How To Reformat My Passport For Mac

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1. Reformat Western Digital My Passport
2. How To Format My Passport For Macbook Air
3. How To Reformat My Passport Ultra For Macbook Pro
4. How To Use My Passport For Mac

• 1 Import Files From an External Hard Drive Easily
• 2 Use a SanDisk Pen Drive
• 3 Back up Western Digital Passport Essential
• 4 Clear a Flash Drive

My mac wont let me reformat a new My Passport WD disc drive. Each time it comes up as failed. In disk utility select the drive and not the partition and click on erase. The Steps: How to Format WD My Passport for Mac. Whether you need to know how to Format WD My Passport For your Mac. Or you need to reformat My Passport for Mac. You follow the same steps. You’ll find below the ten quick steps, using words and pictures. There is a video after that you can watch as extra help. First power up your Mac.

Click 'My Passport' on the left side of the program window and then select the 'Erase' tab. Click the 'Mac OS Extended' option in the 'Volume Format' menu, then click 'Erase' to format the drive for your Mac. Use with Time Machine. Hey there, Logan! You'd need to use a Mac to reformat your WD My Passport in a file system that can be read by Windows. The Mac is needed to store your files from the external HDD until you've reformatted it for use with Windows OS, because this change will result in erasing all the data on the drive. I bought a WD Passport External HD for my PC and will be making the switch to iMac soon (next month), what, if anything, do i need to do to reformat this thing so that it will read and write with my mac? According to WD website it is compatible: Available USB port Windows® 2000/XP Available USB port Mac® OS X 10.1.5+ Windows 2000/XP.

As of 2018, Western Digital offers no shortage of external drives for Mac computers – from the My Book Essential to the My Book Pro and the My Book Studio, nearly 30 WD drives play nicely with Apple’s macOS operating system, as does the My Passport Studio model.

But with more than 262.5 million PCs shipped in 2017, according to data from Statista, there’s a good chance your Passport Studio will need to play nicely with a Windows computer, too. When it comes to cross-platform flexibility, you’ve got a few options for crossing the Mac and PC streams.

About eFAT and FAT32

Here’s something your My Passport for Mac Quick Install Guide might not tell you: Hard drives usually come formatted in two different ways, one catering to Windows and one catering to Mac. NTFS-formatted drives work with Windows computers, and HFS+ drives work with Mac.

However, by formatting your My Passport differently, you can ensure compatibility in a variety of different ways. Hard drives formatted to exFAT or FAT32 can read and write data on both Mac and PC operating systems, though FAT32 is limited to a 4-gigabyte-per-file size limit. Formatting your drive will erase all its data, so be sure to back it up before making the change.

External Drive for Mac to Windows 10

If you’ve got a WD external drive for Mac platforms and you want it to work on a Windows 10 PC, exFAT format is your best bet. To start formatting, connect your WD Passport to your Mac; then open “Mac HD” and click “Applications,” “Utilities” and “Disk Utility.” From the Disk Utility window, select the Passport hard drive.

Here, you’ll usually see two listings of partitions available on the drive – select the listing that is furthest left. Click the Disk Utility’s “Erase” button; assign the drive a name in the “Name” field; then hit “Erase,” and click “Done” when the erasing process is complete. Now, click the “Partition” button at the top of the Disk Utility and click “Format.” Choose “exFAT” from the drop-down menu that appears and click “Apply” to format the drive, which will take a few minutes. Once the formatting is complete and you get a message that says “Operation successful,” click “Done.”

To Windows 8 and Earlier

The external drive for Mac to Windows 8 transition makes use of Window’s built-in Disk Management software rather than the macOS Disk Utility, but you’ll still want to format your WD Passport as an exFAT drive.

To do so, connect the Passport to your PC, enter the Windows 8 Start menu and choose “Disk Management.” In the Disk Management app, right-click on the drive and select “New Simple Volume..” from the menu that appears. This brings up the New Simple Volume Wizard. Click the “Next” button until you get to the “Format Partition” window and choose “exFAT” under “File System” (you can also change the name of the drive under “Volume label” if you wish). Make sure the “Perform a quick format” box is checked, and click “Next” when you’re ready. Click “Partition” and then “Finish” to format the drive to a cross-platform compatible exFAT mode.

About the Author

As the co-founder of an LLC, the owner of a small business and a partner at an S-corporation (all working in media), Dan is no stranger to small business. As a business writer, he's contributed to publications including Chron.com, AZCentral, Fortune, GlobalPost, MSN Money, GoBankingRates, Zacks.com, The Motley Fool and more.

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It is that time again. Time to decide whether to keep or replace your Mac laptop or desktop computer. If you are reading this article, chances are you've already come to the decision to replace your Mac with the iMac Pro (or maybe you just got a new Mac as a present!), and you're thinking about selling your old model.

The first thing you should do before hitting the streets to sell your old Mac is clear it of any and all personal data. You don't want to accidentally sell your computer to a stranger when you are still logged into iCloud.

Step 1: Back up your Mac

If you already have your new Mac on hand, you can transfer all of your data from your old Mac or use an older Time Machine backup. If you don't have your new Mac yet, well .. then you probably shouldn't be selling your old one yet. But, if you really don't think you'll need your old computer before getting your new one, just make sure to back up your data so that nothing happens to it before you get what you need onto your new Mac.

Step 2: Sign out of everything

The software you have on your Mac is licensed to you, which means it doesn't get transferred to the new owner of your computer (except the operating system). In order to avoid complications with the new owner attempting to download and install software that is licensed by you, make sure to sign out of everything your personal information is connected to.

How to sign out of iTunes

1. Open iTunes on your Mac.
2. Click Account in the Menu bar on the left side of your screen.

3. Click on Sign Out.

How to sign out of iMessage

1. Open Messages on your Mac.
2. Click Messages in the Menu bar at the top left corner of your screen.
3. Click Preferences from the drop-down menu.
4. Select your iMessage account.

5. Click on Sign Out.

How to sign out of iCloud

1. Click on the Apple icon in the upper left corner of your Mac's screen.
2. Click System Preferences from the drop-down menu.

3. Click on iCloud.

4. Un-tick the box for Find My Mac.
5. Enter your system password when prompted.
6. Click on Sign Out.

7. Click Remove data from this Mac when prompted.

Step 3: Reformat your hard drive

Reformat Western Digital My Passport

Once your data is backed up and you've signed out of everything that might connect your old Mac to your personal information, you can erase everything on it by reformatting the hard drive.

1. Restart your Mac.
2. While the startup disc is waking up, hold down the Command+R keys simultaneously. You're Mac will boot into macOS Recover.
3. Select Disk Utility.

4. Click on Continue.

5. Click on View.
6. Click on Show all Devices.
7. Select your Startup disk (it is probably named 'Apple SSD' or something similar).

8. Click on Erase from the buttons at the top of the Disk Utility window.

9. Enter a name for the file to be destroyed (Like Macintosh HD or something).
10. If your Mac is using HFS+, select Mac OS Extended (Journaled) from the format list. If your Mac is using APFS, select APFS from the format list. See Troubleshooting for more information on which format to select.
11. If Scheme is available, select GUID Partition Map.

12. Click Erase.

13. After the process is complete, select Quit Disk Utility from the Disk Utility drop-down menu in the upper left corner of the screen.

Step 4: Reinstall a clean Mac operating system

After you reformat your hard drive it will be ready for a clean installation of the operating system. You should already be in the Utilities window after erasing your Mac. If not, restart your computer and hold down Command and R at the same time until you see the Apple logo.

Make sure to reinstall macOS through Recovery Mode, holding down Command+R. This ensures that you can install macOS or OS X without having to sign in with your Apple ID.

If you get stuck during reinstallation, see our troubleshooting section for additional help.

Note: Make sure your Mac is connected to the internet in order to verify the software. You'll be asked to do so during the installation process.

If, while reinstalling macOS, you're asked to enter a password, enter the password you use to unlock your Mac, not your Apple ID.

1. Restart your Mac.
2. While the startup disc is waking up, hold down the Command+R keys simultaneously. You're Mac will boot into macOS Recover.
3. Click on Reinstall macOS (or Reinstall OS X where applicable) to reinstall the operating system that came with your Mac.
4. Click on Continue.
5. Select your hard drive ('Apple SSD' or something similar), when asked to select your disk.

6. Click on Install to install the latest operating system that was on your Mac. Your Mac will restart after the installation is complete.

   Online backup for mac. I'll add and clarify the online backup service information as I learn more. Mac online backup services FAQ: Can you provide a comparison of Mac OS X online backup services?As I continue to dig deeper into the topic of Mac OS X online backup services, I thought I'd start putting together a Mac online backup comparison chart. I just went through the websites of all the online backup services vendors to put together the details below.Mac online backup services - comparison chartHere's an early version of my 'Mac online backup services' comparison chart.

   • Make sure you don't close the lid on a MacBook or put your Mac to sleep during this reinstallation period, even if it takes a while. If the computer goes to sleep, it will stop the installation process from continuing and you'll have to start over. Your screen will go blank, show the restart Apple logo, and show a progress bar several different times.
7. Hold down Command and Q after the installation is complete. Do not follow the setup instructions. Leave that part for the new owner.

8. Click Shut Down to shut down your Mac.

Your Mac is now clean and ready for a new owner. They will complete the setup instructions to get started using the Mac, as well as download the latest macOS operating system that is available and supported on their Mac.

If you're selling a MacBook Pro with Touch Bar

If you follow the steps above, the information stored in the Touch Bar of your MacBook Pro will be securely erased. However, if you've decided to use a third-party program or used Target Disk mode to erase your Mac, you should follow these additional steps to ensure that your Touch Bar data is also erased.

1. Turn on or restart your MacBook Pro.
2. Hold down Command and R at the same time right after you restart your Mac. Keep holding down the keys until your Mac finishes loading and you see the macOS Utilities window.
3. Click on Utilities in the Menu Bar on your MacBook Pro. It's in the upper left of your screen.
4. Click on Terminal from the drop-down Utilities menu.

5. Enter the following command into the Terminal window:

   xartutil --erase-all

6. Press Return.
7. Type Yes when asked to confirm.
8. Click on Terminal in the Menu Bar. It's in the upper left of your screen.
9. Click on Quit Terminal.

This will clear all the information from your Touch Bar.

Troubleshooting erasing your hard drive or reinstalling macOS

I've gotten a lot of very specific questions about issues some readers have with erasing or reinstalling macOS (usually reinstalling). Sometimes, the easiest way to fix issues with reinstalling macOS is to start by holding Option+Command+R which will put your Mac into an alternate version of Recovery Mode that allows you to install the original macOS that came with your Mac. From here, you can either keep that operating system and let the new owner update to their preferred macOS, or go through the macOS update process.

If, during the macOS reinstallation process, the installer doesn't see your disk or says you can't install the operating system on the disk, you may need to try erasing your hard drive again. Restart your Mac and hold down Command+R to bring up Recovery mode and repeat Step 3.'

Since macOS changed to APFS, some readers have struggled with which format option to choose when erasing their disk. Here are some other possible troubleshooting issues from Apple's support document that may help you.

Are you formatting the disk that came built into your Mac?

If the built-in disk came APFS-formatted, don't change it to Mac OS Extended.

How To Format My Passport For Macbook Air

Are you about to install macOS High Sierra or later on the disk?

If you need to erase your disk before installing High Sierra or later for the first time on that disk, choose Mac OS Extended (Journaled). During installation, the macOS installer decides whether to automatically convert to APFS—without erasing your files:

• macOS Mojave: The installer converts from Mac OS Extended to APFS.
• macOS High Sierra: The installer converts from Mac OS Extended to APFS only if the volume is on an SSD or other all-flash storage device. Fusion Drives and traditional hard disk drives (HDDs) aren't converted.

Are you preparing a Time Machine backup disk or bootable installer?

Choose Mac OS Extended (Journaled) for any disk that you plan to use with Time Machine or as a bootable installer.

Will you be using the disk with another Mac?

If the other Mac isn't using High Sierra or later, choose Mac OS Extended (Journaled). Earlier versions of macOS don't mount APFS-formatted volumes.

To learn which format is currently in use, use any of these methods:

• Select the volume in the Disk Utility sidebar, then check the information on the right. For more detail, choose File > Get Info from the Disk Utility menu bar.
• Open System Information and select Storage in the sidebar. The File System column on the right shows the format of each volume.
• Select the volume in the Finder, then choose File > Get Info from the menu bar. The Get Info window shows the Format of that volume.

If you're still having trouble with either erasing your hard drive or reinstalling macOS, please reach out to us in the forums. We have a wonderful community of Apple users that are happy to help someone in need.

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Any questions?

Is there anything about resetting your Mac to prepare it for sale that you need help with? Let me know in the comments and I'll get you squared away.

Updated May 2019: Added additional information about the Mac.

macOS Catalina

How To Use My Passport For Mac

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