• Mac hard drive formatting steps: Run AweEraser for Mac Choose 'Erase Hard Drive' Select hard drive Click on 'Erase' button Format the selected hard drive. Please note that once the hard drive is formatted by AweEraser for Mac, all the data on the hard drive will be permanently erased, can't be recovered by data recovery software.
• Mar 31, 2020  If you buy a new external hard drive, you may notice that working between Mac and PC is an often difficult - but it doesn't need to be. We'll show you everything you need to know about the.

1. Format Mac Internal Hard Drive
2. Software To Format External Hard Drive Mac
3. How To Format Drive Mac

With MacDrive 9 Standard, you can access, manage, and even create and format disk drives for Apple's Mac OS from inside Windows Explorer. Not just hard drives, but removable USB drives, too. To conclude Now, you have known how to recover formatted Mac hard drive and why you need to format a hard drive. You can continue using Recoverit Data Recovery to retrieve deleted, lost or corrupted files from a hard drive that is damaged, crashed, not detected, etc. This Mac format data recovery software can also be used for recovering files from emptied trash on Mac or reccle bin on Windows PC.

The best ways to format an external drive for Windows and Mac. Compare the different options for formatting an external hard drive to work with Windows and Mac. And, no: the answer isn't always FAT32. Novel writing programs for mac.

Erasing your disk: For most reasons to erase, including when reformatting a disk or selling, giving away, or trading in your Mac, you should erase your entire disk.

Erasing a volume on your disk: In other cases, such as when your disk contains multiple volumes (or partitions) and you don't want to erase them all, you can erase specific volumes on the disk.

Erasing a disk or volume permanently deletes all of its files. Before continuing, make sure that you have a backup of any files that you want to keep.

How to erase your disk

1. Start up from macOS Recovery. Then select Disk Utility from the Utilities window and click Continue.
   If you're not erasing the disk your Mac started up from, you don't need to start up from macOS Recovery: just open Disk Utility from the Utilities folder of your Applications folder.
   
2. Choose View > Show All Devices from the menu bar in Disk Utility. The sidebar now shows your disks (devices) and any containers and volumes within them. The disk your Mac started up from is at the top of the list. In this example, Apple SSD is the startup disk:
   
3. Select the disk that you want to erase. Don't see your disk?
4. Click Erase, then complete these items:
   • Name: Type the name that you want the disk to have after you erase it.
   • Format: Choose APFS or Mac OS Extended (Journaled). Disk Utility shows a compatible format by default.
   • Scheme: Choose GUID Partition Map.
5. Click Erase to begin erasing your disk and every container and volume within it. You might be asked to enter your Apple ID. Forgot your Apple ID?
6. When done, quit Disk Utility.
7. If you want your Mac to be able to start up from the disk you erased, reinstall macOS on the disk.

How to erase a volume on your disk

1. Start up from macOS Recovery. Then select Disk Utility from the Utilities window and click Continue.
   If you're not erasing the volume your Mac started up from, you don't need to start up from macOS Recovery: just open Disk Utility from the Utilities folder of your Applications folder.
2. In the sidebar of Disk Utility, select the volume that you want to erase. The volume your Mac started up from is named Macintosh HD, unless you changed its name. Don't see your volume?
3. Click Erase, then complete these items:
   • Name: Type the name that you want the volume to have after you erase it.
   • Format: Choose APFS or Mac OS Extended (Journaled). Disk Utility shows a compatible format by default.
4. If you see an Erase Volume Group button, the volume you selected is part of a volume group. In that case, you should erase the volume group. Otherwise, click Erase to erase just the selected volume. You might be asked to enter your Apple ID. Forgot your Apple ID?
   
5. When done, quit Disk Utility.
6. If you want your Mac to be able to start up from the volume you erased, reinstall macOS on that volume.

Reasons to erase

You can erase at any time, including in circumstances such as these:

• You want to permanently erase all content from your Mac and restore it to factory settings. This is one of the final steps before selling, giving away, or trading in your Mac.
• You're changing the format of a disk, such as from a PC format (FAT, ExFAT, or NTFS) to a Mac format (APFS or Mac OS Extended).
• You received a message that your disk isn't readable by this computer.
• You're trying to resolve a disk issue that Disk Utility can't repair.
• The macOS installer doesn't see your disk or can't install on it. For example, the installer might say that your disk isn't formatted correctly, isn't using a GUID partition scheme, contains a newer version of the operating system, or can't be used to start up your computer.
• The macOS installer says that you may not install to this volume because it is part of an Apple RAID.

About APFS and Mac OS Extended

Disk Utility in macOS High Sierra or later can erase using either the newer APFS (Apple File System) format or the older Mac OS Extended format, and it automatically chooses a compatible format for you.

How to choose between APFS and Mac OS Extended

Disk Utility tries to detect the type of storage and show the appropriate format in the Format menu. If it can't, it chooses Mac OS Extended, which works with all versions of macOS. If you want to change the format, answer these questions:

• Are you formatting the disk that came built into your Mac?
  If the built-in disk came APFS-formatted, Disk Utility suggests APFS. Don't change it to Mac OS Extended.
• Are you about to install macOS High Sierra or later for the first time on the disk?
  If you need to erase your disk before installing High Sierra or later for the first time on that disk, choose Mac OS Extended (Journaled). During installation, the macOS installer decides whether to automatically convert to APFS—without erasing your files.
• Are you preparing a Time Machine backup disk or bootable installer?
  Choose Mac OS Extended (Journaled) for any disk that you plan to use as a Time Machine backup disk or as a bootable installer.
• Will you be using the disk with another Mac?
  If the other Mac isn't using macOS High Sierra or later, choose Mac OS Extended (Journaled). Earlier versions of macOS don't work with APFS-formatted volumes.

How to identify the format currently in use

If you want to know which format is currently in use, use any of these methods:

• Select the volume in the Disk Utility sidebar, then check the information shown on the right. For more detail, choose File > Get Info from the Disk Utility menu bar.
• Open System Information and select Storage in the sidebar. The File System column on the right shows the format of each volume.
• Select the volume in the Finder, then choose File > Get Info from the menu bar. The Get Info window shows the Format of that volume.

If your disk or volume doesn't appear, or the erase fails

1. Shut down your Mac, then unplug all nonessential devices from your Mac.
2. If you're erasing an external drive, make sure that it's connected directly to your Mac using a cable that you know is good. Then turn the drive off and back on.
3. If your disk or volume still doesn't appear in Disk Utility, or Disk Utility reports that the erase process failed, your disk or Mac might need service. If you need help, please contact Apple Support.

Learn more

• If you can't start up from macOS Recovery, you can use a different startup disk instead.
• If Disk Utility shows a Security Options button in the Erase window, you can click that button to choose between a faster (but less secure) erase and a slower (but more secure) erase. Some older versions of Disk Utility offer the option to zero all data instead. These secure-erase options aren't offered or needed for solid-state drives (SSDs) and flash storage.

On this page, we'll show you how to format hard drive in Windows 10, wipe a hard drive, and guide you through the process, making your drive ready for storing data, installing Windows, or other purposes.

Formatting is an essential step before you start using a new hard drive, an internal or external hard drive on Windows 10/8/7/XP/Vista. Whether you are using Windows 10 or old Windows 7, check out how to format a hard drive or an external hard drive on your own now.

Windows 10 Hard Drive Format Overview

People might need to format a hard drive or an external hard drive in Windows 10 for various reasons. Here is a list of reasons or let's call it benefits that explains why people intend to format their hard drives, external hard drives, USB or SD, etc., storage devices:

• Format new hard drive before usage
• Format to change a hard drive file system for some specific purposes
• Format a hard drive for a clean installation of the Windows system
• Reformat or wipe a hard drive to erase data, such as restoring the full capacity of a disk

However, only a few people know how to get the job done correctly. In the following, we'll introduce you to format a new hard drive in Windows 10, format internal/external hard drive, and how to reformat or wipe a hard drive on your own.

During the process, you may need to use Windows Disk Management, Windows File Explorer, Windows DiskPart, and even a third-party partition manager, etc., for help.

How to Format a New Hard Drive in Windows 10

Applies to: Format brand new hard drive or external hard drive on Windows 10.

Requested Tools: ①. New HDD/SSD or external HDD; ②. Connection cable - SATA Cable, power cable, or USB 3.0 connection cable; ③. Format tool - EaseUS partition manager or Disk Management.

If you have a new hard drive or a new external hard drive, you'll need to initialize it first and create a new partition on it before you can format it. The reason is that a new hard drive doesn't have a partition, and as a result, it won't appear in File Explorer.

But you can use a third-party partition manager software like EaseUS Partition Master or Disk Management for help. Insert or connect your new hard drive to the computer, start initializing a new HDD/SSD and format it in Windows 10 now:

Method 1. Initialize and Format a New Hard Drive using EaseUS Partition Master

Best for: Windows beginners

Advantages: Easy to operate

For most Windows beginners, Windows disk management is not user-friendly as the whole operating process is tricky for them. To help you quickly make the new hard drive usable again, here we suggest you try EaseUS Partition Master.

It's efficient and easy. You can start to format your own new hard drive now:

First. Initialize New Hard Drive

Step 1. EaseUS Partition Master. Connect the hard drive or SSD to PC.

Step 2. Initialize your HDD/SSD

Right-click the target HDD or SSD and select 'Initialize to MBR' or 'Initialize to GPT' according to your need.

Step 3. Click 'Execute Operation' to keep the changes.

Next. Create Partition on New Hard Drive

Step 1. Launch EaseUS Partition Master

On the main window, right-click on the unallocated space on your new hard drive and select 'Create'.

Step 2. Adjust the new partition size, file system, label, etc.

Set the size, partition label, drive letter, file system, etc. for the new partition and click 'OK' to continue.

Step 3. Confirm to create a new partition

Click on the 'Execute Operation' button and confirm to create a new partition by clicking 'Apply'.

Note that during the creating partition process, EaseUS Partition Master will automatically format the created partition, making it ready for usage immediately.

Method 2. Format New Hard Drive on Windows 10 using Disk Management

Best for: Experienced Windows users

Advantages: Free

To properly format a new hard drive, you need to be very careful while using Disk Management. To format a new hard drive using Disk Management, use these steps:

Step 1. Press 'Windows + R' keys, type diskmgmt.msc and click 'OK' to open Disk Management.

Step 2. Right-click the hard drive or SSD marked as 'Unknown' and 'Not Initialized,' and select 'Initialize Disk'.

If the disk shows as Offline, first right-click it and select 'Online'.

Step 3. In the Initialize Disk dialog box, check the disk to initialize. And then click 'OK' to accept the default partition style, or you can change the partition style (GPT or MBR) as you want.

• Master Boot Record (MBR) is for hard drives smaller than 2TB in size.
• GUID Partition Table (GPT) is for hard drives larger than 2TB in size.

Step 4. Find the initialized disk, right-click the unallocated space, and select the 'New Simply Value' option.

Step 5. Set up and format the created partition on the new hard drive.

Follow the on-screen instructions to set up volume size, drive letter, NTFS as the file system, and check the 'Perform a quick format' option.

Step 6. Click the 'Next' > 'Finish' button.

Depending on the size of the drive, it can take some time to finish. When the process completes, your new hard drive will be initialized, partitioned, and properly formatted.

How to Format an Internal/External (Used) Hard Drive in Windows 10

Applies to: Format a used internal or external hard drive in Windows 10/8/7/XP, etc.

Requested Tools: ①. HDD/SSD or external HDD; ②. Connection cable - SATA Cable, power cable, or USB 3.0 connection cable; ③. Format tool - EaseUS partition manager, Disk Management, File Explorer, DiskPart.

If you have a hard drive or an external hard drive already organized with partitions, you can format the existing partition to remove its content and start fresh with a clean drive. We cover the three most popular ways to format a partition, like displayed below.

Keep your hard drive or external HDD connected to your PC and choose one method that works best for you to start formatting the disk on your now:

Method 1. Format Hard Drive in Windows 10 with EaseUS Management Software

Best for: All levels of Windows users, specially designed for Windows beginners

Advantages: Easy & 4-Step Formatting

EaseUS Partition Master is a popular disk partition management tool that is available for all hard disk managing jobs, such as to format disk partition, extend system partition, settle low disk space problem, convert MBR to GPT without data loss and vice versa.

It even works when you failed to do the Windows 10 disk format job or can't format hard drive with other Windows formatting tools.

Video Tutorial to Format HDD/SSD in Windows 10 Download wifi software for laptop.

Step-by-step Guide to Format Hard Drive/External HDD in Windows 10

Format Mac Internal Hard Drive

Step 1: Run EaseUS Partition Master, right-click the hard drive partition you intend to format and choose 'Format'.

Step 2: In the new window, set the Partition label, File system (NTFS/FAT32/EXT2/EXT3), and Cluster size for the partition to be formatted, then click 'OK'.

Step 3: Then you will see a warning window, click 'OK' in it to continue.

Step 4: Click the 'Execute Operation' button in the top-left corner to review the changes, then click 'Apply' to start formatting the partition on your hard drive.

Repeat the whole process to format all existing partitions on your hard drive one by one.

Method 2. Format Windows 10 Hard Drive Partition using File Explorer

Best for: Windows beginners

Advantages: Free

Another easy way is to use Windows File Explorer to format a working hard drive or external hard drive on your Windows PC. Here are the steps:

Here, we'll take formatting an external hard drive as an example to show you the formatting process.

Step 1. Press 'Windows key + E' to bring up the Windows Explorer.

Or you can click and open up the 'Computer' in Windows 7 or 'This PC' in Windows 10.

Step 2. Right-click on the connected external hard drive or internal hard drive partition and select 'Format'.

Step 3. On the format window, select the desired file system - NTFS for your device.

Step 4. Check 'Quick Format' and click 'Start'.

After this, click 'OK' to confirm and finish the formatting. If you have several partitions created on your hard drive, repeat the whole process till you cleaned all the partitions.

Method 3. Format Hard Drive with Windows Disk Management

Best for: Experienced Windows users

Advantages: Free

Windows 10 offers users a built-in disk management tool to create, delete, extend, shrink, and format partitions. Here are the steps to format hard drive partition using Disk Management:

Step 1. Right-click on Windows icon and select 'Disk Management'.

Step 2. Right-click on the target drive or partition and click on 'Format'.

Step 3. Select the file system and set the cluster size.

Step 4. Click 'OK' to format the drive.

Repeat the steps to format the rest partitions on your hard drive.

Method 4. Format Hard Drive with Diskpart in Command Prompt

Best for: Experienced users & administrators

Advantages: Free

Unlike Disk Management and File Explorer, DiskPart Command Prompt does more than merely formatting disk. It also lets you do other more advanced operations on your computer.

Be careful with every step, as any false operation may cause serious results. Here are the steps to format hard drive partition using DiskPart Command Prompt:

Step 1. Type cmd in the search box in Windows 10, right-click on Command Prompt, and choose 'Run as administrator'.

Step 2. In the command prompt, type diskpart and press 'Enter'.

Step 3. Type the following command lines and hit Enter each time:

• list disk
• select disk + disk number ( for example, select disk 2)
• list volume
• select volume+ volume number
• format fs=ntfs

Repeat the process till you have formatted all exiting volumes on your hard drive.

Step 4. Type exit and hit Enter to close the command window.

All the ways above can help you format a used hard drive or external hard drive in Windows 10. If you want a comprehensive solution that can help you manage your disk easily, we highly recommend you try EaseUS Partition Master.

How to Reformat or Wipe a Hard Drive in Windows 10

Applies to: Clean up whole hard drive data by re-formatting or wipe hard drive at one time in Windows 10/8/7.

Requested Tools: ①. HDD/SSD or external HDD; ②. Connection cable - SATA Cable, power cable, or USB 3.0 connection cable; ③. Hard disk wipe tool - EaseUS partition manager

Sometimes, people may want to re-format or wipe a hard drive so as to clean up existing data on the device thoroughly. Reformatting a hard drive indeed works but you have to repeat the formatting again and again.

In this part, we've collected an efficient way to help you wipe hard drive data, clear all existing data on the device at one time.

Wipe a Hard Drive using EaseUS Partition Master

Best for: All levels of Windows users

Advantages: One-click to wipe a hard drive several times

Let's see how to wipe your hard drive easily at one time:

Step 1. Install and launch EaseUS Partition Master.

Select the HDD or SSD which you want to wipe. And right-click to choose 'Wipe Data'.

Step 2. Set the number of times to wipe data.

You can set to 10 at most. Then click 'OK'.

Step 4. Click 'Apply' to apply the changes.

Click 'Execute the operation' and then click 'Apply' to start wiping data.

After this, you can restart your PC and use the hard drive like a brand new disk by then.

How to Recover Data from Formatted Hard Drive

Data loss issue due to misformatting hard drive or formatting without backups occurs from time to time. Formatting doesn't erase the data on the disk, only removing the address tables.

However, without a data recovery tool, you cannot recover data from a formatted hard drive. EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard is capable of recovering lost data even if you accidentally format a disk without a backup.

This top-notch file recovery software enables you to quickly and simply restore lost data because of hard drive formatting, emptying recycle bin, partition loss, OS crash, virus attack, and more. You can even use it to recover permanently deleted files in only a few clicks.

Now, download this robust data recovery program and recover data after formatting hard drive.

Step 1. Choose the partition.

Launch EaseUS formatted data recovery software after the installation. Choose the hard drive partition which you've accidentally formatted. Click 'Scan'.

Step 2. Select wanted files.

After the scanning process, you can click 'Filter' to filter a specific file type to quickly find wanted files.

Software To Format External Hard Drive Mac

Step 3. Recover files to a secure location.

Select the data files you wish to recover. Click 'Recover'. Choose a location to store the files and click 'OK'.

Conclusion and Format Hard Drive FAQs

On this page, we covered comprehensive solutions to help you resolve formatting hard drive issues on your own. With the presented methods, you can easily format a brand new hard drive, format an internal or external hard drive, and even thoroughly wipe a hard drive in Windows 10.

How To Format Drive Mac

As for Windows beginners, we suggest you back up important data first, then apply a practical formatting tool like EaseUS Partition Master for help.

We collected some top concerned questions and list answers here. If you have the same questions about hard drive formatting in Windows 10, check the following FAQs.

1. Can't format hard drive in Windows 10, how to fix?

When you can't format a hard drive in using Disk Management or file explorer, give EaseUS Partition Master a shot. It can directly resolve your issue with its Format feature.

You can also refer to Windows Was Unable to Complete the Format for further fixes.

2. How do I format hard drive when the disk management format option greyed out?

When you are making hard drive maintenance with free disk management tools, you may encounter the issue - 'Disk Management format greyed out'.

You can't format a partition because the 'Format' option is greyed out in Windows 10/8/7. To solve the 'Format volume greyed out' issue, we have offered these solutions:

• Restart PC
• Format Hard Drive using Disk Management alternative, like EaseUS Partition Master
• Run CMD to format hard drive

For a detailed guide, you may refer to 'Format Option Greyed Out' for help.

3. How do I format HDD or external hard drive to FAT32?

According to some game players, sometimes, they need to format a hard drive or an external hard drive to FAT32 for specific usage. However, the normal formatting way can't help.

When there is no FAT32 option in Windows 10 File Explorer or Disk Management, you can apply either the Windows CMD or the third-party partition manager - EaseUS Partition Master to format device to FAT32 in Windows 10/8/7.

Turn to professional FAT32 formatting tools for help and format disk to FAT32 now.