase data from the formatted hard drive. It also can selectively erase data from a hard drive or external device.
No.5 disk formatting tool for Windows and Mac – Paragon Disk Wiper
Hard Disk Format For Both Mac And Windows 8
Paragon Disk Wipe allows you to create a bootable USB-flash drive or external hard drive that will help you to completely erase a whole hard disk, a separate partition or just clean free space. It is the reliable disk formatting tool for Windows/Mac. After formatting, the data will be permanently lost.
The top 5 disk formatting tools for Windows and Mac can help you securely format hard drive or external device under Windows/Mac OS. AweEraser is the outstanding one among the 5 disk formatting tools. It will securely format the hard drive and permanently erase the data. Then your hard drive is able to donated, resold, lent, or abandoned.
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