Open Launchpad -> click on Other -> Disk Utilityģ.For newer drives this will usually be utilizing a USB type-C or Thunderbolt cable, but older drives might require a USB type-A connector. Connect your hard drive to your Mac computer.How to Format an External Drive Using MacOS Ventura We recommend using a separate drive specifically for Time Machine backups The Photos app will not let you save photo libraries on the same drive you use for Time Machine backups and you will get corrupted libraries. The reason for this is because formatting part of your drive to use for Time Machine will sometimes cause issues with other Mac apps like Photos.

SSD vs.How To Format Your External Hard Drive for Mac or WindowsĪ few words word of caution before you set up your drive is to know that if you are planning to schedule Time Machine backups on your Mac, it is better to use a completely separate drive for that task.How to clone a hard drive as a backup for your Windows computer.What is Google Drive? A guide to navigating Google's file storage service and collaboration tools.What is an SSD? Everything you should know about solid state drives.What is a hard drive? Everything you should know about the computer storage device.You'll see the MacOS Utilities window choose 'Disk Utility.' Now you can choose to erase your startup drive, and choose 'Mac OS Extended (Journaled)' as the operating system. To get around that problem, hold down the Command + R keys when you turn on your Mac and let go when the logo appears. If you want to format your Mac's system drive, you can't do that when the Mac is running normally because the drive is in use by the operating system. Usually, you'll want ExFAT, which is the default for the MacOS.

Select the drive you want to format and then choose “Erase.”Ĥ. At the top of the window, click 'Erase.'ĥ. In the pop-up window, choose the file system you want to use.

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