With everything else disconnected from the imac except the mouse, keyboard, and passport, open disk utility in applications utilities. Run drive diagnostics manage raid configuration for raid supported models erase and format drive. Wd my passport ultra 1tb setup and troubleshooting guide. Once thats done, double leftclick on the mac hd, the internal mac hard drive visible on the topright corner of the desktop screen. Thankfully, msdos fat32 and exfat 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. Oct 06, 2016 force an external mac drive to mount via command line terminal commands in mac os x. For most people, this software wont really be worth it. How to format wd my passport for mac and pc easeus. For windows, it offers quick format feature when you rightclick the hard drive on the computer. You find disk utility in the applications folder on your mac.
Thank you for your response monicabang much appreciated. Usb disk storage format tool by authorsoft corporation is a free utility that allows you to easily format your usb flash drives. Outdated drivers mean that the device doesnt have the latest optimizations made for it by western digital. Step 5 thereafter, click on the erase button and let the system erase everything on the drive and reformat wd elements for mac by exfat or fat32 format.
Super eraser for mac is a very powerful tool to permanently erase data from mac hard drive or storage media. The my passport for mac drive is trusted, portable storage that perfectly complements your onthego lifestyle. Download wd quick formatter to reformat wd external hard drive to ntfs, fat32, etc in windows 1087. Easily use your wd my passport for mac and windows in 7 steps. Password protection with hardware encryption the my passport for mac drives builtin 256bit aes hardware encryption with wd security software helps keep your content private. It also can format ssd hard drive and erase data under mac os. A wd my passport formatted with mac file system will be a dud on the windows and viceversa. Without drivers, the different hardware will not send data to each other.
How to force a hard drive to unmount for formatting in mac os. All the time, macos can only read from windows formatted ntfs drives, but cant write to them out of the box. In order to partition a hard drive, generally, the system reinstallation is. This is a file system limitation that affects both mac s and. Setup time machine and setup to work in windows pc and mac. Why need to format external hard drive for mac and pc. Now, click the erase, button and wait a few minutes and let the macos. This is useful if a drive is being used under both operating system osto. To download the driver for your mac system, specify the mac os version in the correct textbox.
Most of time, when our wd hard drive is ntfs formatted, it turns to be readonly on macos. Our antivirus check shows that this mac download is malware free. Wd my passport for mac hfs data recovery software for mac hfs. The only difference between the mac and pc versions is the initial formatting and preinstalled software suite which can be downloaded from western digital. Quickly determine the condition of the drive in your. After formatting, the data will be permanently lost. If you fail, you can choose free disk formatting software to do that. Click the western digital end user license agreement link and read the agreement. You can choose one of the tools to format hard drive to exfat as you like. It is the reliable disk formatting tool for windows mac. However, when you format your hard drive with super eraser for mac, all your data will be permanently lost. So you might want to use other applications to format your external storage devices.
Oct 25, 2018 to format western digital external hard drive fat32, you actually have a better choice. How to convert a macformatted drive to a windows drive. It allows you to format wd hard disk to fat32, exfat, ntfs, ext2, ext3, etc. Recommended install installs both the wd drive utilities and the wd security software custom install installs the wd software that you select on the next screen b. Open the disk utility app and highlight your external hard drive. Wd smartware software a visual control center with a single screen view of all your data. Format wd hdd with software, launch easeus partition master. Formatting the wd elements drive will wipe anything on there. Tokiwa fat32 formatter is also a free disk formatting program which also helps everyone format hard disk and partition into fat32 for free. About your wd drive my passport for mac user manual 2. Both windows and mac os offer builtin disk formatting tool. Dec 25, 2016 if you want to transfer files from a mac to windows pc and vice versa using an external portable hard drive then you have to have the external drive formatted in a file system both oss can read.
Data recovery for mac fat32 formatter is provided by iskysoft. Quickly format an external hard drive for mac and windows pc. The fat formatter download is available on the provider website with a step by step guide for installation and use of the same. With an easytouse interface, this software is also able to help delete or initialize a drive or partition smoothly. Formatting partitioning software free download ccm. Apr 14, 2020 its very easy to share it between mac and pc and you also need a windows computer, a mac machine, and the free partition manager minitool partition wizard free edition. The release date of usb disk storage format tool for mac is unknown and we cannot say for sure if it will be released at all. With a new, stylish design that fits in the palm of your hand, theres space to store, organize, and share all the photos. Select and drag the downloaded file to a new location. Browse and download the latest software, apps, utilities, plugins, and firmware content.
Need to reformat wd hard drive for mac if you connect your wd hard drive without reformatting, youll be unable to copy files to the disk as mac read only supports ntfs file system. For a hard drive to be able to be read and written to in both a pc and mac computer, it must be formatted to exfat or fat32 file format. If you are using a mac, you can run the builtin disk utility to quickly format a hard drive or external hard drive under mac os. To download software on the mac computer, go to the software for mac field, and click wd drive utilities for mac download. Feb 08, 2020 how to partition an external hard drive on mac. Highlight your drive and click partition in disk utility. In such a case, its necessary to reformat wd hard drive to make it compatible with mac operating system. It can easily format hard drives, storage devices and permanently erase all the data on the targeted media.
Fat32 has several limitations, including a 4 gb perfile limit. Format wd my passport for mac, 10 quick steps mactakeawaydata. According to western digital, the new 5tb my passport for mac is the worlds slimmest portable hard drive at its capacity. Here in our annual software roundup, weve tested most writing software programs to help you find the best choice for your writing needs. 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. Nov 21, 2019 the wd my passport drive is read only on your mac. The size of the latest installer available for download is 7. After installing the software, connect your wd drive to the system and start using it. From it you can back up, retrieve, and secure your files. So, in case, if you had accidentally lost your data due to drive formatting or corruption, we also recommend a data recovery software that can. If you see gutilities in your drive folder, you already have the software install available on your drive.
Now, the erase dialogue window appears, here select the volume format dropdown list and choose msdos fat or exfat file system. Apple may provide or recommend responses as a possible solution based on the information provided. If you want to recycle a ssd, formatting is the best way to remove all history data from the ssd. If i already see the software install on my drive, do i need to download. The downloading is simple and easy and the software supports formatting up to 2tb of disk space. Drivers are the software suite that facilitates different hardware components to talk to each other.
Under the section manual update, click the update from file button and a window will open. We would like to show you a description here but the site wont allow us. Besides windows and mac, it can also compatible with various devices like ps3, ps4, xbox one, etc. Often, simply reformatting the wd passport as mac will stop the problems you see. Its the software you use to format your wd elements drive. Super eraser for mac best mac disk format software. However, you cannot store large files over than 4gb on fat32 formatted usb drive and the volume has 2tb restriction. If you plan on using that software, copy if off onto a windows pc first. You can format a western digital my passport external hard drive to exfat or fat32 format using a free exfat or fat32 converter easeus partition master or use builtin.
Ntfs for mac os x is a software that allows detecting an ntfs storage device. This site contains user submitted content, comments and opinions and is for informational purposes only. The wd my passport for mac hard drive is specially designed for mac mini computers, imacs and macbooks. Jun 18, 2019 to finish such formatting task, you can directly right click the wd hard drive in windows file explore, choose format, or open disk management to format the hard drive. Outdated drivers mean that the device doesnt have the latest. Even though format usb or flash drive software for mac is not available for download, there are plenty of alternative apps to format a flash drive on mac. The most popular versions of wd security for mac are 2. Formatting wd elements for mac by quick workarounds. Getting the mac version saves some time for the mac user. But here is a twist, an unmounted drive be it a wd my. The latest version of the application can be installed on mac os x 10. Some drives are even sold as mac formatted drives this just means they come with the.
Select the option to specify the wd software that you want to install. If your wd hard drive is formatted with ntfs, both of diskpart and aomei partition assistant standard can help you to reformat the wd hard drive for mac. And should you want to reformat the drive again later, you use disk utility. Disk utility is a useful application inside your mac system. But, the good news is that msdos exfat and fat32 formats come quite in handy in such cases. Windows xp windows vista windows 2000 windows 7 windows 8 windows 10. Free download western digital fat32 formatting tool for.
Macs may also create a protected efi partition on these drives that you cant delete with the usual diskpartitioning tools. How to format a wd hard drive to exfat or fat32 file system. 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. Unzip the file and you will find the actual firmware in this format. The exfat file system is a better option when it comes to formatting wd my passport on mac. My question is how do i reformat my wd harddrives that are set up for windows, without losing any of my files. Western digital updates my passport for mac with up to 5tb. You can find effective ways here to format wd my passport for mac and pc. Usbc ready, usba compatible my passport for mac includes usbc and usba cables for universal compatibility with mac computers of yesterday and today. How to format or partition an external hard drive for mac. Download disk formatting software for mac doyourdata.
Using wd 4 tb my passport for both mac and pc external. Here is a list of alternatives to format usb or flash drive software for. 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. Simply open the file and you will see instructions along with the software install. Wd my passport greyed out in disk utility and unrecognized. Today, we will talk about how to format or reformat ssd on mac. If you want to download the wd my passport ultra 1tb setup software for windows, go to the software for windows field, and select wd drive utilities for windows download. Im a mac user and want to remove the gutilities partition from my drive.
A western digital external hard drive can be used on both windows and mac osx. Format usb or flash drive software by sobolsoft is a piece of software that allows you to format your usb flash drive. If your product is not listed above, please visit the product page. Otherwise, on a healthier external drive, this option works flawlessly. Passport ultra accessing mac formatted drive on a pc. Wd drive utilities software allows you to configure, manage, and diagnose your wd drive with wd drive utilities, you can. This trusted portable storage always offers quick and easy way to expand the storage space of your computer and to store a massive amount of photos, videos, music and documents. Actually, most external hard disks could be compatible with mac and pc as long as you format them correctly. There are two file systems that can be both supported by mac and pc operating system. However, the formatted data can be recovered by data. The top 5 disk formatting tools for windows and mac can help you securely format hard drive or external device under windows mac os. Select your wd my passport on the sidebar, choose erase. Youll use disk utility to format your wd my passport drive.
This drive offers high capacity in a sleek portable device. Aweeraser is the outstanding one among the 5 disk formatting tools. If you want to use the drive with a windows computer, see reformatting the drive and troubleshooting. Automatically back up all your important files from your computer to your storage device. Hp usb disk storage format tool is a windowsbased formatting utility for. If you want to use wd my passport or any other hard drive on mac and pc, you need to format a western digital my passport external hard drive in exfat or fat32 format. If youve files you want to use then copy them off first. The saved file of the wd backup software is in the. Compatible with usbc and usba, the my passport for mac drive comes equipped to connect with todays latest technology. Aomei partition assistant standard is professional and easytouse hard drive formatting software that can do you a big favor. I currently have a windows laptop that i use and will be upgrading to a imac very soon. Software and firmware downloads seagate support us. Now you open up a piece of software on your mac called disk utility.
Aug 14, 2015 even if sold as a mac edition, wd uses a proprietary formatting scheme that causes odd behavior. Luckily, you can easily format wd my passport for your mac. I show you how to format a western digital or any brandhard drive for use on any device be it a mac, pc, linux, ps3, xbox 360, etc. External drive like wd elements, my book and my passport can be formatted to fat32 via this tool. Wd quick formatter, also called wd advanced format utility is a tool that allows you to reformat wd external hard drive to ntfs, fat32, etc in windows 1087 or other windows versions. This was not the first time that we had heard of wd my passport readonly on mac.
Click the wd drive download for mac and install it on your system once the download process is complete. You can run easytouse mac disk formatting software to easily format internal ssd or external ssd under mac os. To get started, choose the western digital brand youd like help with. If i already see the software install on my drive, do i need to download anything from the website. Download wd quick formatter to format external drive in. How to format wd external drive for mac apple community. Click next on the wd apps setup wizard, software installer dialog. Wd drive utilities macos catalina support wd software. One notable plus is that wd discovery lets you download paragon drivers at no charge, which will let you use an ntfs formatted. This mac app was originally developed by western digital. This drive offers high capacity in a sleek desktop device. If you want to create multiple partitions on your external hard drive in fact, you should for better file organization, heres a stepbystep guide. But it offers a few unique features, like support for mac formatted raid disks. 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.
Our builtin antivirus checked this mac download and rated it as virus free. Wdeasystore external hard drive set up guide for mac. The 4 disk formatting software for mac above can help you easily format hard drive, usb flash drive, memory card, and other storage media under mac os. Go to disk utility and identify if your wd my passport is listed on the lefthand side of the interface. Wd drive utilities functions to diagnose the physical integrity of the hard drive, and as. A solid state drive is primarily used on mac machine. There are 3 solutions for this case, so please choose the one you like most to format external hard drive windows 1087. 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. A wd my passport formatted with the windows file system will be useless on the mac and viceversa.
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