You can backup the disk (Windows is probably easiest, considering the format) and reformat to exFAT. Steps 4-6 are optional but should be used on a drive that has never been formatted before, if the format type is not Mac OS Extended, if the partition scheme has been changed, or if a different operating system (not OS X) has been installed on the drive. The format process can take up to several hours depending upon the drive size. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Security button, check the button for Zero Data and click on OK to return to the Erase window.Ħ. Click on the Erase tab in the Disk Utility main window.ĥ. Select the volume you just created (this is the sub-entry under the drive entry) from the left side list. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Apply button and wait until the process has completed.Ĥ. Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID then click on the OK button. Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to one. Click on the Partition tab in the Disk Utility main window.ģ. After Disk Utility loads select the external hard drive (this is the out-dented entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Open Disk Utility in the Utilities folder.Ģ.

View files on mac hd in external