Connect it, power it up, go to disk utility in applicationsutilities, select the wd disk on the left, go to the erase tab, and choose mac os. If you dont require the data on the hard drive, select the disk and click erase. Wait while first aid verifying and fixing possible errors of the wd hard drive. Heres how to reformat your drive so it can be read by and mac or a pc.
Wd elements drive will not format to mac os extended journaled. Steps on how to format the drive are provided on the following link. So i will never buy any hard disk drive refurbished or used. Western digital elements is a great option if you want lots of storage on the cheap, and can live with some pretty mediocre speeds. Yes you can use your wd elements drive for both a mac and a pc if you want. Step 5 thereafter, click on the erase button and let the system erase everything on the drive and reformat wd elements for mac by exfat or fat32 format. However, i found that i had to reformat the hard drive so that i could use it with my mac running 10. Format wd elements for mac and pc have your drive for both. But there are a couple of things you need to know and do to get it set up just fine.
If it is, right click wd hard drive, choose properties and click update driver under driver tab or click on uninstall. Finally i decided that the information was not that critical and decided to reformat the disk. How to formatreformat wd elements for mac depending on the system that you are using, there are 2 ways to format you hard disk into a mac supported format. Your disk utility program lives within a folder called utilities. How to partition and format a wd drive on windows 8, 7, vista, xp and mac osx.
How to convert a macformatted drive to a windows drive. Jan 03, 2018 new december 2017 wd elements drive will not format to mac os extended journaled. Wd 12tb elements desktop external hard drive usb 3. Western digital wdbwlg0040hbknesn elements external desktop. How to fix wd hard drive not recognized on mac without. Improve pc performance when your internal hard drive is almost full your pc slows down.
New december 2017 wd elements drive will not format to mac os extended journaled. Unexpectedly as expected, when booting up the computer the drive came back with only part of the information. Click disk drives and check if there is a yellow exclamation mark with wd hard drive disk device. Mac secret trick how to clone mac hard drive with disk utility hdd sdd macbook pro imac 20102019 duration. The wd my book is ready to go with time machine or superduper. The exfat file system is a better option when it comes to formatting wd my passport on mac. For a larger capacity, the hard drive becomes a fraction bigger in size and logically more expensive. Select the unmountable wd external hard drive and click erase on the top. Youll find below the ten quick steps, using words and pictures. Buy western digital elements 1tb portable hard drive usb 3. I want to use this new disk as a time machine backup disk. The best external desktop drive is the wd 4tb my book desktop external hard drive usb 3. If your product is not listed above, please visit the product page. Hope this tutorial can help to fix wd external hard drive not mountingshowing uprecognizeddetected on mac.
If you are running on mac, you will have to reformat the hard drives. How to solve my wd hard drive not recognized in windows 10. Select the file system from the dropdown list, which is available in the format expansion and choose either exfat or fat32. Download and run the wd quick formatter for windows 1087. How to format wd external drive for mac apple community. Out of the both its not mac compatible, but you can format it for use with. Wd has a more extensive desktop line for the mac, with the premium my book studio line, which features an allmetal enclosure and capacities up to 4tb. Fix wd external hard drive not workingrecognizedshowing up. This drive connects directly to your mac through usb.
Once you have formatted your western digital elements drive 2. Hi everyone, i have a wd elements desktop 4tb hard drive on ntfs format. Double click on your wd elements drive icon on your desktop. I can find it under device manager and disk management but thats it. I dont know if i should go with wd desktop and reformat it. How to open an external drive thats not showing on mac.
Hello all, im on my second elements 2tb drive that i cannot format using disk utility. How to format a wd hard drive to exfat or fat32 file system. How to reformat wd external hard drive using wd quick formatter. To recover your files from the external wd drive, opt for stellar data recovery professional for mac software. Failed wd elements external drive i hace a 1 tb wd elements hd connected to a mac mini. In such a case, its necessary to reformat wd hard drive to make it compatible with mac operating system. The sleek design features up to 10tb capacity plus wd quality and reliability. Now either because of time, corruption or because it may have been formatted for a mac when i plug it into my pc i cant access it. How can you use your wd elements drive without reformatting. I know i am supposed to format it for mac via disk utility before i can use it, but this process also fails. First, reformat to 2 partitions in disk utility, both mac os journaled extended, and make sure to click the options button directly below the partition window for both partions, and choose the appropriate scheme for me it was guid. Similarly to the elements, it comes in 1tb, 2tb, 3tb, and 4tb.
Need to reformat wd hard drive for mac if you connect your wd hard drive without reformatting, youll be unable to copy files to the disk as mac read only supports ntfs file system. One is by using the indigenous file format option in the windows os powered computers and other is through the similar tools found in the mac os. I did buy refurbished wd my book desktop off wd s official ebay page but i tried to copy it to wd and it stopped copying halfway and it kept happening, had to return it. Heres what you need to know, along with our toprated applefriendly drives. Jan 29, 2012 failed wd elements external drive i hace a 1 tb wd elements hd connected to a mac mini. The internal drive was a wd100emaz sata 6gbs white label drive made in thailand on 03 sep 2019, which is detected and works perfectly in the synology nas. Formatting wd elements for mac by quick workarounds. Partition failed partion failed with the following error. Inputoutput error when reformatting wd elements ext hard. If youre running a newer computer, youll see a huge speed increase thanks to usb 3. I m attaching the drive using the supplied usd cable and it appears on my desktop as an elements disk, but when i use disk utility to format the disk for mac os extended journaled it gives me the following message. The small, lightweight drive features up to 5tb of storage with wd quality and reliability.
You should then a see it mount on the desktop, and b automatically get a prompt to use the drive for time machine if not, you can go into the time machine menu top right of the screen, go to tm preferences, and select it. Whether you need to know how to format wd my passport for your mac. If first aid cant repair the wd hard drive, or disk utility doesnt recognize the volumes of the drive, probably, the. You just connect up your wd elements drive to your mac and format it to exfat. This item wd 4tb elements desktop hard drive usb 3.
But unfortunately it bit the dust and i decided to get a pc. Support communities desktop computers mac mini announcement. How to reformat my external hard drive for windows 10. Windowsmac reformat works with windowsmac reformat.
Wd elements drive will not format to mac os extended. Below are some recommended internal hard drive and external hard drives that you might like. Western digital elements 1tb portable hard drive usb 3. Apr 09, 2018 if disk utility is unable to repair the wd external drive, do not erase the content as doing so will reformat the entire volume but recover all data and replace the drive. In the end user license agreement page, click on accept.
Hope this formatreformat a hard drive for mac guide helped. You can then rightclick in the empty space and select new simple volume to create a partition and format it with the windows ntfs or fat32 file systems. The wd elements desktop hard drive and the wd my book desktop hard drive and plug and play for windows, so this means it is ready to use as soon as you take it out of the box. Western digital wdbwlg0040hbknesn elements external. Mac cant read wd elements external drive solved mac. Mar 23, 2020 how to format reformat wd elements for mac depending on the system that you are using, there are 2 ways to format you hard disk into a mac supported format. This hard drive used to work when i plugged it directly into my tv with its ntfs format. A 5tb hard drive can hold approximately 2000 netflix videos.
Mac cant read wd elements external drives for mac wd. Macbook external hard drive not recognized how to reformat. Download wd quick formatter to format external drive in. In the welcome screen, click continue to move to the next screen 4. Wd element operates on ntfs format and thus it isnt supported on mac by. The compact design offers up to 14tb capacity, making wd elements desktop storage the ideal solution for easy, addon storage of all your important photos, music, videos and files. To format your wd elements with a partition for mac and pc 1.
Having attempted this now says erase process failed and has called the disk disk 2s1 and is all greyed out. Select the unrecognized wd hard drive from the sidebar. I had this model replace a wd book version of usb external hard drive that i purchased 2 days ago and was supposedly formatted specifically for mac os x 10. There is a video after that you can watch as extra help. And particularly if you want to use for both without using special software. The desktop storage pc products are comprised of the valueoriented elements line which is offered in 1tb3tb capacities and the updated my book which hits the topend capacity point. I did buy refurbished wd my book desktop off wds official ebay page but i tried to copy it to wd and it stopped copying halfway and it kept happening, had to return it. How to format reformat wd elements for mac depending on the system that you are using, there are 2 ways to format you hard disk into a mac supported format. At the top of your disk utility screen youll see the button to partition.
Oct 03, 20 wd has a more extensive desktop line for the mac, with the premium my book studio line, which features an allmetal enclosure and capacities up to 4tb. May 09, 2019 the best external hard drives for mac in 2020. Choose your wd elements external hard drive on your. How to format wd elements for mac recoverit wondershare. Follow the tutorial to fix the unrecognized, unmountable, unreadable, not showing up wd hard drive without data loss and recover lost data from wd hard drives in macos catalinamojavehigh sierra. The mac drive may have an efi system partition on it. If youre lucky, you can just rightclick each partition on the mac drive and select delete volume to remove the partitions. For a hard drive to be able to be read and written to in both a pc and mac.
Youll need to reformat it if you intend to use it for macos, but its a great little unit if youre wanting to tote around a bunch of data. If disk utility is unable to repair the wd external drive, do not erase the content as doing so will reformat the entire volume but recover all data and replace the drive. When finished, you can mount your wd external hard drive on mac and use it again. Youll learn here the things you need to know about using your wd elements for mac. Your whole drive is now formatted as mac os extended journaled file system. This item wd 4tb my book for mac desktop external hard drive usb 3. How to fix wd hard drive not recognized on mac without losing. Help with wd elements desktop formatting march 2016. Aside from the 4tb, you can also buy a 1tb, 2tb, 3tb, or 5tb hard drive. This item wd 12tb elements desktop external hard drive usb 3. Locate the icon assigned to western digital my passport drive and rightclick the connected drive icon and click format in the popup menu. The apple support app has updated, smarter features and a bold new look. Looking to add storage, or for a smart way to back up your mac. Feb 11, 2019 mac secret trick how to clone mac hard drive with disk utility hdd sdd macbook pro imac 20102019 duration.