Connect it, power it up, go to disk utility in applicationsutilities, select the wd disk on the left, go to the erase tab, and choose mac os. Select the file system from the dropdown list, which is available in the format expansion and choose either exfat or fat32. Western digital 2tb external hard drive wifi the western digital 2tb external hard drive is designed with a massive capacity to connect 8 different devices and store the data at the same time. Steps on how to format the drive are provided on the following link. Apple may provide or recommend responses as a possible solution based on the information provided. Step 5 thereafter, click on the erase button and let the system erase everything on the drive and reformat wd elements for mac by exfat or fat32 format. Free trial of wd smartware pro backup software wd elements includes a free trial. A western digital wd external hard drive can be used with any computer once it has been formatted by the computers operating system.
However, making your storage device mac compatible, and even cross compatible with macs and pcs, is as simple as reformatting the drive. How to fix wd hard drive not recognized on mac without losing. Can i use a wd elements external hard drive on my mac. You can also see it in the finder in the left column under. Want to reformat my wd passport so i can use it on a pc instead of apple only. Tips for formatting wd elements for mac wd elements is a very popular external hard disk that is used by a lot of people around the world. Mac cant read wd elements external drives for mac wd. How to format wd external drive for mac apple community. Select the unrecognized wd hard drive from the sidebar. This site contains user submitted content, comments and opinions and is for informational purposes only. Buy wd wdbwlg0020hbkeesn elements desktop 2tb usb3 desktop. The small, lightweight drive features up to 5tb of storage with wd quality and reliability. You have in your macs operating system a piece of software called. Includes a free trial of wd smartware pro automatic backup software.
I mistakenly ordered the wd my passport ultra drive for windows instead of my passport for mac. This is useful if a drive is being used under both operating system osto. It maintains compatibility with pc operating systems which requires reformatting, and it is similar in functionality and performance to the seventh generation my. I just recently got a new external hard drive to use with my 2011 imac.
Formatting a wd my passport for a macbook air macrumors. We reformat a hard drive if we are switching from one platform to another windows to mac and vice verse back to the main topic, below is a step by step instruction on how to formatreformat a hard drive for mac os. All is set, then you can go ahead to format the drive on your mac. This formatting is also known as mac os extended journaled file system. How to format a wd hard drive to exfat or fat32 file system. The easiest way is to drag it from one drive to another. If first aid cant repair the wd hard drive, or disk utility doesnt recognize the volumes of the drive, probably, the. Wd data recovery external hard drive and software support. Inputoutput error when reformatting wd elements ext hard. Buy wd wdbwlg0020hbkeesn elements desktop 2tb usb3. Locate the icon assigned to western digital my passport drive and rightclick the connected drive icon and click format in the popup menu. If you post a screenshot of it it would be even more helpful. I have a wd elements 1tb which works perfectly when i use it with timemachine.
If disk utility is unable to repair the wd external drive, do not erase the content as doing so will reformat the entire volume but recover all data and. Try wd advanced format utility alternative easeus external hard drive formatter to format disk while wd external drive format failed with wd quick formatter tool. In the storage devices window, click the wd elements 2tb hard drive, and select the rightarrow icon at the bottomleft corner of the screen to proceed with the next steps. Connecting the wd elements drive to a computer running windows operating system, you will get quick workarounds to formatting wd elements for mac. When i tried to drag and drop files onto it i got a message that said that the disk could not be modified. My wd external hard drive is attacked by unknown virus, most of the files on the hard drive are infected.
Download wd quick formatter to reformat wd external hard drive to ntfs, fat32, etc in windows 1087. The exfat file system is a better option when it comes to formatting wd my passport on mac. Apr 30, 2020 quick workarounds to formatting wd elements for mac. Tutorial on how to format a western digital elements harddrive for a mac. In the found drivepartition section, select the partition where you want to recover data. The wd 2tb external hard drive setup is lightweight, compact, where you can store movies, music, pictures, office documents and take it with you wherever you go. Need to reformat wd hard drive for mac if you connect your wd hard drive without reformatting, youll be unable to copy files to the disk as mac read only supports ntfs file system. I want to reformat the wd external hard drive and permanently erase the virusinfected files. With the help of the wd discovery software, download the ntfs driver for the mac operating system so that reformatting is not required. Plug the cable attached to the wd external hard drive to the appropriate port on the mac, for example, the usb port. Formatting a wd external hard drive does not require any additional software. This article explains reformatting is required for macos compatibility.
Format external hard drive for mac with disk utility. This answer explains how to format a wd drive for use on windows and macos. Wd elements usb3 desktop storage transfer files faster than ever when connected to a superspeed usb 3. The remo recover software begins to scan the western digital elements 2tb hard drive. How to reformat western digital element 1 tb solved ccm. How to open an external drive thats not showing on mac. I intend to use the drive with time machine for back ups. Wd elements portable storage offers reliable, highcapacity storage to go, ultrafast usb 3. I use time machine for backups with this drive and i have not explored the included software.
Many storage devices such as usb drives and external hard disk drives come preformatted in ntfs because a larger number of consumers are using them on pcs. Western digital wdbpck0010bbk wd 1tb elements usb 3. The system requirements can be formatted ntfs for windows 7,8,10 and mac os x. Quick fixes of wd hard drive not recognized on mac error. I had this model replace a wd book version of usb external hard drive that i purchased 2 days ago and was supposedly formatted specifically for mac os x 10. I selected mac os extended as the format, and clicked erase. Could you please navigate to disk management and see how the drive is seen there.
How to fix my mac not recognizing my wd external hard drive. How to format and reformat wd elements for mac recoverit. I know i am supposed to format it for mac via disk utility before i can use it, but this process also fails. So it will be better to format it in a supported format before you can use it. Formatting an external hard drive would erase everything on it. Jan 08, 2020 dont fret you can change the formatting. Did it mounted successfully last time you plugged into the mac. If your product is not listed above, please visit the product page. Buy wd wdbuzg0010bbkwesn elements portable 1tb usb3 portable.
Wd elements portable storage the ideal companion for valueconscious consumers who want to take their important files with them. Interface requires reformatting for mac os x usb 3. So, based on the process of mac recognizing a wd hard drive, we need a thorough check to know which part makes the wd hard drive not working on mac, and then fix it in the following part. Buy wd wdbuzg0010bbkwesn elements portable 1tb usb3. Formatting and reformatting a drive erases everything. Now, click the erase, button and wait a few minutes and let the macos. Rather than send it back, id like to format it for my macbook air. Amazon is selling a 2tb wd external hard drive for just. Hi i have a wd my passport edge for mac 500gb external drive that i have been using for years on a macbook air, without glitches. Hence, you must backup your important files before reformatting the drive if you want to save them. In such a case, its necessary to reformat wd hard drive to make it compatible with mac operating system. Quick workarounds to formatting wd elements for mac.
Jun 15, 2015 the my passport for mac is wd s newest release, and was designed to specifically serve mac users with the same outofthebox functionality that the my passport ultra offers. Formatted ntfs for windows 8, windows 7, windows vista, windows xp requires reformatting for mac os x dimensions. Download wd quick formatter to format external drive in. This answer explain starting macos time machine backups to my passport. Free trial of wd smartware pro auto and cloud backup software wd quality and reliability 1year limited warranty there is a newer model of this item. How to fix wd hard drive not recognized on mac without.
Wd 2tb external hard drive setup and driver download. How to reformat western digital element 1 tb solvedclosed. In this blog post, we will walk you through the formatting. In order to make sure that there are no issues happening with the hard disk while you format it, it is important to make sure that everything is being done properly. Select the unmountable wd external hard drive and click erase on the top. Now, the erase dialogue window appears, here select the volume format dropdown list and choose msdos fat or exfat file system. The wd dlg shows the total capacity of the drive, not the remaining free one so this doesnt mean the data is gone. Normally when you plug in an external hard drive to your mac s usb port you will see it appear on the desktop aka mount on the desktop. So i tried reformatting it with disk utility, erase.
It comes formatted for pc, but they claim it can be reformatted for any mac. Find efficient methods of wd external drive format for mac here. Compatibility may vary depending on users hardware configuration and operating system. Was there an unusual behaviour of the disk say an unpleasant clicking noise. How to fix my mac not recognizing my wd external hard. How to reformat western digital portable hard drive. A western digital external hard drive can be used on both windows and mac osx. Wait while first aid verifying and fixing possible errors of the wd hard drive.
Jimmy reformatting is the best way to reset the western digital wd portable hard drive to factory status. However, i recently bought a new one the exact same one just to have 2 backups just in case and my macbook doesnt recognize it. Wd element operates on ntfs format and thus it isnt supported on mac by default. This answer explains how to setup and use wd security and wd drive uti. Includes a free trial of wd smartware pro backup software. I went through the steps of reformatting utilitiesdisk utility, selected the elements and erased it, having changed the format to mac os extended. Want to reformat my wd passport so i can use it on a pc. Reformatting required for mac os compatibility wd western. Fix wd external hard drive not mountingshowing uprecognizeddetected on mac by reformatting. Mac cant read wd elements external drive solved mac data.
Step 2 doubleclick on the mac s main hard drive to open its window on the desktop. In order to make sure that there are no issues happening with the hard disk while you format it, it is important to make sure that everything is. The my passport for mac is wds newest release, and was designed to specifically serve mac users with the same outofthebox functionality that the my passport ultra offers. I run linux and reformatting my file servers drives wd g green powers only takes 2 minutes to format to my format of ext3 or one drive runs ntfs incase i ever go back to windows. Nov 19, 2017 i have a wd elements 1tb which works perfectly when i use it with timemachine. When you plug your wd external hard drive to macos, does it show in finder. Out of the both its not mac compatible, but you can format it for use. Protect your files with the free 30day trial of wd smartware pro and back up your files to your wd elements. Formatting wd elements for mac by quick workarounds. Western digital elements 1tb portable hard drive usb 3. Oct 11, 2018 want to reformat my wd passport so i can use it on a pc instead of apple only. Transfer a 2hour hd movie in just 3 minutes instead of minutes. Reformatting info found on line does not look real straight forward for non geeks. How can you use your wd elements drive without reformatting.
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