This article shows you how to format an external hard drive via different methods, and you can follow these methods to format external hard drive for PC, Mac or Linux. About formatting external hard drive External hard drive is popular storage device and it can be used to store all kinds of digital information such as images, documents, apps, emails, etc. You can connect external hard drive to computer via USB cable and then transfer data with internal hard drive. Regardless of the brand or model, the first thing you may need to do after purchasing an external hard drive might be partitioning and formatting it. Formatting external disk can be done via various methods and it can be formatted to a range of file system so that you can use the disk under different operating system platforms. The formatting process removes all data on the partition and thus causes data loss.

You should create a backup for important data before formatting if the disk contains significant files. Why do you want to format an external hard drive? A brand-new external hard drive is usually partitioned into s single partition with NTFS file system.

Feb 11, 2016 - How to Move Your Mac files to a Windows PC. Connect your external drive to your Mac, open the drive and select File. Select New Folder. Type Exported Files' and hit Return. Open the Photos app and click Edit in the Menu bar. Click Select All. Move your cursor to Export. Select 'Export Unmodified Original. I have files I want to transfer from an external hard drive (originally formatted for MAC) to a PC. Transfer files from ext. Hard drive orig MAC to. Files you want off the drive and onto.

Still many users would like to format the external hard drives and people do that due to various reasons: • Format external hard drive to required file system. The brand-new disk you purchase might not be formatted to the file system type you need. To change file system type, formatting should be done. Word mac 2016 how to number. • To quickly remove content from external hard drive. Quick formatting is able to format a partition within seconds, and all data on the volume will be deleted.

How do i view pictures in word for macbook air. This is a good solution to delete data and free up disk space. • To optimization performance for disk. Formatting can clear data fragmentation quickly and easily. • Remove virus or malware. Since external hard drive might be used on many computers, it tends to infect virus. Many users would format it to clear virus and avoid more damages.

• To fix file system errors. Sometimes external hard drive may become RAW or reports errors like “”, you can fix these errors by formatting the volume after file recovery. Method 1: Format external hard drive in Windows Step 1: Connect your external hard drive with your computer and open Windows Explorer to check if it can be recognized. Note: if you have stored data to the drive, please back it up before formatting the disk. Step 2: Right-click on the external hard disk and select “Format” option from context menu. Step 3: On the formatting window, select Quick Format option, choose file system format, and click Start.

Also you can enter a name for the drive under Volume Label. Step 4: System prompts formatting removes all data and asks confirmation for the action. Click OK and formatting starts.

Method 2: Format external hard drive via Disk Management This method formats external hard drive using Windows built-in utility Disk Management. If your in Windows Explorer, you can follow this instruction to complete the formatting.