Wd Hard Drive Formatting Software For Mac

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Jun 04, 2020  Summary: Go through the methods mentioned in this blog to get back your precious data from the erased or unreadable WD external hard drive. Comfort yourself, as there are easy & powerful techniques through which you can recover your lost data on macOS Mojave. Download the software on your Mac from Stellar’s official website. WD Quick Formatter, also called WD advanced format utility is a tool that allows you to reformat WD external hard drive to NTFS, FAT32, etc in Windows 10/8/7 or other Windows versions. It is usually used to repair corrupted hard disk when it is unrecognized or inaccessible, fix format issues when Windows was unable to complete the format. Aug 09, 2017  Question: Q: How to format WD external drive for Mac More Less. Apple Footer. This site contains user submitted content, comments and opinions and is for informational purposes only. Apple may provide or recommend responses as a possible solution based on the information provided; every potential issue may involve several factors not detailed.

Can I Use WD Hard Drive on Mac and PC

Before you get the answer, you must figure out what kind of file system can work well on both the macOS and the Windows system. macOS supports a handful of common file systems - HFS+, FAT32, and exFAT, with read-only support for NTFS. While Windows employs two major file systems: NTFS and FAT. FAT was inherited from old DOS and has exFAT as its later extension. In addition, the ReFS file system was developed as a new generation file system for server computers starting from Windows Server 2012.

That is to say, only FAT32 and exFAT can work on both Mac and PC. If you want to share digital files between Mac and Windows system easily, you must convert WD My Passport to FAT or exFAT. Here are three ways to format a WD My Passport, follow any one of them to convert to FAT.

  1. Solution 1. Format WD HDD with Software (FREE)

Software for Mac GoodSync for WD. Install WD Discovery for Mac. WD Drive Utilities for Mac. WD Security for Mac. Product Firmware Product. If your product is. Apr 16, 2020  Step 6 Once formatting completes, you can then use your drive in Mac as a usual hard drive. Part 3: How to Format WD My Passport in Windows System Just like Disk Utility on Mac, there is an in-built tool known as Disk Management in Windows. Nov 14, 2019  It helps to verify and repair a range of issues related to startup HD and external drive problems. If you are able to fix the hard drive or SSD in your Mac (or an external drive) using Disk Utility you will hopefully be able to recover your files. To run Fist Aid on an external hard drive: Open Disk Utility.

How to Format WD My Passport in Windows Platform (Free)

You can format a Western Digital My Passport external hard drive to ex-FAT or FAT32 format using a free ex-FAT or FAT32 converter - EaseUS Partition Master or use built-in applications Windows.

Solution 1. Format WD My Passport Using Software (Free)

It is a wise choice to use a professional format tool. With the help of EaseUS Partition Master Free, you can perfectly bypass the format limitation of the Windows disk management tool and help you format WD My Passport to FAT32 or exFAT easily without any obstacles. What's more, this Windows partition software helps you create, resize, clone, move, and merge partitions without difficulty. Follow the details below to convert WD My Passport to FAT32 or exFAT.

Format mac internal hard drive

Step 1: Launch EaseUS Partition Master, right-click the partition on your external hard drive/USB/SD card which you want to format and choose the 'Format' option.

Step 2: Assign a new partition label, file system (NTFS/FAT32/EXT2/EXT3), and cluster size to the selected partition, then click 'OK'.

Step 3: In the Warning window, click 'OK' to continue.

Step 4: Click the 'Execute Operation' button in the top-left corner to review the changes, then click 'Apply' to start formatting your external hard drive/USB/SD card.

Solution 2. Format WD My Passport Using File Explorer

Windows limits FAT32 partitions to 32GB. It does not offer the ability to format a drive larger than 32GB to FAT32, the only available choices are NTFS or exFAT. If you want to format your WD My Passport to FAT32, you must make sure that the size is smaller than 32GB. If it is larger than 32GB, you can only format it to exFAT.

Step 1. Open Windows File Explorer, locate and right-click on WD My Passport that you need to format, select 'Format'.

Step 2. Rename the drive, reset its file system to FAT32 or exFAT.

Step 3. Click 'Start' to begin the formatting.

How to Format WD My Passport in macOS/OS X Platform

The easiest way to format the drive to FAT32 or exFAT is by using macOS's built-in Disk Utility for FAT32 or exFAT.

Tips: The instructions below are designed to help repartition and format a hard drive. Once the process begins, all the data on the drive will be lost!

Step 1. Connect WD My Passport to your Mac.

Step 2. Once that's done, double left-click on the Mac HD, the internal Mac hard drive visible on the top-right corner of the desktop screen.Select 'Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility'.

Step 3. Select your WD My Passport on the sidebar, choose 'Erase'.

Step 4. Rename the drive, select the 'Volume Format' drop-down list and choose 'MS-DOS (FAT)' or 'ex-FAT File System'. Then click 'Erase'.

Wait for the process to complete and let the macOS erase data on the drive and reformat it by FAT32 or ex-FAT format. Then, you can use the drive in macOS or OS X as a regular hard drive.

Difference Between FAT32, exFAT, and NTFS

FAT is known as the File Allocation Table. The successive major versions of the FAT format are named after the number of table element bits: FAT12, FAT16, and FAT32. FAT32 is the oldest of the three file systems available to Windows. Individual files on a FAT32 drive can’t be over 4 GB in size. A FAT32 partition must also be less than 8 TB, which admittedly is less of a limitation unless you’re using super-high-capacity drives.

exFAT, Extended File Allocation Table, is optimized for flash drives. It was added to older versions of Windows with updates to Windows XP and Windows Vista. This file system doesn't have the limitations of FAT32. You can use it when you need a bigger file size and partition limits than FAT32 offers.

NTFS, NT File System, is the modern file system Windows likes to use by default. It is packed with modern features not available to FAT32 and exFAT. However, it only works with all versions of Windows, but read-only with Mac by default.

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 in exFAT or FAT32 format.

Tips to Avoid Formatting WD My Passport Without Backup

Just as I have mentioned above, once the process begins, all the data on the drive will be lost. To avoid unnecessary data loss issues, we highly recommended all users extract or back up important data to another device or partition in advance. You can copy files one by one to a new disk or drive. If you have quite a lot of data to be transferred, professional backup software shall be your best choice. Here we recommend you try EaseUS Todo Backup which allows you to directly back up target data with simple steps.

Step 1: Launch EaseUS Todo Backup software and then choose 'File Backup', 'Disk/partition Backup' or 'System Backup' for different backup purpose.

Step 2: Choose the system, disk partition, files or apps that you want to back up. Then select a destination where you want to store the backup file.

Step 3: Click 'Proceed' to start the data backup process.

Hot Topics - People Also Ask These Questions

What is the difference between NTFS, fat32, and exFAT?

NTFS is the commonly used file system for Windows internal drives. Windows OS can only be installed on an NTFS partition. FAT32 is an older file system used for external drives due to its great compatibility. exFAT is a replacement for FAT32, which is not as compatible as FAT32 but without the limitations of FAT32.

Can I use WD hard drive on Mac and PC?

Yes. 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 in exFAT or FAT32 format.

Can I convert exFAT to NTFS without losing data?

You are unable to directly convert exFAT to NTFS without losing data, as there is no such utility that can help you perform the exFAT to NTFS conversion. You can back up exFAT partition data to another drive and then format the exFAT partition to NTFS with EaseUS Partition Master Free.

How do I format my WD Passport?

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/exFAT), and Cluster size for the partition to be formatted, then click OK.

Step 3. Click OK in it to continue.

Step 4. Click the Execute Operation button on the top-left corner to review the changes, then click Apply.

Conclusion

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. According to the solutions above, the EaseUS partition tool stands out for its convenience and easiness. It's always your best choice.

Last updated on June 18, 2020

These formatting tools work for all brands and types of usb flash, hard drive, sd memory card. You may use them to force format on your usb/disk/sd for free. The best free formatter we tested for usb flash, disk drive, memory card.

Format usb flash or memory card on MAC? Be free to visit: Top 3 free formatters for MAC; Flash drive corrupted? Try these usb repair utilities: 8 usb repair tools for Windows

Table of contents

  1. A). HP USB Format Tool Download - needs admin privilege
  2. B). IM-Magic Partition Resizer Free - can also repair bad blocks for disk/usb before formatting

Hard Disk Formatting Software to Format Hard Disk?

'Windows was not able to complete the format when I received drive not formatted error message and performed a formatting there. Really want to format hard disk smoothly and also restore its common use. Thanks!'

'I am searching for best free drive formatting software to wipe everything stored inside before selling this drive online. Do you have any suggestion? Hope the suggested formatting software would help delete data permanently and any erased file will never be restored again. Thanks'

Hello, friends, you are also looking for the related hard drive reformatting utility to fix hard drive problems or remove hard drive viruses, bad sectors and sensitive data, etc? OK! No worry! Here are several tested best hard drive formatting programs for you.

Note: Before any formatting, we would recommend you backup data from your media. If the device is no longer accessible, you may try this tool: how to recover data from not formatted drive/card

Free Disk Drive/Memory Card Data Recovery Tool (386)

Free Download Tool to Recover Data from Damaged Media, inaccessible drive, not formatted disk/usb/memory card.

Tested 5 Best Free Hard Drive/USB/SD Formatting Tool

Here are several common and useful free hard disk formatting utilities for you:

1). HP USB Disk Storage Format tool

HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool is really a free disk formatting tool which allows people to easily and quickly format a USB flash drive to FAT32, exFAT or NTFS file system. And it can work flawlessly even when Windows was unable to complete the format when your usb pen drive turned raw format.

MUST READ: * It needs you to run it under 'Administator'

With this software, if necessary, you can also make a bootable USB drive by choosing its 'Create a DOS startup disk' option.

Pros:

*It is completely free and easy to grasp and use.
*It works well in formatting USB drive into FAT32, FAT or NTFS.
*It is portable and could be installed on a flash drive to be used on different PCs.
*It allows people to 'Create a DOS startup disk' to help boot up a computer from USB flash drive.
*It supports common Windows operating systems.

Cons:

* It works well on USB flash drive and does not recognize internal hard drives and partitions.
* It needs you to run it under 'Administator'

Also read: HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool Review and Error Fixing

2). IM-Magic Partition Resizer Free

As a disk formatting tool, Partition Resizer Free Edition also allows people to format the selected hard drive or partition into FAT32/ntfs for free. As a partition managing program, this software also help format, create, wipe, delete, resize, hide and manage partitions effectively for you.

Free USB/Disk Formatter (1386)

Download IM-Magic Partition Resizer Free Edition to format disk/usb/memory card totally free of charge.

Format, repair bad blocks totally free of charge.

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Must have: it has 'Check Partition' function to check and repair possible errors for your digital devices.

Pros:

*The home edition is free and easy.
*It helps format hard drive or partition into FAT32 as you wish.
*It also help format, wipe, delete, resize, hide and manage computer internal hard drive partitions well.
*A tutorial video will also be automatically popped out and lead you to this software step by step.
*It supports the latest Windows 10/8/7 Vista and XP.

Cons:

*This home edition is free for personal use.

Remove Sensitive Data on Hard Disk/USB Flash by freeware Partition Resizer Free

Some users want to download disk formatting programs with the purpose of removing personal information on their storage media that they do not want to share any byte of the confidential data with another one.

In case of removing sensitive data with the usb format tools, we would recommend this freeware - Partition Resizer Free to you since it is built with a function - 'Wipe Partition' that could wipe the whole disk or usb by writing 0 or 1 into the disk, which makes the old data to be completely overwritten and can not be restored by any data recovery programs.

Step 1: Download and install Partition Resizer Free and get the usb/card to your PC if you want to remove an external device.

Step 2: Launch Partition Resizer Free and then right click the media you want to remove its privacy.

Step 3: Choose a wiping method. Time consumption depends on how much data on your media. Usually 120GB data would take about 10 minutes.

3). HDD Low Level Format Tool

HDD Low Level Format Tool is also another completely free disk formatting utility and allows people to easily format internal and external hard disk. With a Low-level format function, it often helps users format a hard drive completely and leave no original drive data there as well as removing some basic hard drive problems.

Pros:

*It is free and user-friendly.
*It support not only external hard drives, and also reads internal hard drives.
*It also offers a low-level format option to help users completely format hard drive and also ease everything inside drive.
*It also supports external memory cards, like SD, MMC, memory stick, CF card and more.

Cons:

*Pay $3.30 to upgrade this free tool to get faster speed and free lifetime updates.
*It recognizes the internal hard drive as one, not separated partitions.
*The speed of this free version is capped at 180GB per hour which is 50MB/s.

4). USB Disk Storage Format Tool

Wd Hard Drive Formatting Software For Mac Pc

As the second disk formatting tool tested and listed here, USB disk storage format tool is also 100% freeware and allows people to completely format any USB flash drive or memory card with FAT, FAT32, exFAT and NTFS file system formats.

Wd hard drive format for mac

Pros:

*It is free, fast and safe to format a flash drive or memory card.
*It supports all USB flash drives and memory card, like pen drive, thumb drive, CF, SD, Micro SD, TF, SDXC, SDHC memory card and more storage devices with different bands.
*It supports USB drive and memory card with FAT, FAT32, exFAT and NTFS file system types.
*It helps formatting storage device and also removes all stored videos, music and files completely.

Cons:

*It also does not read any internal hard disk and partition.
*Upgrade software to pro version to get more features, like creating bootable USB disk, formatting USB disk not recognized by Windows, doing a low-level format or adjusting cluster size for USB disk for faster speed, etc.
*It supports FAT, FAT32, exFAT and NTFS file system types only.

5). Tokiwa FAT32 Formatter

Tokiwa FAT32 Formatter is also a free disk formatting program which also helps everyone format hard disk and partition into FAT32 for free. With an easy-to-use interface, this software is also able to help delete or initialize a drive or partition smoothly.

Pro:

*It is free and easy to grasp.
*It allows users to delete or initialize hard drive partitions with simple clicks.
*It also reads all computer internal hard drives as separated partitions.
*It also allows user to format drive or partition into FAT32

Cons:

*It is able to format only unallocated space into FAT32 file system type.
*It only allows people to format hard drive or partition into FAT32.
*It supports Windows XP/Vista /2000 /7 only.

Free usb/disk formatting without software

Format External Hard Drive Mac

Here are also some free methods that are available for you to operate hard drive formatting or usb format without any software under Windows.

Method 1: format by right click the disk drive, pen drive or sd card

Wd Hard Drive Formatting Software For Mac Download

Method 2: format under PC Disk Management

Method 3: format with cmd, it works when Windows was unable to complete the format

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Step 1: open cmd by typing 'cmd' or 'diskpart' in 'Search Programs and Files' under Windows start

Hard Drive Formats For Mac

Step 2: type the letters inside of the quote 'format F: /fs:fat32' and enter. F must be replaced by the drive you want to format.

If you want to know more solution about why and what to do when Windows was unable to complete the format, you may read this article: Windows failed to format

Or you may see the following video to get a quick fix when it is unable to format your drive/card.

Note: when your flash drive or hard disk is damaged, be free to try these 8 free usb drive repair software for free repairing.

Conclusion:

No matter why you have to format a hard drive or memory card, there are always five common ways for you to choose, like formatting it in My Computer, performing a formatting process in Disk Management, formatting a hard drive with common line, doing a formatting process with drive partition managing software or disk formatting software. And No matter which way you choose at last, hope you can extract and save important data backups well in advance to avoid any unexpected data loss troubles.

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