Step 4: After specifying the fields, click on the Erase button at the bottom of the window and Disk Utility will format the drive.
The most recommended format is APFS or Mac OS Extended (Journaled).
Step 2: From the left side panel, pick the volume or the drive that you want to format and switch to the Erase tab. Step 1: Connect the USB drive or external drive to Mac and launch the Disk Utility from Applications.
Before you erase a disk, make sure that you have a backup of the files you want to keep. Here is the step by step guide you need to follow to format the hard disk on Mac. So, whether you wish to format the internal hard drive, external drive, or a USB flash drive, the procedure is the same for all.
How to Format a Hard Drive on Mac:įormatting is a very simple procedure that is operated in a similar way for all sorts of storage media. Under all these situations, formatting is most likely to fix your problems and you will be able to use the drive on Mac.
It is called high-level formatting as it is used to prepare the disk for different file system formats. There is another term related to disk formatting and it is called reformatting. But it leaves the track to recover the data using the recovery tool. The basic operation is termed as low-level formatting which means erasing the existing data on the disk. Basically, formatting is the process of preparing the storage devices such as hard disk drive, solid-state drive, USB flash drive, or any other for initial use. Some people confuse the term with reformatting. Situations When Formatting a Hard Drive on Mac:īefore you get deep, you must understand what is the drive formatting.