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• How To Format Wd Elements For Mac Os X
• How To Format Wd Elements 2tb For Mac
• How To Format My Wd Elements For Mac

When I bought the WD My Passport Ultra drive, I was surprised to see that it didn’t support OS X out of the box. Yes, it had some software specifically made for OS X on it, but even that didn’t help. Turns out, it just wasn’t in the right format. These hard drives are customized to run well on Windows (as you’d expect), and they don’t run well with OS X.

So to get it running, what we’ll need to do is format it in Journaled format, which is OS X only format or MS-DOS (FAT), which means it will run with both OS X and Windows. If you’re only going to be using the hard drive on a Mac, I recommend you stick with Journaled.

Why You Need to Re-Format the External Hard Drive

When I first got the hard drive, I wasn’t able to copy anything over to it (but I was able to copy from it). Disk Utility showed that it was formatted to MS-DOS (FAT) but I’m pretty sure it would have been NTFS instead. If you experience the same issue, your only recourse is to reformat it in one of two formats.

If you’re only going to use the external hard drive with Macs or you want to use it for Time Machine backups, format it in Mac OS Extended (Journaled). If you’re like me who also needs to use at least a part of the hard drive from Windows PCs, you’ll need to choose MS-DOS (FAT) format. But here you won’t get great support for Time Machine. Plus you can’t make partitions bigger than 2 TB or move files larger than 4 GB around.

• Best Answer: You can format it in FAT 32 so that it can be read and written to by a PC or a MAC. Normally, the external hard disk comes with FAT 32 on it, so that it can be read and written to by a Macintosh. If you format it in HFS+, a PC will not be able to read the hard disk, only your MAC will be able.
• Oct 27, 2017  How to Partition an External Hard Drive on Mac. If you want to create multiple partitions on your external hard drive (in fact, you should for better file organization), here’s a step-by-step guide: Step 1: Highlight your drive and click “Partition” in Disk Utility.

How to Re-Format the External Hard Drive

First, connect the external hard drive, bring up Spotlight Search by using the keyboard shortcut Cmd + Space and type in Disk Utility. Press Enter and Disk Utility will launch. You can also find it in Utilities folder in Applications.

Now, from the left column select 1 TB WD My Passport (or whatever your hard drive name is), and click on the Erase tab.

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From here, in Format, select Mac OS Extended (Journaled), give it a name if you want, and click Erase.

You’ll get a warning. Again, click Erase.

In a couple of seconds, you’ll have an OS X ready hard drive to go.

Related: Check out our Ultimate Guide to OS X Yosemite.

How to Create Partitions

I’m planning on using my hard drive for both Time Machine backups and to carry media files around. I might need to use the hard drive with Windows computers so I’m going to format one of the partitions as MS-DOS (FAT), fully aware of its limitations. The other one, for Time Machine backups, will be in Mac OS Extended (Journaled) format.

To create a partition, select the hard drive from the left column and click the Partition tab.

How To Format Wd Elements For Mac Os X

From the drop-down below Partition Layout, select the number of partitions you want. Don’t go overboard here.

Now, just below, you’ll see a visual representation of the partitions. You can use the breakpoint to change the size of the partitions by moving it up or down. You can also click on a partition, give it a name and select the format.

Once you’ve decided all the details, simply click the Apply button. From the pop-up, select Partition.

Disk Utility: Check out the two tips for using Disk Utility and 8 ways to free up space on your Mac.

What Do You Use It For?

What are you planning on doing with the external hard drive? Time Machine backups perhaps? Or just storing media? Share with us in our forums section.

Also See#backup #hard disk

Did You Know

Sourcetree for mac. The world's first smartphone was made by IBM and was named Simon Personal Communicator

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IsWD Elements Compatible with Mac?

And therelated question can you use your WD Elements on a Mac?

The answeris yes. Your WD Elements drive can work great on your Mac.

But thereare a couple of things you need to know and do to get it set up just fine.

You’lllearn here the things you need to know about using your WD Elements for Mac.

And some ofthe potential pitfalls.

Plugging in your WD Elements USB Cable into your Mac

Your WD Elements portable hard drive has a USB 3.0 type A connection to your Mac.

Why is thatimportant?

Is your Macan iMac 2017 or later? Or MacBook Pro 2016 or newer?

Or MacBookAir 2018?

If youranswer is yes then your Mac will have a USB C (Thunderbolt) port on it.

You’ll beable to use your WD Elements drive. But you will need an adaptor to plug theUSB cable from your Elements drive into your Mac.

Theseadaptor cables are easy to get from Amazon.

And shouldyour Mac be an older Mac with USB 2.0.

Yourfine.

The USBcable provided will fit. And your WD elements drive will work at USB 2.0 speedto match your Mac.

You’ve Plugged in and WD Elements not Showing up on Mac?

You’ve loggedin and connected up your WD Elements external hard drive on your Mac. You wereexpecting to see the drive icon on the desktop.

But it’snot there?

The firstthing to check is your Finder Window Preferences.

Open up afinder window. Go to preferences.

In thefinder preferences pop up window be sure you’ve checked the ‘Hard Drive’ and ‘ExternalDrive’ boxes.

You just have to run the startup script from the shell. On Mac OS X, it's pretty easy to start the server. The file is very intuitively called startup.sh. Tomcat for mac.

Then yourWD Elements external drive’s icon should appear.

What if your WD Elements is Still not Showing up on Mac?

Using Your WD Elements On Mac?

Your WDElements drive is bus powered.

What doesthat mean?

It meansthat your Elements drive takes its power from your Mac. Your USB cable bothpowers your Elements drive. And transfers your documents backwards andforwards.

Great. Becauseyou don’t have to worry about carrying another power plug and its cable aroundwith you. Particularly when you take your Elements drive out and about withyour Mac.

But becauseyour WD Elements drive gets its power from your Mac check your Mac is chargedenough. Or plug in your Mac so that your Mac doesn’t run out of power part waythrough a large transfer of files.

Is Your WDElements Drive Read Only on your Mac?

When shipped to you your Western Digital Elements drive is in a format called NTFS. NTFS is a PC format that a Windows PC uses. Your Mac can see and read your NTFS Elements drive.

But whenyou want to put documents on the drive, or update any files on the drive yourMac says no. You can only read your Elements external hard drive.

Don’t fretyou can change the formatting. Byreformatting your WD Elements for your Mac.

How do IFormat WD Elements for Mac?

To use yourWD Elements drive on your Mac you need your Elements drive in HFS+ format. Thisformatting is also known as Mac OS Extended (Journaled) file system. Don’t worry about the name.

Just know that this is a file system that your Mac uses for a Time Machine backup.

And if youwant to copy and paste files.

Or drag anddrop files from your Mac onto your WD Elements drive.

It’s theformat you use when you want to use your WD Elements drive just for yourMac. Because a Windows PC can’t see aHFS+ drive when it’s plugged in.

To set upyour WD Elements drive to work on your Mac you’ll need to format it for Mac.

You’ll find my article on how you format the WD Elements hard drive here.

Click overand in a few minutes you’ll have the formatting all done.

How Can YouUse Your WD Elements Drive without Reformatting?

Formattingwill erase any documents you have on your WD Elements drive. So if you’ve put files on there from yourWindows PC. And really what you want to do is use the drive without changinganything on there.

There issoftware you can use that leaves your Elements drive in NTFS formatting. Butmakes it read and writeable from your Mac.

It’s theoption to choose when you mainly use your WD Elements drive on your Windows PC.And sometimes you use your Elements drive on your Mac.

Using YourWD Elements Drive on Your Mac and a PC

Yes you canuse your WD Elements drive for both a Mac and a PC if you want.

And particularlyif you want to use for both without using special software. And its easy to do.

You justconnect up your WD Elements drive to your Mac and format it to ExFAT.

There aresome articles around on the web suggesting FAT32. And yes you can set your Mac to format yourElements drive to FAT32. FAT32 is compatible with Mac and Windows. But thesedays the FAT32 file system is outdated, not as sturdy and has file sizerestrictions.

ExFAT is freelyread and writable by both your Mac and Windows PC. Both operating systems cansee an ExFAT file system. And use the files, photos, movies, music, in fact anyfiles that are on there.

You can find out how to Format your WD Elements external hard drive for Mac and PC using my article here.

How To Format Wd Elements 2tb For Mac

Your WDElements Drive Not Working on Mac?

Havingproblems with your Western Digital Elements drive working. And then not workingon your Mac?

1. When you formatted your WD Elements did you check that the format scheme was ‘GUID Partition Map’? You’ll have problems with formatting the drive without setting the scheme right. Because NTFS is set up differently. And a set up hang over from NTFS will mean odd problems with your Elements drive.

2. You should try repairing your Elements drive in Disk Utility using the First Aid option. That may solve your problem.

If thedrive is in a poor state First Aid may well tell you to erase the drive.

Which meansstarting from scratch and loosing the files on there.

3. Did you download Drive Utilities from the Western Digital site onto your Mac?

Yes, DriveUtilities allows you to run a check on your WD Elements drive. And you can seeif the software reports any errors on the drive.

But didyour problems with the drive show up after you downloaded this software?

Check thatyour version of the Western Digital software is compatible with your Mac’soperating system.

You could haveproblems with your Mac OS clashing with the WD Drive Utilities software.

If you’reone of those having problems with your WD Elements drive working and then not.And for no real reason you can see. Then uninstall the Western DigitalUtilities.

You can dothat by using the WD Uninstaller in your Application’s folder.

How To Format My Wd Elements For Mac

And your onand off issues with your WD Elements drive should go away.

Why won’t MyWD Elements Drive Backup?

Having problemswith your Time Machine backups failing to your WD elements drive? This seems another type of conflict with theWD Disk Utilities software.

Check thesoftware version your using. Is it for your version of Mac OS?

Tryuninstalling the WD Disk Utilities. Then see if your Time Machine Backup issuesdisappear.

Last Words

Yes, WDElements is basic storage for your Mac. And it usually works great on Mac. Butif you have problems use my tips here. And have your WD Elements for Mac andlose your issues.

You candiscover other articles on the site all about your WD Elements drive.

Why notcheck them out.