Discover the world of external hard drives for Mac. Compare portable, USB and external hard drive models for office and home and shop online. The best external hard drives for Mac are not only useful for storing data but are an excellent way to transport files from one location to another. When you take into account price, ease of use, and portability, the Seagate Backup Plus Slim is the most reliable hard drive you can carry around with you at all times. To format an external hard drive for Mac with Time Machine, you must follow the steps below. Step 1 Open Finder, Applications, then go to Utilities and Disk Utility. Step 2 Follow the steps above to format the drive, and then you can use it with Time Machine on your Mac system. Part 3: Bonus Tip – Data Recovery from Formatted Hard Drive on Mac.
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- Best External Hard Drive Backups
- External Hard Drives For Mac
- Best Backup Drives For Mac
Summary: This is a guide to fix external hard drive corrupted issue for you, and it talks about how to recover lost data from a corrupted external drive and iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac, the best corrupted external hard drive data recovery software.
What is corrupt hard drive on Mac?
Hard drive corruption on Mac is a drive failure of mounting, accessing, or reading on Mac, which frequently happens to external hard drives and USB flash drives. It's because they are usually used to back up a large amount of data or to extend the capacity of Mac.
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A corrupted external hard drive will look like this: the Mac computer won't recognize the external hard drive when you plug it into the USB port, and the hard drive will not be automatically mounted and you can't access data on this drive. Sometimes, the Mac would return an error message like 'The disk you inserted is not readable' to report a hard drive corrupttion. Once that happens, you will lose access to the files stored on the corrupted external hard drive. It's such an annoyance especially when you don't have a copy of data backup while data on this external hard drive is especially important to you.
Don't worry. Let's check out the crux of external hard drive corruption and learn how to fix or repair corrupted external hard drives on Mac in case of losing any significant data.
- Table of contents
- 1. Why you external hard drives is corrupted?
- 2. How to fix/repair corrupted external hard drives on Mac?
- 3. Conclusion
Why you external hard drives is corrupted?
There are various reasons leading to external hard drives corruption, including drives sharing among different platforms, faulty connection, unsafe ejection, interruption during transferring files, hardware malfunction and virus infection, etc.
Don't know which is the troublemaker of your external hard drive corruption like this user?
Hello, I have a problem with my external hard drive. When I plug it into my Mac, it takes too long to acknowledge the drive and files can't be opened at all. I tried to reformat my external hard drive but it says reformat unsuccessful. Any suggestion on how to fix corrupted external hard drives on Mac?
Check the following fixes one by one and you will work it out.
How to fix/repair corrupted external hard drives on Mac?
Solution 1: Check if your drive is properly plugged in
Even though it sounds foolish, it could troubleshoot your corrupted external hard drive. Simply plug your external hard drive slowly or quickly into the USB port and see if you can access this drive.
Solution 2: Check if it is a faulty connection
Since the external hard drive is connected through the USB cable and port, it could be corrupted due to a wobbly connection. You can just connect your external hard drive to another USB port or USB cable.
Solution 3: Fix/repair the corrupted external hard drive with Disk Utility
If the connection is not supposed to be blamed and you sure your external hard drive has no hardware problems, it could be a minor file system corruption which could be fixed through Disk Utility. Disk Utility is a built-in utility on Mac to verify and fix basic external hard drives errors, such as multiple apps quit unexpectedly on Mac computer, a file is corrupted, an external device is corrupted or doesn't work properly, or your computer won't start up, etc.
1. Go to Utilities > Disk Utility.
2. Select the corrupted external hard drive from the sidebar.
3. Click First Aid on the top of Disk Utility window. It may take a while to fix the errors.
Solution 4: Fix/repair the corrupted external hard drive by reformatting
If Disk Utility failed to fix the corrupted external hard drive for you, the file system of your external hard drive could be seriously corrupted and need to be reformatted with a new file system. In some ways, reformatting is able to fix your external drive corruption issue but from another perspective, reformatting will erase the disk and you will lose your important data. Fortunately, there is a tool called iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac that can recover your data firstly before you reformat this corrupted external hard drive. It's a risk-free way to fix the corrupted external hard drive and you don't have to worry about data loss any more.
iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac is free and reliable Mac data recovery software that can recover lost data from corrupted external hard drives and recover lost data from formatted/unreadable/unrecognizable external hard drives. Moreover, this useful tool can undelete files from Trash, recover lost/deleted APFS partition and recover lost data from hard drives, USB flash drive, memory cards, pen drives, etc. It is compatible with macOS 10.15/10.14/10.13/10.12 and Mac OS X 10.11/10.10/10.9/10.8/10.7.
Follow the steps below to fix the corrupted external hard drive.
Step 1: Recover lost data from the corrupted external hard drive with iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac.
1. Download and install iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac on your Mac computer.
2. Connect the corrupted external hard drive to your Mac and launch iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac.
3. Select the corrupted drive and click 'Next' to scan for all the lost files.
4. Double-click to preview the scanning results and choose files you want to get back.
5. Click 'Recover' and save them to another well-functioned drive.
6. Check the recovered files and make sure all the lost files have been restored successfully.
Step 2: Fix the corrupted external hard drive by reformatting.
After successfully recovering data from the corrupted external hard drive, you can fix it by reformatting now.
• Tutorial to reformat external hard drive on Mac
Conclusion
To avoid losing data from corrupted external hard drive, you'd better do yourself a huge favor and make sure your backup strategy is up and running and foolproof. A little pain now will save you a world of hurt in the future. If you have already lost data because of external hard drive corruption, without wishing to pour salt in the wound, recover the lost data with iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac software for good.
Sep 27,2020 • Filed to: Hard Drive Recovery • Proven solutions
'How to format an external hard drive Mac? What format system to use when reformatting my storage drive for a Mac?'
This is a frequent question asked by first-time, as well as the not-so-tech-savvy, macOS users. Learning how to format an external hard drive Mac is essential. Because saving all your data on the Cloud is nice and all, but physical storage is still popular. Especially if you don't have a stable internet connection or if most of your files are large.
Luckily, you don't have to learn rocket science to be able to format an external hard drive for Mac or PC. The operation is pretty straightforward. When it comes to your iOS device, we have listed two methods for you, read below and explore more.
Part 1: What Is the Best Format for External Hard Drive Mac?
The first step to formatting your external drive for a Mac computer is choosing the right format. There are four possible choices:
- APFS (Apple File System)
- HFS+ (Mac OS Extended)
- exFAT (Extended File Allocation Table)
- FAT (MS-DOS)
To understand which is the best for you, let's have a comprehensive overview of each of them.
1. Apple File System
The APFS was first introduced in 2017 as a replacement for the HFS+. Nowadays, all new Macs come with the operating system preinstalled on APFS, as this system is optimized for use with SSD and flash storage drives. However, it still works with traditional HDD drives too.
This is the best format to pick if you have an external SSD or USB flash drive that you don't intend to use with a Windows device.
The biggest strength of this system is the speed, as well as the encryption and metadata handling. However, you won't be able to use this system with Time Machine.
When did sims 4 come out for mac. 2. Mac OS Extended
The HFS+, or Hierarchical File System plus on its real name, was the main file system used for Mac until 2017.
This type of file system is suitable to use with both HDD and SDD drives, but the latter will perform slightly better with the APFS mentioned above. If you have an older Mac, though, choosing the HFS+ is your best bet.
In general, all external drives formatted to HFS+ work nicely with older Mac versions but are incompatible with Windows.
3. Extended File Allocation Table
Designed by Microsoft, the exFAT is a good choice if you plan to use the external hard drive with both macOS and Windows systems. Yet, you won't get top performance on either. This choice is more appropriate for USB flash drives, although you can still use it for SDD and HDD units too.
The main issue with exFAT is that your drive will be more prone to fragmentation when used with Apple devices and is less stable than NTFS on Windows. If you really have to share the drive between Mac and Windows machines, that's your best option though.
4. MS-DOS
Macs also support FAT32 drives, marked as FAT in Disk Utility. This format should be avoided at all costs unless you're dealing with a really old Windows computer, which you really have to use in parallel with your Mac system.
Typically, there is no reason to choose this option unless you're planning to use the external hard drive on a Windows XP or earlier machine.
Part 2: How to Format an External Hard Drive Mac?
Now that you know which format to choose, it's time to learn how to format an external hard drive for Mac. There are essentially two methods, with Disk Utility or Time Machine function.
Note: If you plan to format an older external drive, perhaps one you used with another device, make sure to backup all data before proceeding. Formatting is a permanent procedure that can't be reversed. While there are data recovery software you can use if you lost data, it is always better to prevent.
That said, here's how to format an external hard drive Mac:
Method 1: Format Mac Hard Drive with Disk Utility
Disk Utility is a utility application proprietary to macOS that is used to both format and manage internal and external disks. Here's how to use it:
Step 1 Connect the external hard drive you want to format to your Mac, then start the Disk Utility app that you can find under Applications -> Utilities.
Step 2 On the left side of the Utilities screen, find the name of the external hard drive you want to format and select it. Then, on the top side under the Disk Utility, click on the Erase button.
Step 3 The best mac os x version. Follow the on-screen prompts to select the desired file system and allow the drive to format. That's it! After the process is complete, you can either start using the drive or choose to create partitions on it.
Method 2: Format Mac Hard Drive with Time Machine
Formatting an external hard drive with Time Machine is as easy as formatting it with Disk Utility. Time Machine, however, gives you the possibility to create an automatic backup of the data on your hard drive before formatting it.
Before you proceed, therefore, you should first set up the external drive to use with Time Machine. To do this, open System Preferences and select Time Machine after you've connected the external drive to your Mac.
Now, click on Select Disk and select the desired drive from the list. Click on the Use Disk button. At this point, the system will run an automatic backup two minutes after you've clicked on the Use Disk button, or you can proceed with the formatting if the hard disk is empty.
To format an external hard drive for Mac with Time Machine, you must follow the steps below.
Step 1 Open Finder, Applications, then go to Utilities and Disk Utility.
Step 2 Follow the steps above to format the drive, and then you can use it with Time Machine on your Mac system.
Part 3: Bonus Tip – Data Recovery from Formatted Hard Drive on Mac
Sometimes, it may happen that you accidentally formatted an external hard drive containing important data. Whether it's your wedding pictures or your bachelor's degree thesis, chances are you want to get that data back as quickly as possible.
If you have a newer version of Mac, you can use the Apple Time Machine to recover your canceled files, or you could choose to use external software, such as Recoverit Data Recovery.
1. Recover Data with Apple Time Machine
In the former hypothesis, you can try to recover your data with the Time Machine. This app is Apple's backup feature present on the newer systems. If you followed the steps above before formatting the hard drive with Time Machine and allowed the app to execute the backup, then there are high chances that you can recover any lost data without too much hassle.
To do so, just launch the Time Machine and browse through the folders to see if it has saved the files you require.
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For easier browsing, you can use the time stamp feature on the right side of the screen and select the date or time when you executed the backup. Once you found the files, simply click on Restore to get them back.
2. Recover Data with Recoverit Data Recovery
If you didn't use the Time Machine function or couldn't find the files you need, you can try to recover any lost files with trusted third-party software, such as Recoverit - Data Recovery.
Recoverit (IS)
A Life Saver to Solve Your Data Loss Problems!
- It allows you to recover unlimited lost or deleted files from your Mac device, including photo, video, and audio data, document files, and more.
- It supports all types of Mac files irrespective of their extension.
- Compatible with both internal and external drives, USB pens, memory cards, and other hardware, so you can rest assured it will retrieve your data if it's there.
- Retrieve data from accidentally deleted files, lost or formatted partitions, data lost due to virus attacks, system crashes, or data lost by the Time Machine.
- It is free to download and supports all leading macOS versions, including the 10.14 release.
3,165,867 people have downloaded it
This system is also very easy to use, in just three easy steps:
Step 1Install the application and choose the desired location
Download and install the software on your Mac computer, then open it and select the external hard drive, partition, or location where you want to retrieve data.
External Hard Drives For Mac
Step 2Start the scan to retrieve your lost data
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Click the Start button. The software will now scan the selected drive and display all retrieved data in an easy-to-scour list.
Step 3 Preview the recovered files and save them in your chosen location
Review and select the target files, then launch the recovery process. That's it. The software will restore your lost data.
Conclusion
As you can see, how to format an external hard drive Mac is not particularly complicated. The Disk Utility allows you to format the desired drive to the desired system in a blink of an eye. Backing up the data on your drive with Time Machine also allows you to avoid the recovery hassle. If you still lost some data, you even know which software to use to recover all lost files.
Now it's your turn. Use this guide to format your unreadable external drive, download, and use the data recovery software if needed, and don't forget to share this article with your Mac-addicted friends. They might make good use of it too.