how do i format a hard drive for windows and mac

How Do I Format A Hard Drive For Windows And Mac Started Up

Before continuing, make sure that you have a backup of any files that you want to keep.

Then select Disk Utility from the Utilities window and click Continue.

How Do I Format A Hard Drive For Windows And Mac Started Up

If youre not erasing the disk your Mac started up from, you dont need to start up from macOS Recovery: just open Disk Utility from the Utilities folder of your Applications folder.

The sidebar now shows your disks (devices) and any containers and volumes within them.

If youre not erasing the volume your Mac started up from, you dont need to start up from macOS Recovery: just open Disk Utility from the Utilities folder of your Applications folder.

The volume your Mac started up from is named Macintosh HD, unless you changed its name.

This is one of the final steps before selling, giving away, or trading in your Mac.

For example, the installer might say that your disk isnt formatted correctly, isnt using a GUID partition scheme, contains a newer version of the operating system, or cant be used to start up your computer.

If it cant, it chooses Mac OS Extended, which works with all versions of macOS.

During installation, the macOS installer decides whether to automatically convert to APFSwithout erasing your files.

For more detail, choose File Get Info from the Disk Utility menu bar.

The File System column on the right shows the format of each volume.

Some older versions of Disk Utility offer the option to zero all data instead.

These secure-erase options arent offered or needed for solid-state drives (SSDs) and flash storage.