HOW TO FORMAT AN EXTERNAL DRIVE FOR MAC MAC OS X
HOW TO FORMAT AN EXTERNAL DRIVE FOR MAC INSTALL

APM is an older, Mac-only partition scheme. YouвЂ™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 AN EXTERNAL DRIVE FOR MAC INSTALL

ItвЂ™s not natively supported on many Linux distributions, but you can install exFAT support on Linux.ДЇor external drives, it almost always makes sense to format in ExFAT, unless youвЂ™re using the drive for Time Machine. ExFAT is the ideal cross-platform file system. You should use this file systemВ 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 doesnвЂ™t have the limitations.

MS-DOS (FAT): This is the most widely compatible file system, but it has some limitationsвЂ“for example, files can only be 4GB or less in size each.В 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.YouвЂ™ll have to enter a password, and youвЂ™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.But, if you plan on using an external drive with both Macs and PCs, you should. This option exists because it matches the traditional behavior of UNIX and some people might need itвЂ“donвЂ™t select this unless you know you need it for some reason. By default, they format disks with the Mac-only OS X Extended file system.

HOW TO FORMAT AN EXTERNAL DRIVE FOR MAC MAC OS X

By default, Mac OS X doesnвЂ™t use a case-sensitive file system.

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

This file system is necessary if you plan on using the drive for Time Machine backupsвЂ“otherwise, youвЂ™ll want to use exFAT for maximum compatibility.

OS X Extended (Journaled): ThisВ is the default, but itвЂ™s only natively supported on Macs.

RELATED: What's the Difference Between FAT32, exFAT, and NTFS?

YouвЂ™ll need toВ choose between several file systems: YouвЂ™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. Select the drive by clicking its name.Д¬lick the вЂњEraseвЂќ button after selecting the entire drive to erase the entire drive and create a single partition on it. Your connected drives will appear under вЂњExternalвЂќ in the Disk UtilityвЂ™s sidebar. You can also open a Finder window, select вЂњApplicationsвЂќ in the sidebar, and head to Utilities > Disk Utility.

How to format an external drive for mac