How To Reformat A Wd External Hard Drive

• Format Western Digital Hard Drive
• How To Reformat A Wd External Hard Drive
• How To Reformat A Wd External Hard Drive

Dec 03, 2020 • Filed to: Answer Hard Drive Problems • Proven solutions

External drives are portable hard drives that can be used for storing data that you want to keep on hand during your travels. Most of the external drives especially the WD ones available in the market are either formatted in NTFS or HFS+ format. The NTFS format is for Windows while HFS+ is for Macs. However, the new Macs are shipped with the latest Mac OS version, macOS High Sierra which supports the Apple File System or APFS. If your WD external drive isn't in this new format, you won't be able to use it if your Mac has been updated to macOS High Sierra. In such cases, you need to simply convert your WD external drive to APFS format.

Just connect your WD portable hard drive with the computer which has installed Super Eraser. Then run Super Eraser on your computer. Step 2: Reformat the WD portable hard drive. Choose this mode 'Wipe Hard Drive', select the WD portable hard drive, click on 'Wipe Now' button. Formatting a hard drive can change the file system to make it compatible with your computer's operating system, as well as fix any non-physical errors on the drive itself. Be aware that formatting a hard drive erases the drive's contents in the process.

How to Convert External Drive to APFS format

If you want to format your external drive from its existing file format to the new Apple file format, APFS, or Apple File System then you should follow these simple steps.

On the macOS 10.13 High Sierra, navigate to the disk utility and open it.

Locate the USB port of your computer and then connect your WD external drive into it.

Part 2: Format External Hard Drive for Mac with Disk Utility. Formatting an external hard drive would erase everything on it. Hence, you must backup your important files before reformatting the drive if you want to save them. The easiest way is to drag it from one drive to another. All is set, then you can go ahead to format the drive on your Mac. Format WD hard drive via Diskpart The first tool occurs to your mind to format WD hard drive might be File Explorer. However, in File Explorer, if you right click partition on the WD hard drive and choose 'Format', you'll find that there is no exFAT option. At this time, you can format WD hard drive to exFAT via Diskpart. How do I reformat my 3T WD external hard drive for Windows 10 to Windows 7. There is no files on the hard - Answered by a verified Tech Support Specialist We use cookies to give you the best possible experience on our website.

In the Disk Utility window, find the option Show All Devices and click it.

In the windowpane located on the left, find the drive volume and select it after which click on the option labeled Partition.

Check that the scheme listed under Device Information has been set to GUID Partition Map. Then pick Mac OS Extended Journaled from the drop-down menu for the Format under the Partition Information.

After taking the required steps, hit the Apply button.

Hit the button labeled Partition

Select the partition of the external drive either labeled No Name or My Passport and then right-click on it.

In the drop-down menu that appears, click the option labeled Convert to APFS.

It will take a little time for the conversion process to complete, so be patient. You will see a tick-mark appear once the conversion has been completed. When this tick-mark appears, click the ‘Done' button.

To ensure that the file format of the drive has been converted, go to the desktop and right-click on the My Passport drive.

In the drop-down menu that appears, click on the option labeled Get Info.

Check that the Format option under general has been changed to APFS.

What is APFS?

APFS is the short form of Apple File System. It was introduced by Apple in the year 2006 and is now the default file system of the latest Mac operating system, macOS High Sierra. This new file system replaces the previous file system, Mac OS Extended or HFS+, which was used by all the Mac OS versions which came before it. It offers several advantages over its predecessors and is automatically applied to your hard drive upon the installation of macOS High Sierra. APFS has been optimized for SSDs and flash drives but can be used for external and hybrid drives as well. However, it is best suited for flash and solid-state drives.

One thing to keep in mind about APFS is that it only works on macOS High Sierra. So, if you don't have this Mac OS installed on your Mac, you won't be able to open any drives using the APFS format.

Advantages of Converting to APFS

APFS offers a ton of benefits that you don't find in HFS+. Moreover, it is also the recommended file system for SSDs and flash drives. The following are some of the advantages that you can avail of by converting to APFS.

• Fast Duplication and Copying: APFS is a lot faster than HFS+. It can copy and duplicate files and folders within seconds. The process is almost instantaneous and will be over in the blink of an eye. You won't have to wait for an eternity to see the files being copied one Megabyte at a time. The reason why APFS can do that is that it makes use of metadata. This allows it to complete the copying and cloning process much more quickly than HFS+ ever could.
• Reliability: Aside from fast performance, APFS is also the most reliable file system around. Apple has worked on the reliability of this file system and has ensured that it does not crash as much as HFS+ used to do. This means that you would have to face fewer instances of file corruption than before if your drive is using the APFS format.
• Efficient Partition Management: APFS does a great job of managing the partitions that you have created on your drive. It stores the information on the partitions in such a manner that files don't get fragmented and need to be pieced together later. This efficient use of the available drive space ensures that you don't run out of storage space anytime soon.
• Encryption: Privacy is a very big issue for people and if you have some sensitive data on a file or in a folder then you would want to keep it private. With APFS, you get the chance to encrypt individual files and folders on your drive in addition to encrypting the entire hard drive. This offers you an added layer of security that HFS+ couldn't provide.

If you have bought a new WD external drive that isn't formatted in the APFS format then you would have difficulty in opening it on a Mac running macOS High Sierra. Moreover, you won't be able to enjoy the numerous benefits that this new file format has to offer you. To make sure that your WD external drive takes advantage of the APFS format, you need to convert it from HFS+ to APFS. How to download fortnite for windows. You need to follow a simple set of procedures to ensure that your WD external drive is converted to the APFS format. These steps are easier to follow and the whole process wouldn't take much time to complete.

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While most external hard drives are already designed to work for Windows computers, there are times when you need to reformat one. You might want a drive that works with Macs and PCs, or maybe you want to partition it, which will split it up into two different formats. Here's how to format an external hard drive for Windows 10 or partition it.

How to Format a Hard Drive for Windows 10

Note: Formatting your drive will erase all the existing files on it. So if your external hard drive already has important files on it, make sure to back them up before proceeding.

1. Connect your external hard drive to a Windows computer. If your external hard drive is working, your computer will automatically detect it, and the drive will appear under Devices and Drives next to your internal drives in the This PC window. You can also find it in the left sidebar of File Explorer.

   Note: If you already used your external hard drive on a PC, be sure to back up any files on it. Formatting your drive will wipe out all the data in it.

2. Right-click on the external hard drive and click Format.
3. Choose a format under File System. By default, Windows computers will choose NTFS (New Technology File System) for you because that's the native Microsoft filing system. But if you want the external hard drive to also work on a Mac, you should choose exFAT.

   Note: The exFAT file system only works on Mac 10.6.5 or later, and Windows XP SP3 or later.

4. Check the Quick Format box, and click Start. Depending on the size of the drive, and if there are files to be deleted in it, this can take a few to several minutes to finish.
5. Click OK when the Format Complete pop-up screen appears.

Now you have a hard drive formatted for Windows, but what if you wanted to use it with Mac computers also? One easy way to have a hard drive that works with Mac and Windows is by partitioning it. This means you're splitting the drive into two formats, one for Mac and one for PC. Here's how to do that:

How to Partition an External Drivein Windows 10

Format Western Digital Hard Drive

1. Open the Windows search box, type 'diskmgmt.msc,' and hit enter. The Windows Search Box is the magnifying button icon in the bottom-left corner of your screen.
2. Right-click on your external hard drive and select Shrink Volume. If this option is not available to you, reformat the drive to NTFS and try again.
3. Enter an amount of space that you want to shrink your volume by. The remaining space will be displayed in megabytes.
4. Then click Shrink. This will split the hard drive, with one part becoming unallocated space.
5. Right-click the unallocated space on your drive and select New Simple Volume.
6. Click Next.
7. Then indicate how big you want the partition to be. If you want to use the rest of the space, enter the maximum disk space indicated above it. Then click Next.
8. Next, choose what drive letter you want to use. Letters that have already been assigned to other drives will not be on this list, so don't worry if there are missing letters. Just choose among the drive letters still available.
9. Go to File System and choose a format. Windows will choose NTFS for you because that's Microsoft's native filing system. But if you want the external hard drive to also work on a Mac, you should choose exFAT, which is an upgraded version of FAT32.

   Note: The exFAT file system only works on Mac 10.6.5 or later, and Windows XP SP3 or later.

10. Check the Quick Format box, and click Next.
11. Finally, click Finish. If a pop-up appears telling you to format the disk, click Format Disk. After that, the newly formatted disk will open automatically.

Partitioning your external hard drive will enable you to perform tasks in one section without affecting the rest of the drive. If you want to know how to format a hard drive for Mac, check out our previous article here.

How To Reformat A Wd External Hard Drive

How To Reformat A Wd External Hard Drive

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