This process erases everything on the disk, including its files and all its partitions. To erase this partition, we’ll have to wipe the entire disk. This partition is marked as protected, so you can’t just right-click and delete it - the delete option will be disabled.
The Mac drive may have an “EFI System Partition” on it. You can then right-click in the empty space and select New Simple Volume to create a partition and format it with the Windows NTFS or FAT32 file systems. If you’re lucky, you can just right-click each partition on the Mac drive and select Delete Volume to remove the partitions. Be sure you’ve identified the Mac drive - if you accidentally delete partitions from another drive, you could damage your Windows installation or lose your files. Locate the Mac drive in the list of disks. This tool allows you to manage the partitions on drives connected to your computer - internal ones or external ones connected via USB. Press Windows Key + R to open the Run dialog, type diskmgmt.msc into the box, and press Enter to open it. RELATED: Understanding Hard Drive Partitioning with Disk Managementįirst, open the Windows Disk Management tool. You’ll probably want to uninstall Java when you’re done.Įrase the Mac Partitions, Including the EFI System Partition
HFSExplorer unfortunately requires you install Java to use it, but it’s the only free option here. If you only have Windows systems available, you can use HFSExplorer to copy files from the drive onto your Windows system drive or another drive. If you have a Mac lying around, you can plug the drive into a Mac and back up the files. Instead, we’ll just be wiping the drive and starting over from scratch. This process won’t actually convert the file system. Click Cancel and it will turn off the Time Machine.Īfter you turn off the Time Machine, redo steps 4 to 6.First, back up the data on the Mac-formatted drive if you have anything important on it. Time Machine in menu bar.” This will open another window. You can do this by opening System Preferences and unchecking the box This is an issue caused by Time Machine running on your external Click done toĬontinue,” don’t freak out about it. If you get an error message that states, “Erase process has failed. This will immediately wipe the entire drive.
exFAT is compatible with both PC and Mac.APFS (Apple File System) is only for newer Macs running macOS 10.13 or later.
Mac OS Extended (Journaled) is the best option for most Mac users since it is compatible with all Macs.However, you can choose between the following formats: You can choose whatever name you want, and you should choose GUID Partition Map for the Scheme in most cases. Choose a name, format, and scheme for your drive.This will open a small pop-up window with a warning that erasing the drive will delete all data stored on it and that it can’t be undone. For the best result, select the disk (the highest option in the external tree).
You can find this on the left-hand side of the screen under External Hard Drives. Click the external hard drive you want to format.
Here’s how to do that: How to Format a Hard Drive for Mac So if you’re trying to connect an external hard drive to a Mac, you might have to format the drive before you can use it. Most external hard drives are designed to work for Windows computers.