Formatting a portable hard drive is a relatively simple process, but the specific steps to format may vary depending on your operating system (e.g., Windows, macOS). Here are the basic steps to format a portable hard drive on these two common operating systems:
Connect the external hard drive: Connect the portable hard drive to the USB port of your computer.
Open File Explorer: By tapping the folder icon on the taskbar, or pressingwindows + e
Key.
Locate the portable hard drive: Find your external hard drive under This PC or My Computer.
Format the hard drive
Right-click the portable hard drive icon and select "Format".
In the format window, you can select the file system (e.g. NTFS, FAT32, EXFAT).
You can choose the "Quick Format" option, but if there is a problem with the hard drive, it is recommended to uncheck this option for full formatting.
Click the "Start" button to start the formatting process.
Wait for the formatting to complete: Depending on the size of the hard drive and the type of format chosen, this process can take anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours.
Connect the external hard drive: Connect the portable hard drive to your Mac via USB.
Open Disk Utility: Open the Disk Utility application via the Applications >Utilities folder in the Finder.
Select the external hard drive: Select your portable hard drive in the left sidebar of Disk Utility.
Format the hard drive
Click the "Erase" button.
In the pop-up window, you can name the hard drive, choose a format (e.g. macOS extension (journaled), exfat, etc.), and if you need to share files between different operating systems, exfat is a good choice.
Select the GUID partition map (for Macs using Intel processors).
Click the "Erase" button to start the formatting process.
Wait for the formatting to complete: Once done, your portable drive will be reformatted and all previous data will be erased.
Formatting your hard drive will erase all the data on your hard drive, so back up any important data before formatting.
When choosing a file system, consider your specific needs, for example, NTFS is mainly used for Windows systems, while macOS extended formats are mainly used for Mac systems. exFAT has good compatibility across multiple operating systems.
If your portable hard drive was previously used for Windows and you want to use it on a Mac, or vice versa, it is important to choose a format (such as ExFat) that is supported by both operating systems.