Format A Hard Drive on Mac

In this guide, we will introduce the methods on formatting the hard drive on Mac.

Format External Hard Drive on Mac

1. Connect the hard drive to your Mac.
2. Open Finder and choose Applications> Utilities> Disk Utility to launch the app on your Mac.
3. Once you open the Disk Utility, you can see the external drives on your Mac are listed on the left-hand sidebar. Just select the one you want to format and click on the Erase tab.

4. Then complete these items:

• Name: Type the name that you want the disk to have after you erase it.
• Format: Choose the format you need. If you are going to use an external drive for both your Windows PC and your Mac, you should choose the ExFAT or FAT format.

5. Click Erase button to start erasing the external hard drive and wait for completion.

Format New Hard Disk on Mac

Formatting a new hard disk means setting up a file system in the new drive in macOS. Check the guide below:

1. You have to start from macOS Recovery by restarting the Mac and immediately pressing "Command + R". Then select Disk Utility from the Utilities window and click Continue.

2. When it comes to erasing your disk and every container and volume within it, you might be asked to enter your Apple ID.
3. If you want your Mac to be able to start up from the disk you erased, reinstall macOS on the disk. Restart your Mac when it finishes.