#How to format mac disk how to
#How to format mac disk mac os x
#How to format mac disk install
#How to format mac disk full
#How to format mac disk password

(Make sure you select the drive and not the partition.)Ĭlick the Erase button in the toolbar. Select the hard drive you want to securely erase from the list of available drives in the sidebar. (For the examples in this article, I’ll be using a flash drive, but the display is the same for hard drives as well.) You’ll see your Mac’s startup drive, and any other drives connected to it. Launch Disk Utility it’s in the Utilities folder in your Applications folder. Whether it’s a hard drive in an older Mac or an external hard drive, if it is accessible, you can use Disk Utility to securely erase it.

#How to format mac disk how to

How to securely erase a hard driveĮven though all new Macs these days come with SSDs, or flash storage (which I’ll discuss below), there are still plenty of hard drives in use today. So the next best thing is to securely erase them. Of course, you can keep every hard drive and flash drive you’ve ever owned to reduce the chances of the above happening, but after a while this method starts taking up a lot of space. Also think of photos, videos, chats and again email contents that may include sensitive and personal content that can be used to blackmail you or destroy your reputation. Your browser history, auto-saved names and passwords in your browser, email contents, and sensitive documents like bank statements and tax returns, are all very valuable to someone who knows how to use it against you.

#How to format mac disk password

Hackers are always looking for ways to get personal data to access bank accounts, to find user name / password pairs, that may be reused with other accounts, and to collect data to use in identity theft. Why is the data on your drive valuable to hackers?

In this article, I’ll explain how to securely erase all sorts of drives: hard drives, flash drives, and SSDs. Whenever you dispose of a Mac, or an external drive, you should securely erase it to ensure that no one can harvest data from it.

If you use an external drive for, say, your music and video libraries, then this isn’t the case, but if you use an external drive for backups, there there’s lots of sensitive data on it.

#How to format mac disk full

Your Mac’s drive is full of sensitive data: all your emails, contacts, private documents, and more. Your Mac, and any external drives you use, may contain important personal data. APM is an older, Mac-only partition scheme.How To How to Securely Erase Data from Your Mac and External Drives You’ll also be asked to choose between a partition scheme: GUID Partition Map, Master Boot Record, or Apple Partition Map. RELATED: What's the Difference Between GPT and MBR When Partitioning a Drive?

#How to format mac disk install

It’s not natively supported on many Linux distributions, but you can install exFAT support on Linux.įor external drives, it almost always makes sense to format in ExFAT, unless you’re using the drive for Time Machine. ExFAT is the ideal cross-platform file system. You should use this file system if you may share the drive with Windows PCs and other devices like the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One consoles.

ExFAT: ExFAT is almost as widely compatible as older FAT file systems, but doesn’t have the limitations.

MS-DOS (FAT): This is the most widely compatible file system, but it has some limitations–for example, files can only be 4GB or less in size each. Avoid this file system unless you have a device that requires FAT32.

OS X Extended (Case-sensitive, Journaled, Encrypted): This is the same as the standard OS X Extended (Case-senstiive) file system, but with encryption.

You’ll have to enter a password, and you’ll need to provide that password whenever you connect your drive to your Mac.

OS X Extended (Journaled, Encrypted): This is the same as the standard OS X Extended file system, but with encryption.

This option exists because it matches the traditional behavior of UNIX and some people might need it–don’t select this unless you know you need it for some reason.

#How to format mac disk mac os x

By default, Mac OS X doesn’t use a case-sensitive file system.

OS X Extended (Case-sensitive, Journaled): On a case-sensitive file system, “file” is different from “File”.

This file system is necessary if you plan on using the drive for Time Machine backups–otherwise, you’ll want to use exFAT for maximum compatibility.

OS X Extended (Journaled): This is the default, but it’s only natively supported on Macs.

RELATED: What's the Difference Between FAT32, exFAT, and NTFS? You’ll need to choose between several file systems: You’ll be asked to provide a name for the disk, which will appear and identify the disk when you connect it to a Mac, PC, or another device.

Click the “Erase” button after selecting the entire drive to erase the entire drive and create a single partition on it.