You can format wd passport for windows with compatible file system to solve this. By formatting the passport as an exfat or fat32 drive, you. From the volume format menu, choose mac os extended. Aug 16, 2019 today i bought the 4tb my passport from best buy. If you need to use this wd my passport drive on your mac computer extensively, follow these steps. With my external hd still empty, i went to utility disk, selected erase, changed the format to mac os ext. Look for your wd my passport drive on your desktop. Ill store my media files on it while keeping the internal hard drive clear for apps and the os. Format an external hard drive or usb flash drive for mac os x. Dec 29, 2015 how to format a hard drive for both windows and mac. Quickly format an external hard drive for mac and windows pc. Enter a name for the external hard drive in the name field. My passport for mac is trusted, portable storage that perfectly complements your onthego lifestyle. Reformat wd my passport ultra for mac not apple community.
Choosing the right format for your external hard drive b. Wd my passport portable hard drive external hdd manual set up guide for macbook pro, imac, mac mini, mac pro, macbook air. Choose format type select extended mac os journaled. How to open mac format usb devce in windows youtube. How to convert wd external drive to apple file systemapfs. Heres something your my passport for mac quick install guide might not tell you. My passport wont format external drives for mac wd community. Highlight your drive and click partition in disk utility. Not sure what extended format is and if its suitable. Compatible with usbc and usba, the my passport for mac drive comes equipped to connect with todays latest technology. Format wd my passport for mac, 10 quick steps mactakeawaydata. Jun 15, 2015 wd has released a seventh generation of their popular my passport line of external hard drives. Please see below on how to reformat your external hard drive on mac and windows.
Easily use your wd my passport for mac and windows in 7 steps. But reformatting will delete all data stored on the hard drive, and most of the time, many important files are stored on the wd my passport for mac hard drive. After your mac computer detects the wd my passport ultra 1tb hard drive, mount it on the computer. Two easy methods to format wd my passport portable hard drive on mac. How to quickly format external hard drive for mac and pc without losing data. The my passport x storage device is backwardly compatible with usb 2. I looked at my old passport in utilities and it was formatted as ntfs mac os extended and wanted to follow the exact same since my old passport has been excellent for my needs. However, if you want to test apfs out before then, youll have to wipe a drive and reformat it with the apfs file system. Establish a connection between the western digital my passport ultra 1tb and the mac computer. This is the file system you will need if you want to be able to easily transfer files back and forth between your mac and your my passport drive. 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. This is useful if a drive is being used under both operating system os to move files between the two environments. Feb 08, 2020 how to partition an external hard drive on mac.
Where and with working to reformat my new hd, i have been directed to base support and then knowledge base answer id 3865. I recently purchased a 4tb wd my passport external hard drive from costco. Your macs recovery mode is a treasure trove of useful tools, and its the easiest way to wipe your computer and start from scratch. For earlier releases of mac os, you find that the steps are the same. You can find effective ways here to format wd my passport for mac and pc to fat32 or exfat file system with the help of the professional format tool easeus partition master or other solutions. Unable to format wd my passport for mac external hard drive in windows 10. Do i use disc utilities fat32 or is there some other format. The my passport for mac drives builtin 256bit aes hardware encryption with password. Easily format wd my passport portable hard drive on mac. Choose the mac os option from the format dropdown list. When the finder window opens, on the menu bar, select go and then utilities. Now, a new hard drive icon will appear on the desktop. It told me to open the disk utility, and to choose the drive and then choose erase. It is just for educational purposes, and it is available on mac os 10.
How to format a wd hard drive to exfat or fat32 file system answer id 291 a western digital external hard drive can be used on both windows and mac osx. There is a video after that you can watch as extra help. Wd has released a seventh generation of their popular my passport line of external hard drives. How to format wd my passport for mac and pc easeus. How to fix wd my passport for mac hard drive not mounting. Unable to format wd my passport for mac external hard drive. Format external driveusb exfat in windows 10 in simple steps. How can i make my wd passport workable under windows computer. The most notable upgrades with this line are an increase in maximum capacity 3tb, customization options, improved backup capabilities, and a line of models designed specifically for use with mac os. Western digitals passport external drive for mac isnt eternally bound to macos. Hello all, today i bought the 4tb my passport from best buy. After your mac computer detects the wd my passport ultra 1tb hard drive, mount it.
Pick your wd my passport in the external hard drive list. How to format wd external drive for mac apple community. This tutorial explains how to format external hard driveusb flash drive exfat in windows 10. However, all of the solutions can be divided into two types. Connect your western digital my passport drive to mac computer, and let the os detect and mount the drive for use. File system formats available in disk utility on mac. External hard drives are key in a content creatoryoutubers life. I want to format it to work on my macbook pro for time machine, so i looked into how to do that. To format western digital my passport for mac or windows, you can rely on inbuilt applications of your system to format your wd my passport in exfat or fat32 format.
I have since reformatted it on my pc just to get all the info off of it. Your screens menus may look a bit different so bear that in mind. Feb 03, 2020 disk utility in macos high sierra or later can erase most disks and volumes for mac using either the newer apfs apple file system format or the older mac os extended format, and it automatically chooses a compatible format for you. File system formats available in disk utility on mac apple. Ive used a few external drives, including a 500gb wd my passport, 32gb lexar flash drive, and a few others. Unable to format wd my passport for mac external hard. You can use this format if you share the drive between mac os x and windows computers and have no files larger than 4gb.
The easiest way to format the drive to fat32 or exfat is by using macoss builtin disk utility for fat32 or. Wd my passport ultra 2tb setup and driver installation. Setup for xbox 360 users just plug it in and follow the easy onscreen instructions settings dialog to format the drive. However, the new macs are shipped with the latest mac os version, macos high sierra which supports the apple file system or apfs. If you want to create multiple partitions on your external hard drive in fact, you should for better file organization, heres a stepbystep guide. Nov 14, 2017 i recently purchased a 4tb wd my passport external hard drive from costco. If your wd external drive isnt in this new format, you wont be able to use it if your mac has been updated to macos high sierra. How to format a drive with the apfs file system on macos.
How to format or partition an external hard drive for mac. Proceed with the following instructions to know how to format the wd my passport ultra 1tb setup drive on the mac computer. Where, i am seeing instruction links, for mac operating system, for. With a new, stylish design that fits in the palm of your hand, theres space to store, organize. Also is it ok to erase all the present files on the disc. Oct 25, 2016 usb devices,that are formatted in mac format. 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.
Nearest category i could find to my subject interest. So, i followed the steps i went into disk utility, selected my passport, clicked erase, selected os x extended journaled as the format, and. Mypassport for macs seem to always be out of stock, so i bought the 4tb. List of all wd firmware and software available for download. Format drive to exfat in windows 10 so it is readandwrite in mac os as well. Since i use a mac, i need to reformat the hard drive in order for it to be used. Before proceeding further, it is recommended to take a backup of your important files. The my passport for mac drives builtin 256bit aes hardware encryption with password protection helps keep your digital lifes contents secure. Reformatting a western digital my passport hard drive to function well on windows and macintosh systems is neither timeconsuming nor technologically demanding.
When your wd passport formatted with a file system not recognized by windows operating system like ext2, ex3 or ext4, you wont be able to access and open it. If you want to use the usb devices in windows you have to know how to do it. Make sure your wd my passport external drive is chosen. I formatted the new passport with ntfs and it works like a charm. 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. Wd my passport ultra 1tb setup and troubleshooting guide. Wd my passport external hard drive set up guide for mac 2019.
Look for the external hard drive icon on your desktop. My passport ultra was previously used on my windows 7 pc. Youll find below the ten quick steps, using words and pictures. 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. Format wd my passport for mac and pc with ms dos fat 32 or exfat file system and share digital files between mac and windows system easily. How to wipe your mac and reinstall macos from scratch. About your wd drive my passport for mac user manual 2. Whether you need to know how to format wd my passport for your mac. Disk utility in macos high sierra or later can erase most disks and volumes for mac using either the newer apfs apple file system format or the older mac os extended format, and it automatically chooses a compatible format for you. Apr 14, 2020 although we mentioned this method in our article, we still dont recommend it because it is the least tested. So you figured, fine, ill just get an external hard drive. Readwrite fat32 from both native windows and native mac os x. Clicking it multiple times creates many partitions.
However, if first aid is unable to fix wd my passport for mac hard drive not mounting error, the last solutions is to reformat the hard drive. Back up all important information on the drive before beginning. High level view of the steps to making wd passport compatible with mac and windows 1. How to reformat passport external hard drive from read only to. After successful formatting, you can directly save or move files to it like any other external hard drive. Nov 04, 2019 how can i make my wd passport workable under windows computer. Although we mentioned this method in our article, we still dont recommend it because it is the least tested. Of course, there are more than two methods that can help you format a wd my passport portable hard drive under mac os. The format is also what makes the drive compatible with time machine for backup on your mac. The my passport for mac drive is trusted, portable storage that perfectly complements your onthego lifestyle. Sep 12, 2019 format drive to exfat in windows 10 so it is readandwrite in mac os as well. How to reformat wd my passport for mac mediakits report not. Disk utility on mac supports several file system formats. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac.
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