How to erase external hard drive on macbook pro?

Choose View > Show All Devices. In the sidebar, select the storage device you want to erase, then click the Erase button .

Moreover, why can’t I erase my external hard drive Mac? It’s not usually possible to erase the startup disk because your Mac is using it to run macOS. Recovery Mode is a special partition on your Mac you can use to restore from a backup, reinstall macOS, get online support, or erase your startup disk. You should back up your Mac before trying to erase or reformat it.

Also, how do I delete everything off my external hard drive? Click the Go menu, select Utilities from the drop-down menu, and open Disk Utility. Choose your external drive from the left sidebar, and click Erase. Give your drive a name and select the file system you want from the Format drop-down. Click Erase, and the system will reformat your drive.

Frequent question, how do I remove external hard drive from macbook pro?

1. Select the item to eject, then choose File > Eject.
2. In the Finder sidebar, click the Eject button next to the item’s name.
3. On the desktop, drag the item that you want to eject to the Trash.

Additionally, how do you wipe a Mac hard drive?

1. Back up any important files.
2. In the Disk Utility app on your Mac, select the disk set you want to delete in the sidebar.
3. Click the Delete RAID button.
4. Click Delete.

1. Select the drive you want to format.
2. Enter the amount of space you want to set aside for Time Machine.
3. Select the new untitled partition so we can format it as exFAT for use with both Mac and Windows.
4. Give the partition a name and select exFAT for the format.

What hard drive format is compatible with Mac and PC?

For a hard drive to be able to be read and written to in both a PC and Mac computer, it must be formatted to ExFAT or FAT32 file format. FAT32 has several limitations, including a 4 GB per-file limit.

How long does it take to erase an external hard drive?

In cases where a drive with a capacity of a terabyte will be wiped using the DoD-approved nine passes of randomly written ones and zeros, it is very likely that this process will take in excess of one month of 24 hours per day processing to finish this wiping procedure.

How do I transfer everything from my Mac to an external hard drive?

Browse to the folder on your external drive where you want to store the files or folders and then drag and drop folders and files from your Mac’s Finder window into the external hard drive’s window. A status bar appears on your screen indicating progress. Wait until the full transfer completes.

How can I use my external hard drive as main Mac?

Did not eject properly Mac?

1. Defective external drive cable.
2. Defective external desktop drive power supply.
3. Defective computer USB or Thunderbolt port.
4. Failing external drive.
5. Issue related to macOS update or the update process.

How do I wipe my MacBook Pro 2020?

Shut down your Mac, then turn it on and immediately press and hold these four keys together: Option, Command, P, and R. Release the keys after about 20 seconds. This clears user settings from memory and restores certain security features that might have been altered.

How long does it take to erase Mac hard drive?

The erase progress box indicated that the erase would take 1 hour and 30 minutes.

What happens if you delete Macintosh HD?

You won’t lose your own files, or apps that you might have installed. This reinstall just copies a fresh set of your operating system files. Then, restarts, finishes the install with those downloaded files. The install process might take more than 30 minutes, but you should boot back into your hard drive, no harm done.

What is the best format for external hard drive Mac and PC?

The Best Format for External Hard Drives If you want to format your external hard drive to work with Mac and Windows computers, you should use exFAT. With exFAT, you can store files of any size, and use it with any computer made in the last 20 years.

How do I make my Seagate hard drive compatible with Mac and PC?

Can I use a Seagate hard drive for Mac and PC?

Newer Seagate and LaCie branded external drives come preformatted with the exFAT file system, which allows it to be used on both Mac and Windows without reformatting the drive. … If you need to use your drive on both Mac and PC then it’s best to format exFAT.