Format Wd Passport For Mac
Posted : admin On 11/13/2019- Format Wd Passport For Mac And Windows
- Reformat Wd Passport For Mac And Pc
- How To Format Wd Passport For Mac
- Format Wd Passport For Mac Time Machine
You may only want to erase, but not format, because formatting will delete everything,including the WD files that came on the disk; maybe even a WD a back up program you will want to use. You are best to erase/delete just the folders and files you put on the disk. You delete these just as you have been doing all along. . If your product is not listed above, please visit the product page. I want to erase my older My Passport and format it for Quicken Backup only. What application would I use to erase the drive and how would I reformat it? How to erase My Passport and reformat. WD External Drives. WD Portable Drives. But if you are using a Mac you should use a pre-formatted for Mac drive, it will make your. Oct 20, 2019 The second version the WD My Passport comes in is a ‘for Mac’ version. This means it is preformatted at the factory to HFS (Hierarchical File System) WD My Passport for Mac version. It is worth bearing in mind that HFS and Mac OS Extended (Journaled) file system are one and the same. A WD My Passport formatted with Mac file system will be a dud on the Windows and vice-versa. Thankfully, MS-DOS FAT32 and ex-FAT formats have survived to date, and these are the file system to make your WD My Passport work with a Mac and a Windows PC simultaneously. I recently purchased a 4TB WD My Passport External Hard Drive from Costco. Since I use a Mac, I need to reformat the hard drive in order for it to be used. In this video, I show you how to. Method 1: format WD My Passport portable hard drive on Mac with disk utility. Disk utility is a Mac application, you can run it on your Mac. It will list all the hard drives and devices on your Mac computer. You just need to select the WD My Passport portable hard drive and erase it.
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- Open Disk Utility in the Utilities' folder.
- After Disk Utility loads select the drive (out-dented entry with 1TB WD Passport..) from the side list.
- Click on the Erase tab in the Disk Utility toolbar. A panel should drop down.
- In the drop down panel set the partition scheme to GUID. Set the Format type to APFS (SSDs only) or Mac OS Extended (Journaled.)
- Click on the Apply button and click on the Done button when it is activated.
- Quit Disk Utility.
Aug 15, 2018 11:02 PM
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Format Wd Passport For Mac And Windows
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- 2 Use a SanDisk Pen Drive
- 3 Back up Western Digital Passport Essential
- 4 Clear a Flash Drive
As of 2018, Western Digital offers no shortage of external drives for Mac computers – from the My Book Essential to the My Book Pro and the My Book Studio, nearly 30 WD drives play nicely with Apple’s macOS operating system, as does the My Passport Studio model.
But with more than 262.5 million PCs shipped in 2017, according to data from Statista, there’s a good chance your Passport Studio will need to play nicely with a Windows computer, too. When it comes to cross-platform flexibility, you’ve got a few options for crossing the Mac and PC streams.
About eFAT and FAT32
Here’s something your My Passport for Mac Quick Install Guide might not tell you: Hard drives usually come formatted in two different ways, one catering to Windows and one catering to Mac. NTFS-formatted drives work with Windows computers, and HFS+ drives work with Mac.
Reformat Wd Passport For Mac And Pc
However, by formatting your My Passport differently, you can ensure compatibility in a variety of different ways. Hard drives formatted to exFAT or FAT32 can read and write data on both Mac and PC operating systems, though FAT32 is limited to a 4-gigabyte-per-file size limit. Formatting your drive will erase all its data, so be sure to back it up before making the change.
External Drive for Mac to Windows 10
If you’ve got a WD external drive for Mac platforms and you want it to work on a Windows 10 PC, exFAT format is your best bet. To start formatting, connect your WD Passport to your Mac; then open “Mac HD” and click “Applications,” “Utilities” and “Disk Utility.” From the Disk Utility window, select the Passport hard drive.
Here, you’ll usually see two listings of partitions available on the drive – select the listing that is furthest left. Click the Disk Utility’s “Erase” button; assign the drive a name in the “Name” field; then hit “Erase,” and click “Done” when the erasing process is complete. Now, click the “Partition” button at the top of the Disk Utility and click “Format.” Choose “exFAT” from the drop-down menu that appears and click “Apply” to format the drive, which will take a few minutes. Once the formatting is complete and you get a message that says “Operation successful,” click “Done.”
To Windows 8 and Earlier
The external drive for Mac to Windows 8 transition makes use of Window’s built-in Disk Management software rather than the macOS Disk Utility, but you’ll still want to format your WD Passport as an exFAT drive.
To do so, connect the Passport to your PC, enter the Windows 8 Start menu and choose “Disk Management.” In the Disk Management app, right-click on the drive and select “New Simple Volume..” from the menu that appears. This brings up the New Simple Volume Wizard. Click the “Next” button until you get to the “Format Partition” window and choose “exFAT” under “File System” (you can also change the name of the drive under “Volume label” if you wish). Make sure the “Perform a quick format” box is checked, and click “Next” when you’re ready. Click “Partition” and then “Finish” to format the drive to a cross-platform compatible exFAT mode.
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About the Author
As the co-founder of an LLC, the owner of a small business and a partner at an S-corporation (all working in media), Dan is no stranger to small business. As a business writer, he's contributed to publications including Chron.com, AZCentral, Fortune, GlobalPost, MSN Money, GoBankingRates, Zacks.com, The Motley Fool and more.
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