Western Digital external hard drives are useful for storing and backing up files. However, you may have run into a problem trying to use your Western Digital hard drive with multiple operating systems. This is because you must format the drive with a specific file system before using it with a computer, and Windows and Mac computers run on different file systems. The only solution to making your hard drive compatible with a different operating system is to reformat the drive. This, however, erases all of the data on the drive.
Besides, you can format an external hard drive for Mac and Windows by converting HFS+ to FAT32 or exFAT without losing any data. Step 1: Backup Data in HFS+ Partition on Mac. Just transfer all useful files out from the external hard drive to other devices on Mac. Of course, if you have a backup already, ignore this step.
Reformatting Your Western Digital in Windows
Step 1
Reformatting an external hard drive for use with MAC OSX is not as difficult as it might seem. In a few simple steps you are ready to go and can save your back-up files to the external drive, keeping your information safe and giving you peace of mind. Oct 18, 2019 How to Format an External Hard Drive. This wikiHow teaches you how to change an external (USB) hard drive's format on Windows and Mac computers. Formatting a hard drive can change the file system to make it compatible with your computer's. Plug your Western Digital external hard drive into your computer using the USB cable that came with drive. Open Disk Utility, which is located in 'Applications' and then 'Utilities.' Click the Western Digital Drive from the left pane and then click the 'Erase' tab at the top of the dialog box. Step 2: Open Disk Utility by heading to Finder Applications Utilities and clicking on Disk Utility. You can add the Disk Utility to the Dock for quicker access. Step 3: Select the external hard drive on the left-hand panel you want to format on Mac. You'll see the selected hard drive's info displayed. The Best Format Choice of External Drive on Mac Using the external drive on Mac is a good idea as it provides additional storage. But it is hard to pick the suitable format as it depends on your usage. So, it is better that you know your options and understand which format is right for you. So, here are the best formats for an external hard drive for Mac.
Plug your Western Digital external hard drive into your computer using the USB cable that came with drive.
Step 2
Open the Computer Management utility by clicking 'Start,' 'Control Panel,' 'System and Security,' 'Administrative Tools' and 'Computer Management.'
How To Format An External Hard Drive For Mac El Capitan
Step 3
Click 'Disk Management' from the left navigation pane.
Step 4
Right-click the Western Digital drive and select 'Format.'
Step 5
Select a'NTFS' from the 'File System' drop-down menu. This is the file system that is compatible with your Windows computer.
Click the 'Start' button at the bottom of the dialog box and the Western Digital hard drive is reformatted.
Reformatting Your Western Digital On a Mac
Step 1
Plug your Western Digital external hard drive into your computer using the USB cable that came with drive.
Step 2
Open Disk Utility, which is located in 'Applications' and then 'Utilities.'
Step 3
Click the Western Digital Drive from the left pane and then click the 'Erase' tab at the top of the dialog box.
Step 4
Click the 'Format' drop-down menu and select 'Mac OS Extended (Journaled).'
Click the 'Erase' button in the lower-right corner and the Western Digital drive is reformatted for use with your Mac.
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