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Here's how to format a drive if you are planning to use it with a Mac. Launch Disk Utility. Either head to Applications > Utilities, or tap Command + Space and start typing Disk Utility. Home version >>Freeware version comes with assist to manage the complicated partitions of HDD. Functions like re-sizing,creating,copying,merging,extending,deleting,formatting,set active partition split partition,convert partition,hide partition and recover partition.
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Hierarchical File System Plus, also known as Mac OS Extended, is the primary file system format used in Mac computers. Windows, on the other hand, runs off file allocation system or New Technology File System. Neither Mac OS nor Windows recognize each other's volume formats. Most users will never need to create an HFS+ disk outside of Mac, but businesses that rely on virtualization to run other operating systems may need to format in Windows a flash drive with an HFS+ partition. Once the partition has been created on the storage device, the Mac OS installation files can be copied to the drive.
1.Click 'Start.' Type 'command' into the search bar and press 'Enter.' Select 'Command Prompt' from the list of search results.
2.Type 'diskpart.exe' without quotes into Command Prompt and then press 'Enter' to run DiskPart.
3.Execute the following commands to select the target disk:
list disk select disk #
Replace '#' with the number associated with the appropriate storage device. Use the Size and Free fields to differentiate between the disks, if necessary.
4.Format Hdd For Mac Using Minitool Partition Tool
Run the command 'clean' to wipe the disk of partition and volume formatting.
5.Execute the following command to create an HFS+ partition on the disk:
create partition primary id=af
6.Type 'list partition' into Command Prompt and press 'Enter' to see the new partition.
7.Run the command 'select partition #' replacing the '#' with the number assigned to the HFS+ partition. Type 'active' and then press 'Enter' to mark the partition as a system volume.
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Ruri Ranbe has been working as a writer since 2008. She received an A.A. in English literature from Valencia College and is completing a B.S. in computer science at the University of Central Florida. Ranbe also has more than six years of professional information-technology experience, specializing in computer architecture, operating systems, networking, server administration, virtualization and Web design.
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Partitioning a disk divides it into individual sections. You may need to partition a disk if you want to install multiple operating systems or if you need to change the device’s format.
How you partition a disk depends on the file format it uses.
If you’re partitioning your internal physical disk because you want to install Windows, use Boot Camp Assistant.
Important: Do not use Disk Utility to remove a partition that was created using Boot Camp Assistant. Use Boot Camp Assistant to remove the partition from your Mac.
WARNING: To prevent the loss of data on your Fusion Drive, don’t connect it to a Mac that’s using a version of OS X earlier than 10.8.5. See the Apple Support article Only connect OS X Mavericks Fusion drives to OS X Mountain Lion v10.8.5 or later.
Add a volume to an APFS container
Partition Software Mac
Apple File System (APFS) allocates disk space on demand; however, you can manually manage APFS volume allocation if required.
Important: As a precaution, it’s best to back up your data before creating new partitions on your device.
In the Disk Utility app on your Mac, choose View > Show All Devices.
Select an existing APFS volume in the sidebar, then click the Add Volume button .
Enter a name for the new APFS volume.
Click the Format pop-up menu, then choose a file system format.
If you want to manually manage APFS volume allocation, click Size Options and enter values in the fields:
Reserve Size: The optional reserve size ensures that the amount of storage will remain available for this volume.
Quota Size: The optional quota size limits how much storage the volume can allocate.
When you’re done, click OK.
Click Add, then click Done.
Add a partition to a device formatted as Mac OS Extended, MS-DOS (FAT), or ExFAT
Important: As a precaution, it’s best to back up your data before creating new partitions on your device.
Partition For Mac
In the Disk Utility app on your Mac, choose View > Show All Devices.
Select the device in the sidebar, then click the Partition button .
Internal storage devices appear below the Internal section in the sidebar. External devices appear below the External section in the sidebar.
When you select a volume that already has data on it, the pie chart shows a shaded area representing the amount of data on the volume and an unshaded area representing the amount of free space available for another volume. Disk Utility also reports whether the volume can be removed or resized.
If you see a small volume with an asterisk, the partition is smaller than can be represented at the correct scale in the chart.
Click the Add button .
Click each volume in the pie chart on the left, then enter a name for it.
For MS-DOS (FAT) and ExFAT volumes, the maximum length for the volume name is 11 characters.
Enter the size or drag the divider to increase or decrease the size of each volume.
For each volume, click the Format pop-up menu, then choose a file system format.
Click Apply, then click Partition.
Click Show Details to view the step-by-step process of creating a new volume.
When Disk Utility is finished creating the volumes, click Done.
After you partition a storage device, an icon for each volume appears in both the Disk Utility sidebar and the Finder sidebar.
Enlarge a partition formatted as Mac OS Extended, MS-DOS (FAT), or ExFAT
If you have multiple volumes formatted as Mac OS Extended, MS-DOS (FAT), or ExFAT on a device and one of them is running out of space, you may be able to enlarge it without losing any of the files on it.
To enlarge a volume, you must delete the volume that comes after it on the device, then move the end point of the volume you want to enlarge into the freed space. You can’t enlarge the last volume on a device.
WARNING: When you delete a volume, all data on it is erased. Be sure to back up your data before you begin.
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In the Disk Utility app on your Mac, choose View > Show All Devices.
In the sidebar, select the device that contains the volume you want to enlarge, then click the Partition button .
In the pie chart on the left, select the volume you want to remove, then click the Remove button .
Click Apply.
The volume is removed, reformatted, and all free space is assigned to the previous volume.
Click Done.