Having an external hard drive allows us ensures that you always have enough storage spaceand for all our files and information, in addition to these being in a safe place and backed up. Today we will be telling you How can you format a HDD external on Mac, select the correct format and know when to do it.
Although the process of formatting an external hard drive may seem like a complicated task, In fact, just by following a few steps you can achieve it.. Remember that choosing the right format is essential and you should do it according to the use you want to give to your device in the future. For all this, despite being a simple task, it is necessary to take into account all the aspects that we show you today.
How can I format an external hard drive on Mac?
The process of formatting your hard drive itself couldn't be simpler once you know which format to use.
For this you have to:
Connect the hard drive to your computer Poppy.
Go to Applications section and then to Utilities.
Here you will have to open the Disk Utilities section.
Choose from the sidebar of the screen the external hard drive that you want to format.
Click on the Delete option in the toolbar.
Rename the disk and finally choose the format you are going to use.
Click Delete and you're done!
What formats are supported?
When formatting an external hard drive for use on your Mac, It is essential to choose a suitable format to use on your computer. While it is true that your Mac computer can work with FAT formats, which is used by older versions of Windows, as well as NFTS if you use a third-party program, These are not the recommended ones.
The reasons are very simple, and that is that None of them are fully compatible with MacOS and the other alternatives available will work much better, providing an even more complete experience.
Currently, the Two default systems for Mac are APFS and HFS+, although for many years only HFS+ was the available option. Currently, the most used option is APFS, which is a kind of modern and updated version of HFS+. The same It is specially designed for external hard drives, but it still works the same with mechanical hard drives.
Which format is preferred for use on external hard drives?
As we already mentioned, although there are several available, The most used is APFS. APFS offers greater flexibility and facilities, as well as offering options such as:
Create snapshots backup.
Provide good encryption.
Share space.
Allow for rapid directory sizing.
Greater flexibility of the containers, which can be adjusted in size to suit their needs.
Although APFS is the ideal choice,Some Macs do not have compatibility for the sameIn these cases you should use HFS+, and as long as your computer has a compatible version of MacOS then opt for APFS.
A practical method would be the following:
APFS: in case the hard drive is SSD and you are only going to use it on Mac.
MacOS plus (HFS+): If the hard drive is a classic one, you will be able to identify it because it is heavier. This is a format compatible with Mac and HDD drives.
ExFat: If you want to have a hard drive compatible with Windows and MacOS to store files. With this format you will have greater freedom to do so in both operating systems.
FAT and FAT32: Although they are compatible, they are not really recommended as they only allow you to store files smaller than 4GB.
When is it necessary to format an external hard drive?
There are many situations that may lead you to the need to format the external hard drive on your Mac. Remember that this action will lead to the loss of all information contained therein, so it's something you need to keep in mind.
Among the most frequent causes are:
Are you going to give it away or sell it?
In cases where for one reason or another you are not going to use your external hard drive anymore, it is recommended that you you format it. This way all information and files will be deleted and no one else will have access to them.
Hard drive errors
From failures in recognizing the hard drive on your Mac to it unexpectedly disconnecting, There are many errors that can occur with the hard drive.
Even though formatting it is quite radical, it is what is needed to get it working again.
Virus and malware
Connecting your hard drive to unprotected and dubious sources make your hard drive more prone to infection by viruses and malwareThese will immediately cause the device to present errors that affect the experience with it. In these cases, the solution is to format it.
Change format
The use you give to your external hard drive has changed and you need to change its format, then it will be necessary to format it again to reselect a different format. Previously we were explaining to you which format to choose depending on the use you are giving to the external hard drive.
How long does it take to format an external hard drive?
The answer to this will of course depend on the size of the external hard drive and also the information and files that we have stored on it. On hard drives with storage space of about 500 GB, which is considered to be the minimum, The process of a quick format may take a few seconds, on the other hand, a full format will not take more than 2 to 3 minutes.
When we talk about external hard drives with storage space between 1 and 4 TB, A full format should not take more than 10 to 20 minutes.Considering these are much larger storage spaces, the process is still quite fast.
And that's all for today! Let us know in the comments if these tips were helpful to you. tips to learn How can you form an external hard drive on Mac. CTell us what you think of these tips?
