Another common cause for the external hard drive read only problem on mac is the formatting errors of the storage device. Read this page and know the best method to restore files from sonnics 320gb portable hard drive on mac os x. Our favorite external hard drive wd my book hard drive for mac. So, until wd gets its act together, this program is useless. How to format a wd hard drive to exfat or fat32 file system.
Disk drill is the worlds premier data recovery software for mac os x. Wd passport much like my wd my passport ultra, most. May 09, 2008 these are instructions on how to format a hard drive using mac os x disk utility. Visit this page to retrieve data from dead wd external hard disk on mac os x. Complete guide to solve wd my passport readonly problem on mac, to change permissions on wd my passport from writeprotected and to unlock readonly wd my passport on macos and mac os x with ntfs for mac software. Use a mac with an older release of mac os to format your wd passport drive. Therefore, some user needs western digital fat32 formatting utility because he wants to connect his ntfsformatted my passport ultra to mac os.
Choosing the right format for your external hard drive b. Apples support document on time machine gives easy instructions on how to erase and format the drive to work with os x for use as a timemachine drive, or simply for use as. How to get external hard drive to work with mac os x. You can watch the video along side using my notes above for extra help. We would like to show you a description here but the site wont allow us. I bought a wd elements 320gb today with is mac compatable, but i just tried to drag some of my photos onto it, and its saying this item could not be moved because elements cannot be. Mounty for nfts mounty for ntfs mounty is a true lifesaver. How can you use your wd elements drive without reformatting. There are many good tools on the market, but having a dependable hard drive on the receiving end as important, too. Out of the both its not mac compatible, but you can format it for use. Oct 14, 2017 new instruction says that we first need to reformat ntfs into mac os extended journaled, and then convert it to apfs format. Latest mac format for macos high sierra or later 10.
Jan 03, 2018 new december 2017 wd elements drive will not format to mac os extended journaled. Highlight your drive and click partition in disk utility. Where, i am seeing instruction links, for mac operating system, for as far back as mac os x 10. How to use disk utility in macos sierra formatting external. Ill store my media files on it while keeping the internal hard drive clear for apps and the os. How to access an external drive thats not recognized on a mac. Jan 08, 2020 dont fret you can change the formatting.
Having attempted this now says erase process failed and has called the disk disk 2s1 and is all greyed out. I bought a wd elements 320gb today with is mac compatable, but i just tried to drag some of my photos onto it, and its saying this item could not be moved because elements cannot be modified. It is also compatible with mac os x once required formatting has been completed. Apple may provide or recommend responses as a possible solution based on the information provided. This formatting is also known as mac os extended journaled file system. To format a western digital my passport external hard drive in exfat or fat32 format, you. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac. And, the documentation online does not cite sierra in any version as a supported operating system. Oct 11, 2018 want to reformat my wd passport so i can use it on a pc instead of apple only. A western digital external hard drive can be used on both windows and mac osx. Formatting wd elements for mac by quick workarounds. Format an external hard drive or usb flash drive for mac os x. How to use disk utility in macos sierra formatting. Sep 30, 2010 hey guys, has probably asked a million times, but im pritty busy, so cant hang about searching.
I followed the exact steps indicated on the drives manual. How to format external hard drives on a mac sweetwater. To make your western digital hard drive work on both mac and windows. After successful formatting, you can directly save or move files to it like any other external hard drive. How to make wd elements compatible with macbook pro quora. All functions in disc utility such as run first aid for the disc or partition are similarly unresponsive. Format a hard drive using mac os x disk utility iclarified. You just need to plug in, open up mounty and remount in readwrite mode. Improve pc performance when your internal hard drive is almost full your pc slows down. The first time this happened, i found an obscure firmware update at western digitals forums.
How to use disk utility in macos sierra formatting external hard drive basics. Best for mechanical drives, or drives used with older macos versions. Out of the both its not mac compatible, but you can format it for use with your mac in just a few minutes. Keep your important photos, videos and documents securely backed up with this wd elements portable hard drive. I got around the issue by using the erase command instead of partition. Whether you have mac os sierra, high sierra or mojave the way you format your wd elements drive for mac is the same. If you want to write to ntfs formatted hard drives in mac os x, youre going to need the help of a thirdparty driver. When it comes to backups, software is only part of the equation. Har gar vi igenom hur du formaterar disken till ratt format. How to format a usb external disk for mac osx using disk. Inputoutput error when reformatting wd elements ext hard. A tiny tool to remount writeprotected ntfs volumes under mac os x 10.
In the next 5 minutes read, you will master yourself in formatting a wd my passport safely and in a manner best suited for sharing your digital files between a macos and windows os. I am using a my passport ultra with a macbook running mac os x 10. Want to reformat my wd passport so i can use it on a pc. How to fix wd my passport for mac hard drive not mounting. Step one if your hard drive is an external drive, connect it to the computer. To this day, it remains the default file system for mechanical and hybrid hard drives, both while installing macos and while formatting external drives. I bought two wd elements discs and the same thing happened to me. List of all wd firmware and software available for download. Hey guys, has probably asked a million times, but im pritty busy, so cant hang about searching. Error message when formatting a new drive wd community. With 1tb of memory, this wd elements portable hard drive provides ample data storage space in. This video from acquevara shows you the formatting on a mac using mac os sierra. Feb 10, 2012 tutorial on how to format a western digital elements harddrive for a mac.
Wd elements, wd my book western digital, my passport wd, we my cloud. Wd elements drive will not format to mac os extended journaled. By formatting the passport as an exfat or fat32 drive, you can use it. Will a wd elements 1tb hard drive be compatible with mac os x. If you want to create multiple partitions on your external hard drive in fact, you should for better file organization, heres a stepbystep guide. Well, it was surprisingly even easier than i thought, as i plugged in the wd elements drive using the supplied usb cable into my mac and the. However, if first aid is unable to fix wd my passport for mac hard drive not mounting error, the last solutions is to reformat the hard drive. How to get external hard drive to work with mac os x guiding tech. Apr 14, 2017 how to use disk utility in macos sierra formatting external hard drive basics. So you figured, fine, ill just get an external hard drive. May 29, 2016 i had the same problem with reformatting using the wd instructions as pointed out by hamlet. I had this model replace a wd book version of usb external hard drive that i purchased 2 days ago and was supposedly formatted specifically for mac os x 10. Twice now i have had problems formatting a new western digital my book external drive under 10.
Hello, i just bought a western digital wd elements 1. Yes, it had some software specifically made for os x on it, but even that didn. Buy wd 1tb elements portable external hard drive usb 3. Dec 29, 2015 how to format a hard drive for both windows and mac. Aug 29, 2015 when i bought the wd my passport ultra drive, i was surprised to see that it didnt support os x out of the box. If he switches his wd drive between windows os and mac os frequently like dual boot os on a pc, he needs to format the drive to a file system which works well in both operating systems. Open the disk utility app and highlight your external hard drive.
Navigate through this page to know the best way to get back files from sony hdeg5b 2. I know i am supposed to format it for mac via disk utility before i can use it, but this. When i bought the wd my passport ultra drive, i was surprised to see that it didnt support os x out of the box. If you connect your wd hard drive without reformatting, youll be unable to copy files to the disk as mac read only supports ntfs file system. Will a wd elements 1tb hard drive be compatible with mac.
How to get data from formatted external hard drive on mac. Formatera en extern harddisk for att fungera pa mac enkelteknik. How to format or partition an external hard drive for mac. Not enough space to partition when formatting in mac osx. Connect it, power it up, go to disk utility in applicationsutilities, select the wd disk on the left, go to the erase tab, and choose mac os.
My book studio, nearly 30 wd drives play nicely with apples macos. Im wondering how i reformat the hard drive, which comes from the factory formatted for pcs. Disk utility fails to format the drive as max os x extended journaled with a format failed. Each physical drive is shown with the partitions of that drive nested below. Feb 21, 2020 when you use the device on another computer with a different os, the permission settings with it may not be recognized or prevent access to the files on the hard disk. There are other options which are more complex if the above has not worked for you. Want to reformat my wd passport so i can use it on a pc instead of apple only.
Wd elements portable storage comes with a trial version of wd smartware pro backup software, which allows you to back up your files to your wd elements drive or to the cloud using your dropbox account. More zombies to conquer the my passport x drive is the perfect way to store and expand your gaming experience. I have a wd elements 1tb which works perfectly when i use it with timemachine. And there you have it, youve formatted your wd my passport for mac in 10 quick steps. But reformatting will delete all data stored on the hard drive, and most of the time, many important files are stored on the wd my passport for mac hard drive. Any thing else, you should contact their website to be certain. Compatibility may vary depending on users hardware configuration and operating system.
When you use the device on another computer with a different os, the permission settings with it may not be recognized or prevent access to the files on the hard disk. Yes, another operating system can be put on this hard drive. I want to use this new disk as a time machine backup disk. Requires reformatting for mac os x tiger, leopard or snow leopard. Tutorial on how to format a western digital elements harddrive for a mac. This site contains user submitted content, comments and opinions and is for informational purposes only. Youtube video showing the format of wd my passport for mac. This is useful if a drive is being used under both operating system osto. Formatting failed external drives for mac wd community. Recovery of data from formatted external hd on mac.
How to format a wd hard drive to exfat or fat32 file system answer id 291 a western digital external hard drive can be used on both windows and mac osx. This software allows you to check the disk health and you can format to hfs using that software. Download the wd discovery software for mac from the western digital site. Formatted ntfs for windows xp, windows vista or swindows 7. Free download western digital fat32 formatting tool for. Mac cant read wd elements external drives for mac wd. Mar 21, 2012 will a wd elements 1tb hard drive be compatible with mac os x lion. In the lefthand side inside of disk utility you will see a list of all the connected hard drives. If you experience the same issue, your only recourse is to reformat it in one of two formats. How to format a wd external hard drive in fat32 to use in windows or mac osx. I have wd my passport ultra 259f media portable hard drive. This is useful if a drive is being used under both operating system osto move files between the two environments.
Highlight the physical drive you wish to reformat and on the menu at the top to the right select erase. Purchasing the best hard drive is all about what you need out of it. How to format wd external drive for mac apple community. Know how to save and restore lost data from mac hard drive when it fails to boot. The compact design offers up to 14tb capacity, making wd elements desktop storage the ideal solution for easy, addon storage of all your important photos, music, videos and files. Oct 25, 2018 therefore, some user needs western digital fat32 formatting utility because he wants to connect his ntfsformatted my passport ultra to mac os. New instruction says that we first need to reformat ntfs into mac os extended journaled, and then convert it to apfs format. However, if you want to use an external hard drive or any other type of external storage device on both systems, you can do that by formatting it using the fat32 file system. New december 2017 wd elements drive will not format to mac os extended journaled. In such a case, its necessary to reformat wd hard drive to make it compatible with mac operating system.
Im trying to format it in exfat or fat32 so it can be used on both windows and mac osx. Mac os extended was the default file system used by every mac from 1998 until 2017, when apfs replaced it. Jun 28, 2019 mounty for nfts mounty for ntfs mounty is a true lifesaver. However, if you want to use part of the drive for os x s time machine backups, you should do. I assume youre trying to format it on a mac, probably the error is because it.
How to transfer files from a mac desktop to an external. Western digitals passport external drive for mac isnt eternally bound to macos. How to format a usb external disk for mac osx using disk utility. Not enough space to partition when formatting in mac osx 10. These are instructions on how to format a hard drive using mac os x disk utility. You can reformat a hard drive on mac os x by using disk utility. It is also compatible with mac os x once required formatting has. Where and with working to reformat my new hd, i have been directed to base support and then knowledge base answer id 3865. The wd my book for mac is our favorite external hard drive.