Format hard drive for mac terminal Are you intended to expand your Mac storage? Here, we comprehensively explain how to format and reformat your external hard drives on a Mac. Apr 28, 2025 · Learn how to securely erase a Mac's hard drive using Terminal commands. Nov 14, 2025 · Here are the 3 ways to Format a Seagate external hard drive for Windows 11 and Mac, which ensures smooth performance and compatibility after formatting. With that being said, let’s now take a look at how to format external HDDs in Mac. Click the Erase button, Disk Utility will start formatting the drive Once complete, click Done Feb 4, 2022 · With larger storage sizes available for newer Mac models, you may think about partitioning your Mac’s hard drive to create separate containers for different types of data. Aug 1, 2024 · APFS file system is a native file system of Apple iOS and macOS. Oct 14, 2023 · The Terminal app that comes pre-installed on all Macs provides a way to format drives to NTFS using command line tools. However, attempting to erase the drive gives this error: It's repeatable. Aug 22, 2024 · Learn how to format a drive on Mac with simple, step-by-step instructions and tips for selecting the right file system for your needs. Aug 29, 2022 · As generally, it looks like this: diskutil eraseDisk FORMAT DRIVE_NAME /dev/disk# Hit enter, and the drive should start erasing and show its progress. Everything looks good otherwise and the Terminal commands should work. Oct 24, 2023 · As a Linux user, one of the first things you‘ll likely need to do is format a new drive you‘ve installed in your system. Aug 30, 2016 · This guide will walk through how to erase and format an entire target disk using exclusively the command line on any Mac using macOS or Mac OS X. Information on how to partition the drive via terminal is also wanted. Click the disclosure triangle to the left of the hard drive icon to display the names of your hard disk volumes and partitions. Jul 10, 2025 · This post gives you a straightforward solution for formatting a disk on Mac with a step-by-step guide. These steps do not apply to Mac computers with Apple silicon. May 11, 2015 · I want to force format of the hard drive, but neither Disk Utility nor Terminal commands works (Apple may have locked these functions). Formatting MacOS APFS Drive Made Easy APFS formatting lets you utilize your SSD drives most efficiently. Nov 27, 2020 · You donu2019t need a password if youu2019re just trying to erase a drive. In this article, we will cover the steps to format a hard drive using popular Linux distributions such as Ubuntu, Linux Mint, and Fedora. However, if you accidentally format a drive and need to recover data, you'll need to use specialized data recovery software, as macOS doesn't offer a built-in solution for unformatting drives. Apr 1, 2019 · To format a drive using Disk Utility first be sure you see the entire drive. Aug 8, 2019 · Repair corrupt Mac external hard drive with the help of Terminal commands & Mac application that rebuilds the directory structure of hard drive. You can choose APFS, Mac OS Extended or ExFAT as the file system, then format the SSD with ease. 59K subscribers Subscribe Confused about APFS vs. 3 days ago · Alternatively, you can run Terminal commands to perform some tasks on Mac including mounting an external hard drive. You could use this to keep your work and personal files separate, or to run an entirely different operating system in one partition on your Mac. To format a hard drive for Mac using Terminal command, you can follow these steps: Open Terminal on your Mac, type `diskutil list` and press Enter to see a list of all available disks, including the one you want to format. You can utilize APFS verbs to list, resize, unlock, add, or delete volumes in Terminal. Sep 2, 2014 · Some drives are even sold as "Mac-formatted drives" -- this just means they come with the Mac HFS+ file system instead of NTFS or FAT32. Different formatting methods, including using Disk Utility, Terminal, and third-party software, can be used to format your hard drive. While this method is free, it does require some comfort with using Terminal commands. Each method has its pros and cons. Choose View > Show All Devices. It also cleans the drive of any previous data or remnants from other operating systems, wiping it fresh for Mac. Then you can use Terminal or third-party tools to repair the external hard drive without losing data. The most common format for the Mac operating system is Mac OS Extended (Journaled). Jun 8, 2023 · In Conclusion Changing the format of a hard drive on a Mac may seem like a complicated task, but it’s not as difficult as it seems. Select the Format option Mac Extended (Journaled) or APFS. The goal is to reformat the drive to a Mac compatible format like Mac OS Extended (Journaled) or APFS without erasing or losing any of the existing data on the drive. 14 Mojave and want to format hard drive, external hard drive, USB or memory card on your Mac, you can try this solution – format hard drive in macOS Mojave with 1 click. In this article, you’ll learn how to safely manage your external hard drive using Mac's Terminal commands. EaseUS will teach you how to format NTFS drives on Mac using Disk Utility, NTFS For Mac, and Terminal in this guideline. Replace APFS with the preferred format and MyDrive with the name you want. Instructions Format Hard Drive Mac Os X Terminal If you went through the clean install process last year, these instructions will look familiar. If you are confused about how to format a disk using Terminal Mac, then read on, we provide a guide that can help you to erase the disk using Terminal on Mac. After setting, you can format a disk to NTFS on Mac in seconds. Apr 25, 2022 · Although external hard drives are usually formatted by the manufacturer, the installed file system might not be compatible with your device. May 16, 2023 · Mac’s built-in feature Disk Utility and Terminal can both be used to format the external hard drive, but Paragon NTFS for Mac is also a great option. In case you accidentally delete your files or format a wrong drive using Terminal commands, download this free Mac data recovery software to recover up to 1 GB of Sep 19, 2021 · Use Terminal to securely erase a drive What if you want to do this from Terminal instead? In Terminal, a program named diskutil provides most of the features of macOS’s Disk Utility. Use Terminal or Disk Utility to format Aug 29, 2014 · Specifically I would like to know how to format in the different file systems such as NTFS, FAT32, EXT4, etc. Jul 4, 2025 · How do you format an SSD on your Mac? This passage provides a detailed guide on Mac Format SSD. To learn how to start up your computer in macOS Recovery, see Intro to macOS Recovery. May 9, 2023 · This is the ultimate guide on how to format an external hard drive for Mac & PC and how to restore your data in case of accidental formatting. With Mac OS Yosemite 10. Lean what the advantages of APFS and how to quickly format a HDD/SSD, USB flash drive, memory card to APFS. Sep 06, 2019 In this article, we’ve given detailed instructions for each method. g. Mar 31, 2025 · DoYourData Super Eraser for Mac is a very powerful Mac data erasure application. However, the process may seem daunting for some Mac users. Aug 29, 2014 · Specifically I would like to know how to format in the different file systems such as NTFS, FAT32, EXT4, etc. External hard drives allow you to expand the storage capacity of your Mac beyond what came with the internal drive. Erase. Whether you want to erase all the data on the drive, change its file system, or troubleshoot any issues, formatting is the way to go. And, of course, if you want to reformat an NTFS drive to other file systems like Windows-and-mac supported exFAT, it could not be easier using the Disk Utility. This guide will help you how to format APFS for Mac. Mac OS Extended? We explain the best format for an external hard drive on Mac for Time Machine, storage, or Windows compatibility. Jan 7, 2019 · For Windows power users, we all know that diskpart clean command is pretty handy. Learn how to erase a disk on macOS using Terminal with our easy-to-follow guide. Getting Acquainted with diskutil If you simply type diskutil Dec 29, 2021 · I don't want to format the entire disk in APFS, I want, for example, an APFS volume with a size of 100GB and mark up the remaining unmarked space sometime later or even in another OS (for example, Linux or Windows). Feb 18, 2019 · I am trying to reformat my MAC using Disk Utility but the buttons are grayed out (see image below) SO I tried to use the terminal but not sure on the steps. You can choose any common file system format the disk to after it has been erased, including ExFAT, FAT32, HFS+, or JHFS+. Go to the Disk Utility app on your Mac using one of the following methods, depending on the type of disk or volume you want to erase: If you want to erase your startup disk: Start up your computer in macOS Recovery, then choose Disk Utility in the Recovery app. Apr 25, 2023 · If you have upgraded the Mac OS to macOS 10. Sep 27, 2023 · Formatting an external hard drive for use with Mac without losing data is a common task for many Mac users. Aug 3, 2009 · Here's how you would prep a new drive for the Mac: Extended Hard Drive Preparation 1. Be sure to format the disk to ExFAT to ensure compatibility with both Mac and Windows. Sep 23, 2024 · Ways to unlock full NTFS support on Mac is quite easy, especially the formatting functionality. Make sure you have backup first! Feb 15, 2023 · The second method to format your external drive in macOS is using Terminal. Oct 28, 2023 · Formatting a Seagate external hard drive on your Mac can be a necessary task for various reasons. Using command line or terminal easily we can format Hard disk or flash drive. So I heard the only way to turn on the MacBook again is to erase/unmount disk through Terminal. I tried the procedures described in this topic, without any success. How To Erase A Mac Hard Drive And Reset To Factory Settings Future Mars Army 1. Here is more. Any suggestions? Thanks, Harv Sep 24, 2025 · To convert an external hard drive to APFS format on Mac by formatting the hard drive, the very first thing you must do is back up the data from the hard drive by copying them to another hard drive or on your Mac, even on cloud services. In this guide, we will easily and reliable ways in which you can format NTFS on Mac. In this video, we'll show you the steps to securely wipe a disk or hard drive using Terminal commands. Find out how to format a hard drive for Mac. Jul 18, 2024 · How to Format External Hard Drives on Mac It is important to take a backup of your external hard drive before formatting. Share this article with precious solutions for NTFS drive formatting on Mac with users on social media: Nov 3, 2021 · If you’ve ever seen an error message telling you that macOS can’t unmount a disk, here’s why it happens and what to do about it. Feb 2, 2018 · Is the Partition Map Scheme for the Hitachi drive, GUID? You can check this by clicking on the Hitachi drive and it should tell you in the right pane under Partition Map:. If your MacBook’s Disk Utility won’t let you erase drives, follow the steps below to fix it. You'll be using this drive completely for OS X Yosemite, so don't waste a You can also use an existing hard drive partition, but that process Select Mac OS Extended (Journaled) as the format type and keep the name as "untitled. How can I format this? Note that it's already in ExFAT format. May 29, 2024 · Secure Erase is a reliable way to completely clean out your Mac's hard drive, whether protecting personal information or ensuring you follow security rules. Oct 11, 2023 · Let's dive in and discover how to format a drive using Command Prompt and DiskPart on any Windows machine. Learn how to use Disk Utility, Terminal or third-party disk formatting tools to format SSD on Mac. The amount of time it will take will depend partially on the specs of your Mac and the size and type of drive you’re erasing, but typically within a few seconds it will be done. Whether using 4DDiG Partition Manager, Disk Utility, or Disk Management, the process is straightforward. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. Aug 20, 2025 · How to format an external hard drive using Terminal on Mac. It’s always important to format any external hard drive or flash drive Jun 26, 2025 · Explore various effective techniques and conveniently learn how to copy files from a Mac to an external hard drive without formatting using this easy-to-follow guide. Disk Erasure Commands in the Terminal When you want to erase a disk on a Mac, knowing how to use terminal commands gives you more power and speed than anything else. Sep 22, 2025 · Learn how to format a disk in Linux using command line or GUI methods. This is a great thing to do when you first purchase a drive or when you are looking to Nov 27, 2020 · You donu2019t need a password if youu2019re just trying to erase a drive. Format Mac OS (Extended) GUID Partition Disk. Enter diskutil eraseDisk APFS MyDrive /dev/diskX to format the drive. Learn effective alternatives and ensure your data is securely wiped. To check details of APFS containers and partitions: (UUID, FileVault encryption) diskutil apfs list. I tried Fist aid, erase, and restore from disk until, but didn’t work. Dec 20, 2024 · Enter diskutil list to check all the connected drives. You must format the hard drive, and the tool to use will depend your computer's operating system. Here's what you need to do: Open up Terminal on your Mac from Applications > Utilities in Finder. Jan 29, 2020 · You can’t reformat a drive in macOS Disk Utility when the Erase button is grayed out. Aug 13, 2024 · Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to use the fsck command to repair an external hard drive using a Mac terminal: Open Terminal from your Applications folder or Utilities subfolder, or use Spotlight to search and launch it directly. Commands used:more 3 days ago · This tutorial covers all the details about reformatting external hard drives on a Mac. In this blog post, we will guide you through the steps to format your Seagate external hard drive on your In Disk Utility on your Mac, add, delete, erase, or enlarge a partition on a storage device. If the original drive was not upgraded to High Sierra, that should be done first so the internet recovery feature on the computer is updated to High Sierra. Read it to learn how to reformat an external hard drive for Mac, Windows PC, and both with the best format. But it is quite useful in many situations. Note: If you want to get your Mac ready to trade in, sell, or give away, and your computer is a Mac with Apple silicon or an Intel-based Mac with an Apple T2 Security Chip, use Erase Assistant. Oct 9, 2024 · Formatting a drive to ExFAT on a Mac is a simple process using built-in tools like Disk Utility or Terminal. Let's see how to mount a disk on Mac via Terminal: Nov 28, 2017 · Although Disk Utility should always be tried first, a Mac’s Terminal can be used to format the drive in these cases. In the formatting process, a partition called EFI appeared. 10, the following message is displayed in Terminal: Usage: diskutil coreStorage delete lvgUUID|lvgName Sep 23, 2025 · Summary: This post guides you to format a flash drive to NTFS using iBoysoft NTFS for Mac and Terminal. How to format a partition to NTFS on Mac? Dec 16, 2024 · Introduction Formatting a hard drive with Linux can be a straightforward process, but it requires some knowledge of command-line interfaces and the Linux terminal. If you need to reformat your startup volume, then you must boot from your OS X Installer Disc. In Disk Utility menu bar the last icon on the left "View" set to "All Devices". Properly formatting the drive enables faster read/write speeds, improves reliability, and allows the drive to be used with Time Machine for backups. Aug 22, 2025 · This article tells you how to format USB to FAT32 on Mac with two methods, including the steps to format a USB to FAT32 in Mac's terminal and Disk Utility for free. Jun 26, 2025 · Discover step-by-step instructions to force erase disk Mac terminal when Disk Utility fails. Mac OS X Mountain Lion gives users several ways to access the Terminal and three common options for formatting a hard drive. Sep 17, 2025 · To only erase your Mac without resetting it to factory settings, learn how to erase a Mac with Apple silicon or erase an Intel-based Mac. Formatting prepares the drive by writing a filesystem to it so it can mount and save files. This guide will show you how to format your external hard drive for Mac Catalina so you can continue using it with your computer. Plus, it answers how to write to an NTFS drive on Mac through Terminal, Boot Camp Assistant, and iBoysoft NTFS for Mac. When I open the D Mar 26, 2023 · This video is about creating volumes and partitions on your Mac and understanding the differences between the two options. Macs can read NTFS drives, and can read and write to FAT32 drives. Jan 2, 2016 · Formatting a drive on your Mac is quite easy. See full list on easeus. Follow to learn how to format a disk and set the most suitable format to your disk on Mac now. May 13, 2025 · Many Mac users do not use terminal commands due to its non-graphical interface. Dec 15, 2023 · How can an external disk be initialized, partitioned and formatted in macos Sonoma commandline? I tried checking out my external drive with the command diskutil list: /dev/disk2 (external, phys Sep 11, 2023 · diskutil is the command line version of Disk Utility, the macOS application used to manage hard drives. Mar 6, 2025 · Before we start: Before fixing a corrupted external hard drive using Mac Terminal, you can use Donemax Data Recovery for Mac to recover all files from it. Jun 25, 2025 · Instead, install iBoysoft NTFS for Mac, connect your external drive, and use the app’s formatting function to convert the entire disk to NTFS. If you’re using a Mac with Apple silicon, follow the steps to erase a Mac with Apple silicon. Back Up the Drive's Data First First, back up the data on the Mac-formatted drive if you have anything important on it. You can format your Mac hard drive via Disk Utility or by using Terminal commands. So we're making progress. This method lets you format your drive directly from Mac's command line. Once you’re familiar with it, you’ll find that the command is often more powerful and faster than Disk Utility, with more features to boot. Here are some methods to help you force format a hard drive to NTFS on Mac including using third-party disk management tool. Sep 21, 2023 · This post introduces how to use diskutil commands in Mac Terminal to manage disks/partitions like view, create, unmount, format, resize, repair disk partitions. Dec 9, 2024 · This step-by-step guide shows you how to erase an external hard drive, USB drive or SD card by using Terminal commands. In Disk Utility on your Mac, format disks or volumes using Apple File System (APFS), Mac OS Extended, MS-DOS (FAT), and ExFAT. You can try this method if you can't mount the drive in Disk Utility or recover the mount failed with 77 and 72 errors. Jan 18, 2025 · The process of forcing a USB to format on a Mac Terminal involves using the Terminal application to access the disk utility and issue commands to erase and reformat the USB drive. 3 days ago · Learn how to reformat an HDD or SSD for Mac, from Mac to PC, or for both Mac and PC, and how to make your external hard drive compatible with Mac and PC without reformatting. Aug 5, 2025 · Of course, you may want to format a disk using Terminal because Disk Utility won't let you erase hard drives. . But be careful while executing the Terminal commands, as any wrong operation can result in permanent data loss. Oct 23, 2023 · Learn how to transfer files from your Mac to an external hard drive without the need for formatting, ensuring your data remains intact and accessible. Dec 12, 2024 · Terminal offers commands to help in mounting drives on Mac. Jan 9, 2025 · If you need to format a USB drive to FAT32, you WILL lose your data. Jun 29, 2022 · If you're having trouble erasing a disk with the Disk Utility app, want to have a backup method, or just want to learn more about the Terminal, here's a beg In Disk Utility on your Mac, you can initialize an external storage device you connected to your Mac. The Terminal allows you to format a USB drive with various file systems, including HFS+, APFS, FAT32, and ExFAT. Select 'Utilities' and 'Terminal' to launch the command console and attempt to format troublesome hard drives that can't be formatted within Mac OS X. Read this article to learn how. You can erase the drive to APFS, ExFAT, HFS+, FAT32 or even NTFS. Jul 14, 2025 · We cover how you should format your USB drive before using it as a storage device, and which format to use - APFS, exFAT or Mac OS Extended (Journaled). So, it doesn’t matter if you want a clean slate on a second-hand MacBook or if you replaced the drive in your age-old machine, we’ve got you covered. Support to format or format to APFS, Mac OS Extended, ExFAT, FAT32, EXT4, NTFS, etc. Then choose your entire drive (Uppermost, unindented icon). Simply follow the instructions below to install the latest compatible version of macOS or OS X on your new Jun 26, 2025 · Explore various effective techniques and conveniently learn how to copy files from a Mac to an external hard drive without formatting using this easy-to-follow guide. Formatting a USB drive using the Mac Terminal is a fast and efficient way to prepare your drive for use or to erase its contents. Sep 21, 2024 · Follow this guide to securely format an external hard drive, SSD, USB flash drive, SD card on Mac. Just like Disk Utility, you can use the command to format disks, erase drives and more. Nov 18, 2022 · Wait for the formatting to complete and then that’s it! If you still want a graphic interface, let’s look at how we can format our USB drive using Disk Utility. (The old drive's USB connection has died, and I'm connecting to old Sep 30, 2023 · An external hard drive is a portable storage device that can be attached to a computer using a USB or Thunderbolt cable. It’s always important to format any external hard drive or flash drive Installing mac os x sierra on an empty hard drive. Jan 9, 2011 · I've been asked to move data from an old external hard drive to a new one, and to make the new one compatible with the Macintosh. Highlight the drive, select Partition Tab, then Format type MacOS Extended Journalled, select the Security Options button, choose Zero Out Data, Erase after completion do a new Provide a Name for the volume Set Format to Mac OS Extended (Journaled) Set Scheme to GUID Partition Map WARNING: Formatting the drive will erase all data on the drive, so you should copy any data you want off the drive prior to formatting. Open Disk Utility in your Utilities folder. Oct 6, 2023 · This guide will walk through the basic process of identifying, unmounting, formatting, and remounting a disk using the flexible “diskutil” command in Terminal on a Mac. This process makes sure your drive works well with your Mac and keeps your files organized. How to format your external hard drive for Mac Catalina. Note the Write Status is now Read/Write, and the Format is now Mac OS Extended (Journaled). If you're using a Mac with Apple silicon, follow the steps to erase a Mac with Apple silicon. Nov 19, 2022 · How do you force a hard drive to format a Mac? Hold down the Command and R keys as soon as you hear the Mac tone indicating a reboot. Formatting a storage drive involves preparing the drive for use by creating a file system that the operating system can recognize. Jan 31, 2025 · Use Disk Utility to erase an Intel-based Mac How to erase (format) the built-in startup disk of an Intel-based Mac. Helppp, I bought a hard disk not checking if it's compatible with my mac, now it's only compatible with Windows. I tried some commands from google, they weren’t recognized. Repeated attempts to erase and re-partition have left the drive as shown here. Note the disk identifier (e. In this article, we will discuss how to format storage drives using the Linux terminal. However, for unwanted file deletion or format, you can use data recovery tools designed for Mac to regain access to those lost files. If you want to erase any other type of storage device: Double-click Disk Utility in the /Applications/Utilities folder. Formatting a hard drive for Mac can be done using two effective methods. Nov 11, 2025 · Formatting NTFS on Mac can sometimes be a difficult task for users. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Installer menu (Utilities menu for Jan 3, 2024 · To format a USB drive or external hard drive to APFS (Apple File System) format on Mac, you can use the built-in Disk Utility app to easily realize the task. Important: If you're Jul 7, 2025 · Previously, to run NTFS on Mac, you needed a license. Aug 5, 2025 · To fix "This disk is not formatted as Mac OS Extended (Journaled)," you can enable journaling on your internal hard drive or reformat it with Mac OS Extended (Journaled). Nov 1, 2021 · Formatting Mac drives has changed in the Disk Utility app included with OS X El Capitan and macOS. Choose your Mac’s system drive, usually named Macintosh HD, then click Erase. Dec 4, 2022 · In this article we will look at how to format your hard drive to Mac OS Extended which is useful when working with older versions of macOS. Hitting enter then completes the formatting process. Command #1. Besides, to avoid the external hard drive not showing up on Mac error, our team suggests you check out our comprehensive guide with troubleshooting steps to help you combat any compatibility issues. Graphical How to Format FAT32 on Mac Using Disk Utility Disk Utility allows you to manage the internal and external storage on your Mac. Apr 23, 2019 · My MacBook Pro froze. Prepare your drive for use effectively following these detailed steps. Follow the step-by-step guide to mount an external hard drive, internal volume, SD card or USB drive on Mac by using Terminal commands. Select your Mac OS X volume. It will not only format the selected hard drive, but it also will permanently destroy & wipe all the data on the hard drive, making data recovery impossible. How to mount and unmount an external drive filesystem using diskutil in a Mac OS Terminal. Jan 9, 2024 · The best format for a Mac internal hard drive depends on the specific use case, but generally, “Mac OS Extended (Journaled)” or “ APFS (Apple File System) ” are recommended. Can you please tell me what is command to erase/unmount the disk from Terminal? My Mac is mid 2012. But how exactly does drive formatting work on Linux? What tools and commands can […] Nov 7, 2024 · If you need to convert a drive formatted with APFS (Apple File System) to the older Mac OS Extended format (also known as HFS+) there are multiple ways to do it. In this video we look at the process of formatting a hard drive, flash drive, or SSD on an Apple computer. Additionally, choosing the Mar 17, 2024 · formatting USB with FAT32 or NTFS on MAC i need to format a USB drive with either FAT32 or NTFS - how do I do this on a MAC MacBook Air, macOS 14. You can know two ways to format SSDs on your Mac. Oct 4, 2023 · Once you have deleted all existing partitions on the Mac hard drive, the next step is to create a new partition and format it. Understanding File Systems Jul 8, 2012 · Here's the current situation. 2 Posted on Mar 17, 2024 10:43 AM ⚠️ (40) Nov 20, 2024 · This guide offers 3 methods to format a drive from NTFS to FAT32 or exFAT on Mac, including using Disk Utility, Terminal, or DoYourData NTFS for Mac. Aug 16, 2016 · How do I format a disk partition from the command line on Mac OS X? In case someone wonders why: because for some people Disk Utility fails. Jul 16, 2024 · If you’re looking to get rid of all the data on a Mac hard drive or SSD, you need to wipe it fully. To remove all partitions from the disk and make the disk brand new again, in macOS we can use this command: andy-mac:~ andy$ diskutil list /dev/disk0 (internal, physical): #: TYPE NAME Mar 26, 2023 · This video is about creating volumes and partitions on your Mac and understanding the differences between the two options. Jun 26, 2025 · Are you looking to format NTFS on a Mac terminal? If yes, read our step-by-step guide to understand how to format drives to NTFS on MAC using the airport with ease. Jun 7, 2018 · A few months ago I decided to format an external HD that I wish to use with my Mac mini, but I can not use 100% of it. Dec 24, 2024 · However, in order to use a storage drive effectively, it must be properly formatted. These programs also let users read and write to NTFS drives without formatting or losing data. It outlines the steps of launching Terminal, using the 'diskutil list' command to check the drive name, and then using the 'diskutil erasedisk JHFS+ [drive name]' command to format the selected drive. Creating and Using a Terminal Format Command 1. Please help on the next step on how to Mar 15, 2024 · Getting your external hard drive ready for use with your Mac involves a simple step called formatting. May 24, 2024 · Experiencing difficulties while formatting a USB drive? These instructions provide detailed solutions on how you can easily format a USB to FAT32 on your Mac. If you are having trouble with the Disk Utility App for erasing or formatting a drive, you can try using the Command Line in Terminal to erase or format a drive. You can also open Terminal using Spotlight search (Command + Space). How to Format an OS X Terminal Hard Disk. Step-by-step guide for formatting and securely wiping data on your Mac drive. Aug 5, 2025 · Learn how to format NTFS drive on Mac and format drive to NTFS on Mac using Terminal, Disk Utility and NTFS formatter for Mac. com Aug 5, 2025 · APFS is the default file system for Macs running macOS High Sierra and later. To view all drive information# diskutil list 2. May 7, 2025 · Learn how to format an external hard drive for a Mac using built-in macOS tools and a third-party solution. Find the one where external is written and note the path which will be like /dev/diskX. Dec 5, 2024 · Conclusion To format your Mac startup disk or external storage drive safely, you must first back up the drive to avoid unwanted data loss. Use Disk Utility to erase an Intel-based Mac How to erase (format) the built-in startup disk of an Intel-based Mac. Nov 16, 2023 · An easy, step-by-step guide for formatting a drive on macOS, including an introduction to file systems and how to troubleshoot formatting issues. I am trying to format a high capacity external hard drive (EHDD) into NTFS - from the terminal. Connect the USB or HDD to your Mac computer. Here's how to do so. Fortunately, we have a workaround. Learn some safe and effective methods for wiping data. Sep 26, 2023 · Formatting a hard drive for your Mac is an important step to optimize performance and ensure compatibility. This document provides instructions for formatting an external hard drive on a Mac using the Terminal application. Wait for the macOS Utilities screen to appear, then click Disk Utility. You can format an external drive in OS X using Disk Utility and Terminal. This might happen for a variety of reasons, all of which keep you from erasing or reformatting the drives connected to your Mac. To view Node along Jun 7, 2025 · Apple’s new Mac operating system, Catalina, includes several changes requiring users to format their external hard drives differently to use them with the new OS. ukwa qjscw draht lxh lpwpag hcuq ntekmec pso yrrdtxca vxfrdrc wlwog ffztmj rhsuh cosm xlecxlg