How to Format WD Hard Drive for Mac [Best Solutions]

Have you ever tried using a WD hard drive to back up or expand the storage space for your Mac? If so, you may find the WD drive not showing up on Mac. Formatting the WD hard drive can solve this issue. If you don't know how to format a WD hard drive for Mac, then you've come to the right place.

How do I format a WD hard drive for use with a Mac?

You can use the built-in Disk Utility app on your Mac. Alternatively, you can format the WD hard drive for use with your Mac using a terminal command. You might know how to format a USB on a Mac, but be confused about formatting a WD hard drive. This article will detail how to format a WD hard drive. Formatting a WD Black hard drive for your Mac or making your WD Passport compatible with your Mac is also covered in this article. Read on if you're interested.

But before we proceed with learning how to format WD hard drive for Mac, there's a prerequisite that you need to accomplish – choosing the best file system for your WD hard drive.

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What is the best format for a WD hard drive for use with a Mac?

WD hard drives usually come formatted as NTFS, with some versions also supporting FAT32 and exFAT. If you're looking for a drive to use with your Mac, you can also ask the retailer for one formatted in HFS+. macOS also uses APFS and Mac OS X Journaling. Which file system format is best for a WD hard drive? You can refer to the table below to choose the best one.

After comparing the five formats, we can conclude that APFS is the best choice for formatting WD hard drives. It is versatile, fast, stable, and supports multiple copies of individual files. Besides, Disk Utility can convert WD hard drive to APFS or HFS+ format.

But if you want to use the WD external hard drive, you can choose between exFAT or FAT32. exFAT is better than FAT32, though, because it has no file size limit.

Now that you know which format to use for your WD drive, it's time to learn how to format a WD hard drive for a Mac. If you want to know how to format a WD hard drive on Windows 10 instead, click here:

How to Format WD My Passport on Windows 10 [4 Easy Ways]

If you have a WD My Passport hard drive and don't know how to format it on Windows 10, don't worry and keep reading. In this article, we'll show you 4 quick and easy ways to format WD My Passport on Windows 10.

How to Format a WD Hard Drive on macOS: A Step-by-Step Guide

Here are two free methods to format a WD hard drive on a Mac using Disk Utility or Terminal commands. Follow the steps below to find the method that suits you best.

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Method 1: Format WD Hard Drive with Disk Utility

Disk Utility is a free disk management application in Mac systems that can format a WD Passport for Mac and PC. The steps to format WD hard drive are provided below.

Step 1. Connect your WD drive to the Mac.

Step 2. Open the Utilities app, then find Disk Utility.

Step 3: Select the WD hard drive on the left and click “Erase.”

Step 4: Name your WD drive and choose an “Allocation Scheme.”

Step 5: Select “APFS” and click “Erase.”

Step 6: Wait for Mac OS to wipe the drive.

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Method 2: Formatting the WD Hard Drive for Mac Using Terminal Commands

The Terminal or Command Line works in much the same way as Disk Utility, and can format your drive just as easily. However, using Terminal commands is a bit more complex, as you have to type out the syntax exactly right. Here's how.

Step 1: Connect the WD hard drive to your Mac.

Step 2: On your Mac, open “Utilities” and find “Terminal.”

Step 3: Type "diskutil list" to run the tool.

Step 4: Select the hard drive you want to format.

Step 5: Type the following command to format the WD drive.

Use Disk Utility to erase the drive and format it as APFS with an MBR partition style: ``` diskutil eraseDisk APFS MBRFormat /dev/disk2 ```

You can easily format WD hard drive on Mac with Disk Utility and Terminal commands. But what if you are using Windows and want to format external hard drive for Mac? Don't worry. Here I will offer you a much easier way to format WD external hard drive for Mac on Windows.

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How to Format a WD External Hard Drive for Mac on Windows

Since the format of a WD hard drive is usually NTFS, which isn't compatible with Mac, you'll need to convert it to FAT32 for use on your Mac. You can do this by formatting the WD external hard drive on Windows with a tool like Partition Master Free, and then using it on your Mac. Here's a quick guide on how to format your WD hard drive:

Step 1. Run AOMEI Partition Assistant, right-click the partition on the external hard drive/USB/SD card which you want to format and choose “Format Partition”.

Step 2: Specify a new partition label, file system (NTFS/FAT32/EXT2/EXT3/EXT4/exFAT) and cluster size for the selected partition and click “OK”.

<b>Step 3:</b> Click &quot;Yes&quot; in the warning window to proceed.

Step 4. Hit the 'Run 1 Task' button on the top left to preview the changes and then click 'Apply' to start formatting the external hard drive/USB/SD card.

Aside from formatting, the tool Partition Master has other powerful features:

• Convert Bootable USB to Normal USB
• Create or delete partitions
• Convert MBR to GPT
• Clone system or partition
• Copy operating system and data to another HDD/SSD

You may find that MiniTool Partition Wizard is a great disk management tool to manage disks safely and format them efficiently. If you need to format a disk, download it and enjoy its advantages!

Conclusions

This article elaborates on how to format a WD hard drive on a Mac. You can format a WD hard drive to APFS or HFS+ on your Mac. Alternatively, you can format the WD external hard drive to exFAT or FAT32 for cross-platform usage between Windows and Mac. Furthermore, it introduces a practical partition tool, Partition Master, to cater to your needs.

Frequently Asked Questions on How to Format WD Hard Drive for Mac with UTF-8 Encoding

This guide outlines the detailed steps to format a WD hard drive for a Mac. Here are some frequently asked questions:

1. What's the best external hard drive format for a Mac?

For a Mac external hard drive, APFS or Mac OS Extended (Journaled) is your best bet. If you want to use the drive with both Windows and Mac, though, choose exFAT or FAT32.

2. Why is my WD Elements not working on my Mac?

You need to check if the format of your WD external drive matches your Mac. Then, you need to format the external hard drive using Disk Utility. There could also be issues like faulty wiring or disk formatting errors. Other solutions include replacing the cable or clicking to resolve the issue of WD Passport not showing up on Mac.

How do I make my WD Passport compatible with my Mac?

If your WD Passport drive is not compatible with your Mac, you need to format the hard drive using Disk Utility.

Step 1: Connect your WD Passport to your Mac and open Disk Utility.

Step 2: Access the drive and click “Erase.”

Step 3: Choose the format you want. For example, choose “Mac OS Extended (Journaled).”