External Hard drive formatting Help?

#1

I got a segate 4tb external hard drive for $75 and now need to configure it for Mac OS and Windows OS, any recommendations? I see that ExFat is very popular, should I use it?

#2

If you are using it for your Mac, I do believe it would have to be in a Mac format.

To do this…

  1. Go to Disk Utility
  2. Select that hard drive
  3. Click Erase (on top) tab… you’ll get a drop down box with options available
  4. Name …anything you want
  5. Format … Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
  6. Scheme … GUID Partition Map
  7. Then just click “Erase” at the button right to start the format

Viola! That’s it. :slight_smile: Sorry, I don’t have a PC so I don’t know you would format it for a PC. Hope this helped :slight_smile:

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#3

Thanks @Nhi, I ended up using ExFat, GUID partition. Finally another Mac user! Now I am not alone

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#4

There’s plenty of us Mac users on the forum! :grin:
And, yes, ExFat should work for both Mac and PC. Good call!

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#5

Yep, another Mac user here. As @Nhi and @TechnicallyWell have already mentioned your probably best with exFAT if you are jumping between both MacOS and Windows, unless you want to go the NTFS route with a third party software like Paragon NTFS for Mac.

MacOS journaled is your best option for just Mac use.

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