In the format window, navigate to the file system field, and select either the exfat or fat32 option. Fix wd my passport for mac not showing upnot working on mac. If you want to use the drive with a windows computer, see reformatting the drive and troubleshooting. In this video tutorial, i show you how to easily format an external hard drive to work on both a mac and a pc. External drive like wd elements, my book and my passport can be formatted to fat32 via this tool. Two effective ways to format wd passport for windows. How to format external hard drive on mac compatible with windows, mac. If you run into the issue of not having enough space format it to be the ex fat as. How to format a hard drive to work on mac and pc youtube. Nov 04, 2019 exfat permits can store individual file beyond 4gb and can work with windows, mac and can be supported by playstation 4 and xbox one. Apr 14, 2020 as long as we format the external hard drive to one of these 2 file systems, it can be shared between mac and windows. How to convert a macformatted drive to a windows drive. Pick your wd my passport in the external hard drive list.
Apr 16, 2020 a wd my passport formatted with the windows file system will be useless on the mac and viceversa. Unable to format wd my passport for mac external hard. Instead, you can also click on the mount icon beside the drive to mount it immediately. Free download western digital fat32 formatting tool for.
How to format a wd hard drive to exfat or fat32 file system. Sep 01, 2011 i show you how to format a western digital or any brandhard drive for use on any device be it a mac, pc, linux, ps3, xbox 360, etc. Mypassport for macs seem to always be out of stock, so i bought the 4tb hard. Hard drives usually come formatted in two different ways, one catering to windows and one catering to mac. Heres something your my passport for mac quick install guide might not tell you. Step 2 on dock, choose finder to open the finder interface. There is a video after that you can watch as extra help.
I show you how to format a western digital or any brandhard drive for use on any device be it a mac, pc, linux, ps3, xbox 360, etc. According to the solutions above, the easeus partition tool stands out for its convenience and easiness. Oct 25, 2018 format western digital passport to fat32 with wd quick formatter. Connect your western digital my passport hard drive to your windows pc through the usb cable. Apr 16, 2020 you can format your western digital my passport external hard drive to fat32 or exfat format to transfer the data between a mac and windows system conveniently. Aug 30, 2018 western digitals passport external drive for mac isnt eternally bound to macos. If youre lucky, you can just rightclick each partition on the mac drive and select delete volume to remove the partitions. Reformatting a western digital my passport hard drive to function well on windows and macintosh systems is neither timeconsuming nor technologically demanding. Wd my passport ultra 1tb setup and troubleshooting guide. How to partition and format a wd drive on windows and macos.
How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac laptop mag. I have now assigned a drive to the external drive using diskpart and it now shows up in file explorer but tells me the drive is empty it is not and i can access the files from a mac. The mac drive may have an efi system partition on it. The format is also what makes the drive compatible with time machine for backup on. You just have to format it, and youll explore the numerous ways you can do that right here. So how do i get to see my files from my external hard drive on my pc aidfile recovery software keyfeature. Luckily, you can easily format wd my passport for your mac. Look for the external hard drive icon on your desktop. How to format and use wd my passport for mac just like on windows, your wd passport can be used on your mac too. This trusted portable storage always offers quick and easy way to expand the storage space of your computer and to store a massive amount of photos, videos, music and documents. But, the good news is that msdos exfat and fat32 formats come quite in handy in such cases. A new windows explorer window opens, on the left side of the screen. Nov 21, 2019 the wd my passport drive is read only on your mac.
Physical description as shown in figure 2, the my passport ultra for mac drive has. By formatting the passport as an exfat or fat32 drive, you can use it. Make sure your wd my passport external drive is chosen. High level view of the steps to making wd passport compatible with mac and windows 1. Windows 10 wont read external mypassport drive microsoft. How to share an external hard drive between mac and windows.
If you buy a new external hard drive, you may notice that working between mac and pc is an often difficult but it doesnt need to be. Then, ill introduce you to workable and easy ways to format wd passport external hard drive, wd elements external hard drive and other external hard drives. Dec 29, 2015 the instructions below are for windows 10, but other versions of windows from windows 7 and up can also format an external drive as exfat for use with mac as well. By formatting the passport as an exfat or fat32 drive, you can use it with windows computers, too.
Quickly format an external hard drive for mac and windows pc. Step 1 to start the process, connect your wd my passport drive to your mac system. The instructions below are for windows 10, but other versions of windows from windows 7 and up can also format an external drive as exfat for use with mac as. Its modern metal design complements your mac, and out of the box, its formatted for macos and time machine compatibility.
There are specific thirdparty systems, like digital camcorders, and sony playstation 3, which need the drives to be formatted in either fat32 or exfat format to perform read from and. For a hard drive to be able to be read from and written to on both a windows and macos computer, it must be formatted to exfat or fat32 file format. If you wish to boot the drive on a pc or use it with older versions of windows, you may also need to set the partition scheme to master boot record mbr for full windows compatibility. Ive downloaded various wd drivers and software, but cant get windows 7 to recognized the usb drive. In the main console, locate the partition on the wd passport external hard drive, right click it and choose format partition. How to reformat wd my passport for mac mediakits report not.
And with up to 5tb1 of storage and a 3year limited warranty, you get storage to rely on for years to come. However, single files on a fat32 drive cant be larger than 4gb. How to format wd my passport for mac and pc easeus. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac. Whether you need to know how to format wd my passport for your mac. The wd my passport for mac hard drive is specially designed for mac mini computers, imacs and macbooks. By formatting the passport as an exfat or fat32 drive, you. 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 doesnt need to be.
Youll find below the ten quick steps, using words and pictures. For a hard drive to be able to be read and written to in both a pc and mac. On this popup screen, choose ntfs, fat32 or exfat among listed file systems and click ok. Equipped with usbc technology, the my passport ultra for mac portable drive offers an easy way to expand your storage. Transferring files between the two operating systems is less of a hassle, since you dont have to constantly back up and reformat each time. I will try to erasereformat thru win10 as you suggested. Formatting wd my passport will not only allow you to have full storage of your wd my passport, but will also remove virusinfected files. That said, if you are using both a pc and mac in the workflow, youll need to use a different format. Fat32 has several limitations, including a 4 gb perfile limit.
Fat32 works with all versions of windows, mac os, linux, game consoles, etc. Western digitals passport external drive for mac isnt eternally bound to macos. If you want to use wd my passport or any other hard drive on mac and pc, you need to format a western digital my passport external hard drive. Look for your wd my passport drive on your desktop. How to erase my passport and reformat wd portable drives. Well show you everything you need to know about the.
Just like on windows, your wd passport can be used on your mac too. About your wd drive my passport for mac user manual 2. May 21, 2018 in this video tutorial, i show you how to easily format an external hard drive to work on both a mac and a pc. I looked thru the windows support site but couldnt decide what to do. The wd my passport drive is now formatted to work on both mac and. Run easeus partition master, rightclick the hard drive partition you intend to format and choose format. Format your western digital my passport external hard drive to fat32 or exfat format so to transfer the data between a mac and windows system conveniently. Rightclick on the drive and select format thats how it works on my win7, dunno if this is the same for win10. You can then rightclick in the empty space and select new simple volume to create a partition and format it with the windows ntfs or fat32 file systems.
From here, in format, select mac os extended journaled. Cannot access wd my passport external hard drive wd repair. Easily use your wd my passport for mac and windows in 7 steps. How to format external hard drives for mac and windows. In the new window, set the partition label, file system ntfsfat32ext2ext3exfat, and cluster size for the partition to be formatted, then click ok. Both fat32 and exfat have advantages and disadvantages.
Repair wd my passport for mac drive with first aid. Windows 10 wont read external mypassport drive my passport shows up in device manager but not file explorer. These file systems can help you to make your wd my passport work with a windows pc and mac at the same time. Compare the different options for formatting an external hard drive to work with windows and mac. It maintains compatibility with pc operating systems which requires reformatting, and it is similar in functionality and performance to the seventh generation my. Back up all important information on the drive before beginning. My passport usb not working on my ipad apple community. If your product is not listed above, please visit the product page. The best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac. How to get external hard drive to work with mac os x. A vast majority of video production will be done on a mac or windows operating system, so we arent going to cover linux.
Passport ultra accessing mac formatted drive on a pc wd. Jun 15, 2015 the my passport for mac is wds newest release, and was designed to specifically serve mac users with the same outofthebox functionality that the my passport ultra offers. So how do i get to see my files from my external hard drive on my pc. Select your wd my passport for mac drive from the left sidebar and click the mount button on the top of disk utility window. Once the system detects your connected drive and mounts it for. I used to have a macbook air so it would always read the devise cause i guess it was formatted just for mac. Reformatting a western digital my passport hard drive to function well on windows and macintosh systems is neither timeconsuming nor. Mar 22, 2016 i formatted a my passport ultra drive for the mac, in order to archive a large number of photos win32 format kept failing on the file copy. Below the format options field, make sure to checkmark the box next to the quick format option.