How To Format A External Hard Drive Windows 10

Macs format drives with Apple's HFS+ file system, which Windows won't recognize or access without third-party software. Macs may also create a protected EFI sectionalisation on these drives that you tin can't delete with the usual disk-segmentation tools.

Some drives are even sold as "Mac-formatted drives" — this just means they come with the Mac HFS+ file system instead of NTFS or FAT32. Macs can read NTFS drives, and can read and write to FAT32 drives.

Back up the Drive'due south Data First

Start, support the data on the Mac-formatted drive if you have anything important on information technology. This process won't actually catechumen the file system. Instead, we'll just exist wiping the bulldoze and starting over from scratch. Any files on the bulldoze will exist erased.

If you have a Mac lying around, you can plug the drive into a Mac and back upwards the files. If you lot but have Windows systems available, y'all tin can use HFSExplorer to copy files from the drive onto your Windows system drive or another bulldoze. HFSExplorer unfortunately requires you install Coffee to use it, but it's the just costless option here. Yous'll probably want to uninstall Coffee when you're done.

Erase the Mac Partitions, Including the EFI System Partition

RELATED: Understanding Hard Drive Partitioning with Disk Management

Outset, open the Windows Deejay Management tool. Press Windows Key + R to open the Run dialog, blazon diskmgmt.msc into the box, and press Enter to open it. This tool allows you to manage the partitions on drives connected to your computer — internal ones or external ones connected via USB.

Locate the Mac drive in the list of disks. Be sure you've identified the Mac drive — if you accidentally delete partitions from another bulldoze, you lot could harm your Windows installation or lose your files.

If yous're lucky, you can merely right-click each partition on the Mac drive and select Delete Volume to remove the partitions. You lot can then right-click in the empty space and select New Simple Volume to create a segmentation and format it with the Windows NTFS or FAT32 file systems.

The Mac bulldoze may have an "EFI Organization Partition" on it. This sectionalization is marked as protected, so y'all can't just right-click and delete information technology — the delete option will exist disabled.

To erase this partition, we'll have to wipe the entire deejay. This procedure erases everything on the disk, including its files and all its partitions. First, note the number of the disk in the disk management window. For instance, in the screenshot below, the Mac-formatted drive is Disk 2.

Side by side, open a Command Prompt window as administrator. To do this on Windows 8 or Windows 7, press the Windows key once, type cmd , and printing Ctrl+Shift+Enter.

Type diskpart into the Control Prompt window and press Enter.

Type list deejay at the DISKPART prompt and press Enter to view a listing of disks connected to your computer. Identify the number of your Mac deejay in the list. Information technology should be the same as the number of the disk in the Disk Management window.

Be sure to double-check this — you could accidentally wipe the wrong drive if you select the incorrect deejay here.

Type select disk # and press Enter to select the Mac disk, replacing # with the number of the Mac disk. For instance, here nosotros'd type select deejay two.

Finally, type make clean and press Enter. This command erases the entire selected disk, including all its files and partitions — whether they're protected or not. Yous'll have an empty, uninitialized disk subsequently you do this.

Shut the Command Prompt window when y'all see a bulletin saying "DiskPart succeeded in cleaning the deejay."

Create an NTFS or FAT32 Sectionalisation

You can now open the Disk Management window over again. If y'all've left information technology open, you may accept to click Action > Rescan Disks to update the information.

Locate the Mac deejay in the list. It will exist completely empty and display a message saying "Not Initialized." Right-click it and select Initialize Disk.

Select the MBR or GPT division tabular array format and click OK to create a partition table for the disk.

Right-click in the unallocated infinite on the initialized disk and select New Simple Volume. Use the wizard to create a partition with the NTFS or FAT32 file arrangement. The drive will now be formatted for use by Windows systems. At that place will be no space wasted by protected Mac partitions.

Some Mac functions require an HFS+ formatted bulldoze. For example, Time Machine can only support to HFS+ formatted drives.

Image Credit: Konstantinos Payavlas on Flickr