Related Articles
- Reformat Wd My Passport For Mac
- Reformat Wd Passport For Mac
- Format Wd Passport For Mac
- Reformat Wd Passport For Mac And Pc
- Reformat Western Digital Passport For Mac
- Reformat My Passport For Mac To Windows
- Format Wd Passport For Mac
- 1 Import Files From an External Hard Drive Easily
- 2 Use a SanDisk Pen Drive
- 3 Back up Western Digital Passport Essential
- 4 Clear a Flash Drive
As of 2018, Western Digital offers no shortage of external drives for Mac computers – from the My Book Essential to the My Book Pro and the My Book Studio, nearly 30 WD drives play nicely with Apple’s macOS operating system, as does the My Passport Studio model.
Equipped with USB-C™ technology, the My Passport™ Ultra for Mac portable drive offers an easy way to expand your storage with a modern metal design that complements your PC. It’s Windows® 10-ready out of the box to seamlessly deliver plug-and-play storage, while password protection with hardware encryption helps enforce the security of your content. Find the best wd passports for mac based on what customers said. Western Digital 1TB Black My Passport Portable External Hard Drive - USB 3.0 - WDBYNN0010BBK-WESN 4.4 1,145 $49.99 $49.99 “This portable hard drive is extremely user friendly and easy to install on Macbook Pros. I ended up buying a second one after loving my first so much!”. Can I reformat my WD Passport external HD to work for a Mac if it was used for a PC first? I used it with my old PC but now I need to use it for my Mac and it won't open when I plug it in.
But with more than 262.5 million PCs shipped in 2017, according to data from Statista, there’s a good chance your Passport Studio will need to play nicely with a Windows computer, too. When it comes to cross-platform flexibility, you’ve got a few options for crossing the Mac and PC streams.
About eFAT and FAT32
Here’s something your My Passport for Mac Quick Install Guide might not tell you: Hard drives usually come formatted in two different ways, one catering to Windows and one catering to Mac. NTFS-formatted drives work with Windows computers, and HFS+ drives work with Mac.
However, by formatting your My Passport differently, you can ensure compatibility in a variety of different ways. Hard drives formatted to exFAT or FAT32 can read and write data on both Mac and PC operating systems, though FAT32 is limited to a 4-gigabyte-per-file size limit. Formatting your drive will erase all its data, so be sure to back it up before making the change.
External Drive for Mac to Windows 10
If you’ve got a WD external drive for Mac platforms and you want it to work on a Windows 10 PC, exFAT format is your best bet. To start formatting, connect your WD Passport to your Mac; then open “Mac HD” and click “Applications,” “Utilities” and “Disk Utility.” From the Disk Utility window, select the Passport hard drive.
Here, you’ll usually see two listings of partitions available on the drive – select the listing that is furthest left. Click the Disk Utility’s “Erase” button; assign the drive a name in the “Name” field; then hit “Erase,” and click “Done” when the erasing process is complete. Now, click the “Partition” button at the top of the Disk Utility and click “Format.” Choose “exFAT” from the drop-down menu that appears and click “Apply” to format the drive, which will take a few minutes. Once the formatting is complete and you get a message that says “Operation successful,” click “Done.”
To Windows 8 and Earlier
The external drive for Mac to Windows 8 transition makes use of Window’s built-in Disk Management software rather than the macOS Disk Utility, but you’ll still want to format your WD Passport as an exFAT drive.
Reformat Wd My Passport For Mac
To do so, connect the Passport to your PC, enter the Windows 8 Start menu and choose “Disk Management.” In the Disk Management app, right-click on the drive and select “New Simple Volume..” from the menu that appears. This brings up the New Simple Volume Wizard. Click the “Next” button until you get to the “Format Partition” window and choose “exFAT” under “File System” (you can also change the name of the drive under “Volume label” if you wish). Make sure the “Perform a quick format” box is checked, and click “Next” when you’re ready. Click “Partition” and then “Finish” to format the drive to a cross-platform compatible exFAT mode.
References (2)
About the Author
As the co-founder of an LLC, the owner of a small business and a partner at an S-corporation (all working in media), Dan is no stranger to small business. As a business writer, he's contributed to publications including Chron.com, AZCentral, Fortune, GlobalPost, MSN Money, GoBankingRates, Zacks.com, The Motley Fool and more.
Cite this Article Choose Citation Style
Ketchum, Dan. 'How to Switch a WD Passport From a Mac to PC.' Small Business - Chron.com, http://smallbusiness.chron.com/switch-wd-passport-mac-pc-49146.html. 30 August 2018.
Ketchum, Dan. (2018, August 30). How to Switch a WD Passport From a Mac to PC. Small Business - Chron.com. Retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/switch-wd-passport-mac-pc-49146.html
Ketchum, Dan. 'How to Switch a WD Passport From a Mac to PC' last modified August 30, 2018. http://smallbusiness.chron.com/switch-wd-passport-mac-pc-49146.html
Note: Depending on which text editor you're pasting into, you might have to add the italics to the site name.
![Sierra Sierra](/uploads/1/3/3/9/133913321/989283427.jpg)
Western Digital partitions the 2TB My Passport external hard drives into a single NTFS partition which is optimized for Windows operating systems. Ip scanner for mac. This single partition makes reformatting the drive possible through Windows 8's Disk Management utility without needing to create a new volume. Ziphone for mac. However, you should back up any important data on the drive before reformatting it. After the format is completed, any data on the drive will be lost.
Step 1
Connect the 2TB My Passport drive to your computer using the USB cable.
Step 2
Press 'Win-X' to open Windows 8's utility menu and select 'Disk Management.' Alternatively, right-click the lower left corner of the screen and select 'Disk Management.'
Reformat Wd Passport For Mac
Step 3
Right-click the external drive's letter from either pane in Disk Management and select 'Format.'
Format Wd Passport For Mac
Step 4
Click the 'File System' drop-down menu and select 'NTFS' if you plan to use the drive only in Windows operating systems. Labview for mac. If you also need to use the drive on a Mac, select 'exFAT.' Optionally, enter a name for the drive in the Volume Label field. This name helps identify the drive in File Explorer.
![Reformat wd passport for mac Reformat wd passport for mac](https://www.storagereview.com/images/IMGT7361.jpg)
Step 5
Reformat Wd Passport For Mac And Pc
Uncheck 'Perform a Quick Format' to ensure that you thoroughly erase data on the drive. Disabling this option will greatly increase the format time. Keep this option checked if you're not worried about security and desire a fast reformat.
Reformat Western Digital Passport For Mac
Click 'OK' to format the drive. Depending on your previous selection and your computer speed, formatting could take seconds or hours.
Video of the Day
Reformat My Passport For Mac To Windows
Brought to you by Techwalla