1. Formatting Wd Passport For Mac

But this time, Western digital has introduced a range of portable hard drives named 'My Passport', which are designed for both Mac and Windows systems. These portable hard drives are shipped in preformatted or in the NTFS (Windows) or HFS+ (Mac) format. HI all, Ive had a My passport (Windows) for some time, I recently bought a MAC now I need a Passport thats compatitible and it will cost the same to backup and reformat my current one as buying a new one. Ya, I ended up going with the WD My Passport for Mac, because the price on Amazon was the same, and I like the silver look. But any of them should work for both Mac and Windows if you format them correctly, assuming your machine has the necessary ports. There are several ways to connect/manage the content stored on your WD My Passport Wireless SSD device — wirelessly through the mobile app, Mac utility app or as a Shared drive, through the web interface, or through a wired connection directly through a USB 3.0 connection. Windows 10 does not recognize western digital My passport Ultra external hard drive I have a western digital My passport Ultra external hard drive WDBBEP0010BBK. Windows 10 does not recognize the device. Windows 10 does not recognize western digital My passport Ultra external hard drive I have a western digital My passport Ultra external hard drive WDBBEP0010BBK. Windows 10 does not recognize the device. WD Discovery can also be used to manage your drive with WD Drive Utilities. Technical Specifications Formatted for Windows® 10, Windows 8 or Windows 7 operating systems.

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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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To make your Western Digital hard drive work on both Mac and Windows computers, you need to format the drive with the FAT32 file system. Although both operating systems can format your drive with the FAT32 system, Windows 7 limits the partition size to just 32GB, but you can format up to 1TB drives through the Windows Command Prompt. Macs don't limit these partition sizes, so if you have access to both operating systems, format the drive using a Mac.

Macintosh

Connect your Western Digital hard drive to your Mac computer.

Double-click the drive icon that appears on your desktop.

Click 'Applications' from the left pane, 'Utilities' from the second pane and then double click 'Disk Utility' from the third pane.

Click the drive from the left pane of the Disk Utility. There will likely be two drives listed. Choose the one positioned farthest to the left. It should have 'WD' in the drive label.

Click the 'Options' button, click 'Master Boot Record' from the pop-up window and click 'OK.'

Click the drop-down menu under 'Volume Scheme' and choose '1 Partition.'

Click 'Partition' in the confirmation window. The drive will then format. When formatting is complete, the progress bar disappears.

Windows

Connect your Western Digital hard drive to your Windows computer. If you see an AutoPlay window, close it, but note the drive letter associated with the newly attached drive. You can also find this drive letter by holding the 'Windows' key, pressing 'E' to launch Windows Explorer and looking for the drive in the list of storage devices.

Click the 'Start' button, type 'cmd' and press 'Enter' to run the Command Prompt.

Type 'format /FS:FAT32 X:' and press 'Enter.' Replace 'X' with the drive letter of your Western Digital drive.

Type 'y' to confirm formatting. Formatting may take several minutes, but the Command Prompt window will display a confirmation with formatting is complete.

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Formatting Wd Passport For Mac