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Macbook Pro Format Hard Drive

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  1. Macbook Pro Format External Hard Drive
  2. Format New Hard Drive
  3. Macbook Pro Format New Hard Drive
  4. How To Wipe Out Hard Drive On Macbook Pro | Tom's Guide Forum

Video editors will often find that they need to share files between a PC and a Mac. Use these steps to format external hard drives for both operating systems.

Top Image via Hard Drive Labels

May 10, 2019 Replacing a MacBook Pro Hard Drive. Before even starting to replace your MacBook Pro hard drive, you will want to gather your materials: An SSD; A Torx screwdriver; Phillips screwdriver (smaller) A SATA-to-USB cable; Remember that the SSD will impact the performance of your computer, so you do not want to get a cheap model. Method 1: Format Your Hard Drive on MacBook Pro 1) Access Finder menu by clicking on the Dock icon. You can also access it through Spotlight. 2) On the left click Applications, scroll down a bit to the Utilities. You will need to double click on it. 3) Once the folder opens you will the Disk Utility. Best Buy customers often prefer the following products when searching for Macbook Pro Internal Hard Drives. Browse the top-ranked list of Macbook Pro Internal Hard Drives below along with associated reviews and opinions. WD - Mainstream 1TB Internal Serial ATA Hard Drive for Laptops Model: WDBMYH0010BNC-NRSN.

Here's how to split your Mac hard drive into multiple partitions or volumes so that you can run more than one OS on your Mac, or divide up your Mac so different users can have their own space. How to format a MacBook Pro hard drive 2014 1. Back up your system (optional) if you format any hard drive, you essentially change the 0's and 1's (binary) to only. Formating the Hard Drive Lets take a look at how we can erase all of the data (format) the hard drive successfully.

As a video editor or Digital Imaging Technician, you will often need to share files with others. Eventually you will find out that you may not be working on the same operating system (OS) as others. Apple free download. If you work solely on a Mac, but need to send files to someone working on a PC, your external hard drive needs to be set up for both operating systems. Let's take a look at the different types of formats, and which are best for video production.

Macbook

Formatting the Hard Drive

A vast majority of video production will be done on a Mac or Windows operating system, so we aren't going to cover Linux. Hard drives set up for use on Windows machines only will often use NTFS, while Macs will use HFS+. That said, if you are using both a PC and Mac in the workflow, you'll need to use a different format.

Image from Shutterstock

Macbook Pro Format External Hard Drive

You may be using only Macs or PCs in your own office, but you will also need to take into account what type of machines your client is using. If you need to send them RAW files or an edited sequence, you will need to make sure the external hard drive is set up for both operating systems. To do this, you will need to use either exFAT or FAT32 formats. This will allow you to use the hard drive on both a Mac and PC.

FAT32 is often used among general users, but FAT32 has limitations that can affect filmmakers. FAT32 has a maximum file size of 4 GB per file. The limitation affects both Mac and PC users. A single high resolution file can easily go over 4 GB, so Fat32 may not the best format. The best format for video production is exFAT. The maximum individual file size for exFAT is 16 EB. 1 EB, or exabyte, is 1 billion GB. That said, if you are using smaller file sizes — FAT32 can suffice.

Format Hard Drive (Mac)

1. Connect the external hard drive to the computer.

2. Click Go on the top tool bar, and select Utilities.

3. Open Disk Utility.

4. Select the external hard drive on the left-hand side.

5. Click the Partition tab.

6. Change the Partition Layout from Current to 1 Partition.

Format New Hard Drive

7. Click Options, Select Master Boot Record, and click OK.

8. Name the hard drive with a name of your choice.

9. Click the Format drop-down menu.

Smart movie software, free download. 10. Select exFat (or MS-DOS FAT Playr 2 1 3. for a FAT32 format).

11. Hit Apply, then click on Partition.

Formatting Hard Drive (Windows)

Image from Shutterstock

1. Right-Click on the Windows icon in the lower left-hand corner.

2. Select Disk Management.

3. Right-Click on the external hard drive in the Volume tab.

4. Click Format.

5. Name the hard drive.

6. Select exFAT (or FAT for FAT32).

7. Click OK.

Naming and Labelling Hard Drives

If you will be using multiple external hard drives on a project, you'll want to make sure to keep them organized. This includes the way you name the drive and how you label it.

One of my personal tricks is naming all drives after an actor. For instance, one project had several external drives, all of which were named after different Will Ferrell characters — Mugatu, Megamind, Lord Business, and Ron Burgundy. Another project used Tom Hanks characters — Forrest and Woody.

Remember that external drives should be used temporarily — and all footage should be backed up elsewhere. Use checksum verification to make sure everything is copied correctly.

There are plenty of ways you can label your drives. You can simply use some masking tape or gaff tape, and then write the name of the drive. You can also use hard drive labels, which are the awesome stickers featured above. You easily put them on your external drive to keep track of them.

If you are a parent, like myself, you can also use any stickers you have lying around the house. I recently had Kermit the Frog and Optimus Prime hard drives.

Mac backup options. No matter how you label your hard drives, just make sure you keep track of them. You never know when you will need that footage from a three-year-old project.

Got any hard drive organizational tips to share with the community? Let us know in the comments below!

Sep 28, 2020 • Filed to: Solve Mac Problems • Proven solutions

'How to format MacBook Pro and reset all the partitions? I'm planning to resell my notebook, but don't know how to reformat Mac as of now.'

This is a recent query posted by a Mac user on a leading forum about formatting a MacBook Pro. Just like this, thousands of other people also encounter a similar situation as well. It doesn't matter if you wish to troubleshoot a disk problem or would like to resell your system – you might wish to format MacBook due to different reasons. The good news is that Mac provides a seamless solution to format its internal drive and even an external data source. In this guide, we will let you know how to format MacBook in every possible way and how to recover data from the formatted MacBook.

Part 1. Common Scenarios for Formatting Mac

Before we discuss how to format HDD/NTFS on Mac, it is important to cover the basics. Ideally, there could be different reasons and scenarios for formatting Mac's storage. Some of them could be as follows:

  • You might be reselling your Mac and by formatting it, you can get rid of all the unwanted data.
  • Your Mac might be running low on free space and formatting it will help you reclaim tons of available storage on Mac.
  • If a partition or storage unit has been infected by malware, then you can get rid of it by formatting it entirely.
  • It can help you troubleshoot a problem with your Mac's disk or any external device.
  • You can also defragment the disk and get back some free space on it this way.
  • By reformatting a drive, you can manage the partitions and the entire storage as well.

How to Format MacBook Completely?

To make it easier for users to format MacBook entirely, Apple has come up with an inbuilt tool – Disk Utility. Using it, you can erase a partition or format the entire hard drive. Apart from that, it can also help you manage the partitions or repair a broken disk. To learn how to format Mac entirely, follow these simple steps:

  1. If your Mac is already functioning, then just go to its Finder > Applications > Utility and launch the Disk Utility application. If not, then you need to boot it in the recovery mode instead.
  2. As the Disk Utility window will open, you can view all kinds of operations to perform. On the left panel, a list of all the connected devices and Mac's internal storage is displayed. Just select the root directory of your Mac's hard drive (like Macintosh HD or Fusion HD).
  3. Click on the 'Erase' button on the toolbar to get the following window. Here, you can change the scheme and file format of the drive as per your choice. Some commonly supported file formats are APFS, exFAT, FAT 32, HFS, etc.
  4. In the end, just click on the 'Erase' button and confirm your choice as the application would entirely wipe Mac's hard drive.
  5. Furthermore, if you wish to completely reset your system, then you can choose to reinstall the macOS on it as well. To do this, restart your Mac and hold the Command + R keys to boot it in the Recovery Mode.
  6. As the macOS Utility window will open, click on the 'Reinstall macOS' option and follow the simple on-screen instructions to install the latest macOS version on your system.

How to Format NTFS on Mac

NTFS is a commonly used file format for Windows systems and external devices. The format is not used for the internal hard drives in Mac. Thus, if you wish to format NTFS on Mac, then you must be using an external storage unit. For instance, you might wish to format as SD card, pen drive, external hard disk, etc. with an existing NTFS format.

Macbook Pro Format New Hard Drive

Also, you should know that while Mac can format the source, it will change its file format in the end. Some of the supported file systems in Mac are exFAT, FAT, and HFS+. Therefore, you should follow these steps to learn how to format NTFS on Mac if you are ready to take this risk.

  1. To start with, connect your external device to your Mac and make sure it gets detected by your system.
  2. Now, launch Disk Utility by visiting the Applications section on your Mac. From the left sidebar, select the device. It would be listed under the 'External' section.
  3. Afterward, click on the 'Erase' button to format NTFS on Mac. As the following pop-up would appear, you can click on the 'Format' section to select a supporting format. From the list, exFAT is the most compatible choice.
  4. When you are ready, click on the 'Erase' button again and confirm your choice as Disk Utility would format the connected source.

Midi keyboard free. software download. If you want the target file format of the storage unit to be NTFS, then consider using a third-party tool instead (like Tuxera or OSxFuse).

How to Format HDD on Mac

External hard drive formatting

Formatting the Hard Drive

A vast majority of video production will be done on a Mac or Windows operating system, so we aren't going to cover Linux. Hard drives set up for use on Windows machines only will often use NTFS, while Macs will use HFS+. That said, if you are using both a PC and Mac in the workflow, you'll need to use a different format.

Image from Shutterstock

Macbook Pro Format External Hard Drive

You may be using only Macs or PCs in your own office, but you will also need to take into account what type of machines your client is using. If you need to send them RAW files or an edited sequence, you will need to make sure the external hard drive is set up for both operating systems. To do this, you will need to use either exFAT or FAT32 formats. This will allow you to use the hard drive on both a Mac and PC.

FAT32 is often used among general users, but FAT32 has limitations that can affect filmmakers. FAT32 has a maximum file size of 4 GB per file. The limitation affects both Mac and PC users. A single high resolution file can easily go over 4 GB, so Fat32 may not the best format. The best format for video production is exFAT. The maximum individual file size for exFAT is 16 EB. 1 EB, or exabyte, is 1 billion GB. That said, if you are using smaller file sizes — FAT32 can suffice.

Format Hard Drive (Mac)

1. Connect the external hard drive to the computer.

2. Click Go on the top tool bar, and select Utilities.

3. Open Disk Utility.

4. Select the external hard drive on the left-hand side.

5. Click the Partition tab.

6. Change the Partition Layout from Current to 1 Partition.

Format New Hard Drive

7. Click Options, Select Master Boot Record, and click OK.

8. Name the hard drive with a name of your choice.

9. Click the Format drop-down menu.

Smart movie software, free download. 10. Select exFat (or MS-DOS FAT Playr 2 1 3. for a FAT32 format).

11. Hit Apply, then click on Partition.

Formatting Hard Drive (Windows)

Image from Shutterstock

1. Right-Click on the Windows icon in the lower left-hand corner.

2. Select Disk Management.

3. Right-Click on the external hard drive in the Volume tab.

4. Click Format.

5. Name the hard drive.

6. Select exFAT (or FAT for FAT32).

7. Click OK.

Naming and Labelling Hard Drives

If you will be using multiple external hard drives on a project, you'll want to make sure to keep them organized. This includes the way you name the drive and how you label it.

One of my personal tricks is naming all drives after an actor. For instance, one project had several external drives, all of which were named after different Will Ferrell characters — Mugatu, Megamind, Lord Business, and Ron Burgundy. Another project used Tom Hanks characters — Forrest and Woody.

Remember that external drives should be used temporarily — and all footage should be backed up elsewhere. Use checksum verification to make sure everything is copied correctly.

There are plenty of ways you can label your drives. You can simply use some masking tape or gaff tape, and then write the name of the drive. You can also use hard drive labels, which are the awesome stickers featured above. You easily put them on your external drive to keep track of them.

If you are a parent, like myself, you can also use any stickers you have lying around the house. I recently had Kermit the Frog and Optimus Prime hard drives.

Mac backup options. No matter how you label your hard drives, just make sure you keep track of them. You never know when you will need that footage from a three-year-old project.

Got any hard drive organizational tips to share with the community? Let us know in the comments below!

Sep 28, 2020 • Filed to: Solve Mac Problems • Proven solutions

'How to format MacBook Pro and reset all the partitions? I'm planning to resell my notebook, but don't know how to reformat Mac as of now.'

This is a recent query posted by a Mac user on a leading forum about formatting a MacBook Pro. Just like this, thousands of other people also encounter a similar situation as well. It doesn't matter if you wish to troubleshoot a disk problem or would like to resell your system – you might wish to format MacBook due to different reasons. The good news is that Mac provides a seamless solution to format its internal drive and even an external data source. In this guide, we will let you know how to format MacBook in every possible way and how to recover data from the formatted MacBook.

Part 1. Common Scenarios for Formatting Mac

Before we discuss how to format HDD/NTFS on Mac, it is important to cover the basics. Ideally, there could be different reasons and scenarios for formatting Mac's storage. Some of them could be as follows:

  • You might be reselling your Mac and by formatting it, you can get rid of all the unwanted data.
  • Your Mac might be running low on free space and formatting it will help you reclaim tons of available storage on Mac.
  • If a partition or storage unit has been infected by malware, then you can get rid of it by formatting it entirely.
  • It can help you troubleshoot a problem with your Mac's disk or any external device.
  • You can also defragment the disk and get back some free space on it this way.
  • By reformatting a drive, you can manage the partitions and the entire storage as well.

How to Format MacBook Completely?

To make it easier for users to format MacBook entirely, Apple has come up with an inbuilt tool – Disk Utility. Using it, you can erase a partition or format the entire hard drive. Apart from that, it can also help you manage the partitions or repair a broken disk. To learn how to format Mac entirely, follow these simple steps:

  1. If your Mac is already functioning, then just go to its Finder > Applications > Utility and launch the Disk Utility application. If not, then you need to boot it in the recovery mode instead.
  2. As the Disk Utility window will open, you can view all kinds of operations to perform. On the left panel, a list of all the connected devices and Mac's internal storage is displayed. Just select the root directory of your Mac's hard drive (like Macintosh HD or Fusion HD).
  3. Click on the 'Erase' button on the toolbar to get the following window. Here, you can change the scheme and file format of the drive as per your choice. Some commonly supported file formats are APFS, exFAT, FAT 32, HFS, etc.
  4. In the end, just click on the 'Erase' button and confirm your choice as the application would entirely wipe Mac's hard drive.
  5. Furthermore, if you wish to completely reset your system, then you can choose to reinstall the macOS on it as well. To do this, restart your Mac and hold the Command + R keys to boot it in the Recovery Mode.
  6. As the macOS Utility window will open, click on the 'Reinstall macOS' option and follow the simple on-screen instructions to install the latest macOS version on your system.

How to Format NTFS on Mac

NTFS is a commonly used file format for Windows systems and external devices. The format is not used for the internal hard drives in Mac. Thus, if you wish to format NTFS on Mac, then you must be using an external storage unit. For instance, you might wish to format as SD card, pen drive, external hard disk, etc. with an existing NTFS format.

Macbook Pro Format New Hard Drive

Also, you should know that while Mac can format the source, it will change its file format in the end. Some of the supported file systems in Mac are exFAT, FAT, and HFS+. Therefore, you should follow these steps to learn how to format NTFS on Mac if you are ready to take this risk.

  1. To start with, connect your external device to your Mac and make sure it gets detected by your system.
  2. Now, launch Disk Utility by visiting the Applications section on your Mac. From the left sidebar, select the device. It would be listed under the 'External' section.
  3. Afterward, click on the 'Erase' button to format NTFS on Mac. As the following pop-up would appear, you can click on the 'Format' section to select a supporting format. From the list, exFAT is the most compatible choice.
  4. When you are ready, click on the 'Erase' button again and confirm your choice as Disk Utility would format the connected source.

Midi keyboard free. software download. If you want the target file format of the storage unit to be NTFS, then consider using a third-party tool instead (like Tuxera or OSxFuse).

How to Format HDD on Mac

Ideally, hard drives can either be of two types – HDD (Hard Disk Drives) or SDD (Solid State Drives). With the advancement in time, most of the systems use HDD these days. Since Mac also supports HDD, you can easily take its assistance to format a hard drive as well. Once you have erased the existing data, you can get rid of its partitions as well to completely wipe it. Here's how to reformat Mac HDD without using a third-party tool.

  1. Simply go to Finder > Applications > Utility and launch Disk Utility from here. Also, make sure that the HDD is well-connected and functioning beforehand.
  2. Select the connected HDD from the sidebar, click on the 'Erase' option, and once again confirm your choice. You can alter the disk format and scheme if you want to.
  3. Once it is formatted, you can get rid of its partitions as well. To do this, select the disk again and click on the 'Partition' option from the toolbar.
  4. A visual representation of the storage unit will be displayed. You can just drag to resize the volume of the disk or enter its numeric value as well. To remove a partition, just click on the minus '–' sign or the '+' sign to add a partition.

How To Wipe Out Hard Drive On Macbook Pro | Tom's Guide Forum

That's it! In this way, you can format MacBook's HDD and easily manage its partition as well.

How to Perform Mac Data Recovery After Format

As you know, when we format a hard drive or a partition, all the existing data in it is deleted by Mac. Sometimes, users end up formatting a hard drive by mistake or forget to take a backup of their important files beforehand. If you have lost your important files in the process, then take the assistance of Recoverit Data Recovery. Developed by Wondershare, the brand has recently released the latest update of the tool – Recoverit 8.0. Now, users can get back all kinds of lost or deleted content in less time using this remarkable data recovery tool for Mac. Here are some of the major features of Recoverit 8.0 that you should note.

  • Recoverit 8.0 is the latest update of the tool that provides faster and better data recovery results for Mac and Windows.
  • It supports the recovery of more than 1000 different kinds of content, including photos, videos, audios, and documents of numerous extensions.
  • The application will let you preview the recovered data so that you can save the files of your choice.
  • It performs excellent results in every data loss scenario like accidental deletion, formatted disk, lost partition, virus attack, and so on.
  • Apart from performing data recovery on Mac's internal storage, you can do the same on any external device (like SD card, pen drive, etc.) as well.

If you want, you can even try its basic version for free (it has a restricted data limit) and can later be upgraded to a premium version. Once you have installed Recoverit Data Recovery on your Mac, just follow these simple steps:

Step 1: Select a Location

Whenever you wish to recover files after format, simply launch the Recoverit application on your Mac. In case if you wish to recover data from an external drive, then connect it to your system beforehand. From the home of Recoverit 8.0, you can just pick a location to scan – a partition, external source, or the entire disk. If you want, you can browse to a particular folder to scan as well.

Step 2: Scan the Location

Once you select a source and click on the 'Start' button, Recoverit will extract all sorts of lost or inaccessible content from it. Simply wait for a while and try not to tamper with the process in between. An on-screen indicator will let you know the progress of the recovery process.

Step 3: Preview and Recover

When the recovery process is completed, Recoverit will automatically display the extracted data into different categories. You can even go to the search option to look for specific content as well. In the end, you can just select the files of your choice and click on the 'Recover' button to save them.

Tips for Formatting Mac and do Mac Recovery

By following the listed guide, anyone can learn how to format HDD on Mac and wipe its data entirely. Apart from that, you can also follow these suggestions for getting better results.

  • Since formatting will erase all the saved data on your Mac, make sure that you have taken a prior backup of your important files.
  • Choose the format for the disk wisely. Some formats like APFS or HFS+ are native to Mac and might not work on other systems. To get better compatibility, go for FAT or exFAT instead.
  • Just like formats, the scheme of the disk is also important. The GUID Partition Map is mostly recommended as it works with all the Intel-based computers.
  • Sometimes, formatting a disk is not enough. If you want to manage your disk, then consider deleting the existing partitions on it and reinstall macOS to reset it entirely.
  • Always keep a reliable data recovery tool (like Recoverit 8.0) handy. In case if you end up deleting something accidentally, then a recovery tool will help you get your important files back easily.

Conclusion

There you go! Now when you know how to format Mac entirely or a particular disk, you can easily make the most of your Mac storage. Since Disk Utility offers tons of features, it will certainly let you format NTFS or HDD on Mac. It can also help you repair a damaged disk as well. Also, if you never want to suffer from an unexpected loss or deletion of data, then use a reliable data recovery tool like Recoverit 8.0. The latest update of the tool is equipped with numerous high-end features and is available for free for Mac and Windows users to try.

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