Rename the drive, delete untiltled 1 and use another name more confortable for you. How to format usb flash drive to fat32 in mac os x admfactory. If you have switched between windows and mac, no writable wd smartware partition found problem will also happen. After disk utility loads select the drive outdented entry with 1tb wd passport. Quickly format an external hard drive for mac and windows pc. Fat32 is the oldest of the three file systems available to windows. How to format external hard drive for ps4 safely minitool.
The pc will not see or recognize partitions formatted as mac os extended journaled file system or afs. Well show you everything you need to know about the. So if you want your external hard drive to be backward compatible with both oss then you need to reformat it with fat32 or exfat. For the most desirable results when reformatting on windows systems, use western digitals formatting utility. However, fat32 is a legacy file system designed for low capacity hard drives and it is not recommended for modern hard drives or operating systems. If you use a mac, the likelihood that youll have to reformat the drive is higher. How to reformat my external hard drive for windows 10. That way files will be visible to, readable and writable by both operating systems.
Easily use your wd my passport for mac and windows in 7 steps. You just need to know how to format external hard drive for ps4. Full solutions to no writable partition found in wd smartware. Reformatting for mac external drives for mac wd community. Want to reformat my wd passport so i can use it on a pc. Now either because of time, corruption or because it may have been formatted for a mac when i plug it into my pc i cant access it. Oct 11, 2018 want to reformat my wd passport so i can use it on a pc instead of apple only. Feb 08, 2020 how to partition an external hard drive on mac. For apple mac users, the easier way to format usb flash drive to fat32 is using the disk utility. Minitool partition wizard is a multifunctional tool which can help you manage partitions easily and safely, including formatting disk quickly. I have an 8tb usb drive i formatted as one fat32 partition based on steps from formatting a universal drive and how to format. Oct 26, 2007 i was using my external hard drive with my mac and its formatted in the mac hfsomething like that file system. Now, a new hard drive icon will appear on the desktop. A fat32 partition can reach up to 32gb when formatted on a windows pc.
Click on the erase tab in the disk utility toolbar. But before you reformat it, please recover important files in advance. How to format a 4tb hard drive to a fat32 format wd hard. I would like to format that external hard drive such that the file system is either ntfs or fat32 so that i can use it on my windows partition running on boot camp. Apr 16, 2020 if you want to format your wd my passport to fat32, you must make sure that the size is smaller than 32gb. Volume scheme select 1 partition on the drop down menu. Wd passport external hard drive not recognized on windows. To format a usb flash drive to fat32 in mac os x follow these steps.
Mar 31, 2020 if you buy a new external hard drive, you may notice that working between mac and pc is an often difficult but it doesnt need to be. Please follow the steps below to format best external hard drive for ps4 via minitool partition wizard. Lacie rugged secure user manual optional formatting and. How to format and use wd my passport for mac just like on windows, your wd passport can be used on your mac too. Open windows file explorer, locate and rightclick on wd my passport that you need to format, select format. How to erase my passport and reformat wd portable drives. How to format a wd hard drive to exfat or fat32 file system. Western digitals passport external drive for mac isnt eternally bound to macos. For more information about what these limitations are please see answer id 1287. How to format your drive to fat32 system using diskpart. You can format the drive from either the mac or the windows machine. How to share an external hard drive between mac and windows.
How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac laptop mag. Why can i not play media files from a mac formatted. When i select it to be the back up device i get this box cant connect to a current time machine backup disk. Jan 23, 2009 im assuming when i reformat, my backup files will be erased which is fine, i guess with a total computer backup, they will be there anyway. I want to erase my older my passport and format it for quicken backup only. While its convenient to purchase the hard drive that will work with your computer right out of the box, most external hard drives can also be reformatted so youre not limited to your initial choice. If you buy a new external hard drive, you may notice that working between mac and pc is an often difficult but it doesnt need to be. Then plug the other end into a usb port on your mac. I can still though add files later, as i change them add more pics, music, etc.
Now ntfs works fine with computers and is the standard file system, but for some reasons, developers decided that the ps4 wont support this file system. You just have to format it, and youll explore the numerous ways you can do that right here. In this video i show how to format a 4tb hard drive to a fat32 format so you dont have to spilt partitions anymore too allow both wii and gamecube games to be stored on the same partition. After tearing my hair out all evening trying to reformat this stupid drive, it turns out wd has decided to include hidden partitions that make reformatting it almost impossible. Oct 15, 2015 volume scheme select 1 partition on the drop down menu. Format new external drive as an ntfs partition it services. Go to windows disk management to perform those operations. On my mac i used the disk utility and selected my passport drive. External drive like wd elements, my book and my passport can be formatted to fat32 via this tool. Formatting your drive to fat32 system using diskpart is very easy when you know how to do it correctly. If you want to create multiple partitions on your external hard drive in fact, you should for better file organization, heres a stepbystep guide.
However, single files on a fat32 drive cant be larger. Jan 30, 2019 in this video i show how to format a 4tb hard drive to a fat32 format so you dont have to spilt partitions anymore too allow both wii and gamecube games to be stored on the same partition. In the main console, locate the partition on the wd passport external hard drive, right click it and choose format partition. You need to delete the partition s on the external and recreate them. Apr 15, 2017 you must have selected that partition type when formatting. Free download western digital fat32 formatting tool for. Oct 25, 2018 format western digital passport to fat32 with wd quick formatter. What application would i use to erase the drive and how would i reformat it. Or use between a mac and a pc choose exfat as the partition format. Fat32 has several limitations, including a 4 gb perfile limit. Open the disk utility app and highlight your external hard drive. Plug in your wd my passport s usb cable into its micro usb b port. This is useful if a drive is being used under both operating system osto. When the finder window opens, on the menu bar, select go and then utilities.
Highlight your drive and click partition in disk utility. For more information on the difference between fat32 and exfat, please visit this page. Should i reformat my passport to ntfs tech support guy. I can find it under device manager and disk management but thats it. The process of formatting the external hard drive for ps4 is very easy and can be done in a very few steps. File and partition size limitations using the fat32 file system windows and. If you want to format your wd my passport to fat32, you must make sure that the size is smaller than 32gb. How to format or partition an external hard drive for mac. I will try to erase reformat thru win10 as you suggested. How to format an external hard drive for ps4 ryli gaming.
Individual files on a fat32 drive cant be over 4 gb in size. Format western digital passport to fat32 with wd quick formatter. Fat32 file allocation table 32 is an older file system that both. Trying to back up my imac with time machine to a wd my passport ultra. Fat32 works with all versions of windows, mac os, linux, game consoles, etc. A new western digital external drive is configured by default out of the box as a fat32 partition.
When you try to format your drive to fat32 using diskpart, it happens via the command prompt window. Rename the drive, reset its file system to fat32 or exfat. I formatted it for ntfs but it seems i should have used mac os extended journaled and now im at a loss as to how to reformat it. A western digital external hard drive can be used on both windows and mac osx. Connect your western digital my passport drive to mac computer, and let the os detect and mount the drive for use. Youll only need a computer desktop or laptop, doesnt matter then format it from there. By formatting the passport as an exfat or fat32 drive, you. You cant reformat them for use as just a normal drive with linux. Sep 17, 2015 i have a lacie d2 quadra 1tb external hard drive. 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. Hello, i tried formating my wd office ediotion by using run command at first i thought my drive is already formating it, but when it hit 99 percent format it declared that the volume is too big, my office edition is 640 gb by the way. Jul 26, 2019 if you want wd passport for mac and pc and need to create a partition that you will use to transfer files. So, if you dont know the exact commands, you might end up formatting your drive incorrectly.
Exfat is a file system format that is understood by both mac and pc and when you plug in the wd my passport that partition will be visible to both. In the drop down panel set the partition scheme to guid. How to convert a udf external drive to a fat32 or ntfs fmt mac. Your choice is msdos aka fat32 or exfat and i go over the difference in the video. Partition wd my passport for mac, teach yourself in 10 steps. On this popup screen, choose ntfs, fat32 or exfat among listed file systems and click ok. Nov 04, 2019 in the main console, locate the partition on the wd passport external hard drive, right click it and choose format partition. Looking for free western digital fat32 formatting tool to format wd my passport ultra or other external hard drives to fat32 so that you can use it in both windows 7 and mac. Please see below on how to reformat your external hard drive on mac and windows. Make sure on format says mac os extended journaled click on options select apple partition map click ok. How to format wd my passport for mac and pc easeus. Formatting would erase data completely, make sure that you have a data backup. But unfortunately it bit the dust and i decided to get a pc. This is a file system limitation that affects both mac s and pcs, and the only workaround is to format the drive to exfat.