Steps to Format a Drive for Use with Windows or macOS

Follow these step by step instructions in order to easily format a drive so that it can be used with Windows or macOS.*END

Windows 11, 10 and 8 Using Disk Management

IMPORTANT: Microsoft Windows 8: End Of Support

Microsoft Windows 8 support has ended.

Need more help?
Answer ID 30413: Microsoft Windows 8 and 8.1 End of Support

Partition prepares a drive for use by the Operating System (OS) by creating a Volume.
Format deletes, cleans and assigns a drive letter to the Volume.

Windows Disk Management that can be used to partition and format a drive.

Critical: The process is Data Destructive and cannot be undone. ALL THE DATA ON THE DRIVE WILL BE LOST!

1. Connect the drive.


2. Right-click Start (Windows logo).
   Click Disk Management.
    

   



3. Locate and select the drive to be partitioned and formatted.
   Right-click the bar.
   Click Delete Volume.
   
   

   Blue bar above the drive: existing partition on the drive. Black bar above the drive: not partition on the drive. Not Initialized: the drive must be initialized before use. Unallocated: no partition on the drive. Need more help? Answer ID 18824: How To Initialize Secondary Drives on Windows

   



4. Right-click the Unallocated area.
   Click New Simple Volume.
    

   



5. Click Next.
    

   



6. Select the volume size.
   Click Next.
   
   

   Format of the maximum disk space is recommended and selected by default.

   
    

   



7. Select and assign a drive letter.
   Click Next.
    

   



8. Select a File System.
    
   • NTFS (recommended)
   • exFAT if the drive is to be used on both Windows and macOS
   
   Leave the Allocation unit size to the default value.
   Enter a Volume Label (eg. My Book, My Passport, Backup1).
   Check Perform a quick format
   Click Next.
    

   



9. Click Finish.
    

   

    

   

General Drive Format Information

 

• Internal Drives must be partitioned and formatted before use.
• External Drives are pre-formatted and ready for use.
• Multiple partitions are NOT RECOMMENDED due to possible corruption of the Partition table.
  The partition table is used to display partitions in the Operating System. Corrupted can lead to data loss.




 
•  
• Need more help?
  • Answer ID 25242: Format an External Drive with the Original File System on Windows and macOS
  • Answer ID 18670: Steps to Resolve a Format or Partition Drive Error Cannot Dismount or Unmount Windows and macOS

macOS APFS (Apple File System) Details

APFS (Apple File System) format can be read by a macOS High 10.13 Sierra and higher.
It cannot be read by macOS 10.12 Sierra 10.12 or below.

Need more help?

• Apple Article HT208018: Prepare for APFS in macOS High Sierra
• Apple Article: File system formats available in Disk Utility on Mac
• Answer ID 1609: RETIRED: How to Convert a WD External Drive to Apple File System (APFS) Format (Copy of Answer 20502)
• Answer ID 34871: Steps to Install Paragon NTFS Driver for macOS for WD and SanDisk Professional
• Answer ID 20270: Steps to Resolve macOS Disk Utility Error "MediaKit Not Enough Space on Device for Requested Operation"

 

 

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File System and OS Compatibility

External drives ship formatted as NTFS (Windows), HFS+ (macOS), or exFAT (Windows and macOS).
Drives should be recognized and ready for use when connected to a computer.

 

Windows (NTFS)

NTFS mounts as Read Only on macOS.
macOS CANNOT write to a Read Only drive.

Install WD Discovery and get the Paragon Driver or format the drive as exFat.

Need more help?

• Answer ID 20465: WD Discovery Software User Guide, Download, and Instructions
• Answer ID 20821: Steps to Format a Drive for Use on Windows and macOS Using exFat

 

 

macOS (HSF+)

Shows up as Mac OS Extended (Journaled) on macOS
HSF+ is not Not Seen on Windows.
 

Install WD Discovery and get the Pargon Driver or format the drive as exFat.

Need more help?

• Answer ID 20465: WD Discovery Software User Guide, Download, and Instructions
• Answer ID 20821: Steps to Format a Drive for Use on Windows and macOS Using exFat

 

 

Windows and macOS (exFat)

Shows up as exFat on Windows and macOS
Windows and macOS can both read and write to an exFAT formatted drive.
 

Install WD Discovery and get the Pargon Driver or format the drive as exFat.

Need more help?

• Answer ID 20465: WD Discovery Software User Guide, Download, and Instructions
• Answer ID 20821: Steps to Format a Drive for Use on Windows and macOS Using exFat

 

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