Aug 28, 2020 • Filed to: Solve Mac Problems • Proven solutions
Western Digital Hard Drive Format Utility Virus. The Western Digital Hard Disk Drive is a storage device where you can save large data. The WD Hard Drive Format Utility can be used to unlock and lock the drive or hide your sensitive information from an unknown person. May 25, 2020 Format Western Digital Passport to FAT32 with WD Quick Formatter. WD Quick Formatter, also known as WD Advanced Format Drivers (AFDs), is an external hard drive format utility for Windows and Mac, developed by Western Digital Technologies, Inc. External drive like WD Elements, My Book and My Passport can be formatted to FAT32 via this tool.
A lot of people face issues when they try to connect their external hard drives to their Mac devices. This is because of the differences in file format between windows and Mac systems.
People often search for things like how to make WD elements compatible with Mac so that they can use their external HDD without any issue. Having an External HDD that isn’t supported on Mac devices can be an issue for professionals who need to consistently transfer files from one type of computer to another. Hence in order to keep your workflow smooth and without any obstructions, it will be better to get your HDDs formatted into formats that are supported across all the operating systems that are used generally
So I have a My Passport drive that I had back before my mac computer killed itself. It has pretty much every bit of information I really hold dear, and on any mac computer I can find everything on it. Trying to use it on my girlfriend’s computer is a completely different matter. It doesn’t register that the drive even exists, though the device connected noise sounds. It doesn’t give me. WD is currently implementing Advanced Format technology on its WD Caviar Green line of products, beginning with the WD20EARS, WD15EARS, WD10EARS, WD7500AARS, WD6400AARS and WD5000AARS models. WD hard drives are engineered with Data Lifeguard Tools, a combination of hardware and software that work together to provide you with the best.
Part 1. Does WD Elements Work with Mac
By default, a WD Elements HDD cannot work on Mac computers as they are formatted in NTFS format. This format is not supported on Mac devices and you will not be able to access the hard drive. The differences in formats cause issues in reading the hard drive and in order to be able to use it universally across your entire device, it is important to first reformat the drive into a supported format.
Common Formats of WD Elements Drive
Most commonly WD elements come with NTFS format which is not supported by Mac by default. It is important to check the formats before you buy external HDD as not all the HDDs are supported across both devices. Some versions might also be available in FAT32 and ExFAT formats, which are widely supported across different types of operating systems and devices.
Does WD Elements Work on Mac
Depending upon the format in which HDD is created, it may or may not work on Mac devices. Most of these hard disks are formatted into NTFS format that is only supported on Windows PCs. If you want to buy WD elements that work on Mac, ask the shopkeeper to give you an HDD that has HFS+ format as it is supported by Mac devices or you can go for file formats like ExFAT and FAT32.
How to Make WD Elements Compatible with Mac
As the WD element is a popular external hard disk, more and more people prefer buying it due to their reliability. Because of the fact that Windows PCs are more popular, they generally come with NTFS format. The only way to be able to use these hard disks on your Mac is by reformatting it into other formats like Journaled, ExFAT, or FAT32 formats as they are supported across all the devices.
Part 2. How to Format WD Elements for Mac
Due to the differences in the operating systems, most of the ED elements external hard disks don’t work natively on the Mac OS powered devices. In order to get over this hurdle, it becomes necessary to format the hard disk into a format that is widely supported. How to reformat WD elements for Mac you ask? Well, it is quite easy, to begin with, and can easily be done across different devices so that it can be used with cross-platform usage features. There is no requirement of any third-party application to be able to do so and the processes are quite easy as well.
What’s the Best Format of WD Elements for Mac
Choosing the perfect format to which you will reformat the hard disk can be quite tricky as there are a lot of formats and they have their own pros and cons. For example, ExFat systems have limitation oversize of partitions, FAT32 systems are not widely found and Mac OS’s Journaled formats will only work on Mac OS powered devices. Hence in order to choose the right format, you will have to understand your requirement.
If you primarily use Mac OS devices only then it will be better to go for Mac OS journaled formats as they have little to no limitations for partitions and file sizes. But if you like to use it across all the devices, it will be better to convert it to HFS+ formats as it is supported on Android, Windows, and Mac OS without any issue and there are no limitations that make it any less useful than NTFS systems.
How to Format/Reformat WD Elements for Mac
Depending on the system that you are using, there are 2 ways to format your hard disk into a Mac supported format. One is by using the indigenous file format option in the windows OS powered computers and the other is through the similar tools found in the Mac OS. Have a look down below to understand how to format WD elements for Mac using Windows as well as Mac OS devices-
How to format WD elements SE for Mac on the Windows Operating system?
Step 1. Connect your hard disk with the computer
Connect the hard disk to the computer using a USB cable and wait for a bit so that the device can be recognized. Once that is done, click on the 'This PC' option and find the icon that represents the Hard disk.
Step 2. Click on the format option
Right-click on the hard disk icon and browse through the options to find the format option. Click on it and you will now see a dialogue box with options like the File system, Volume Label, etc. Click on the File system option and look for the available formats. Select the one that you wish to continue with and then enter a relevant name for the hard disk in the Volume name option.
Step 3. Format the drive
Once you have set everything as per your requirement, select the ‘quick format’ option, and press the start button. Wait for a few moments and your drive will be formatted into the set format.
How to format the WD element on your Mac device?
Step 1. Connect the WD elemental hard disk to your Mac powered device
Connect your Hard disk to your computer and wait for a bit so that the system can recognize and mount the drive so that it can be used. Once it does recognize the disk, a Hard disk-shaped icon will appear on the desktop.
Step 2. Go to the disk utility option
Go to the finder option from the Mac OS dock and open it. When it opens, select the Go option from the menu bar and after that, click on utilities. Now you will be able to see things like application/utilities, etc. Go to the utility option and select the disk utility application.
Step 3. Choose the hard drive you want to format
Now after opening the Disk utility option, select the external drive connected with your device that you wish to format.
Step 4. Select the format options
Now click on the Erase option from, the disk utility file menu. You will now see a new dialogue box will appear. From here you will have to customize the format in which you want the hard disk to be formatted to. Also, set the new name of the hard disk as per your requirements.
Step 5. Erase the drive
Once everything is done according to what you wanted, click on the erase option and within a few seconds, your hard disk will be formatted.
Part 3. How to Recover Formatted WD Files on Mac
When external hard disks are formatted, it becomes next to impossible to recover files that were stored in it. There are a few third-party tools that can help you to do so with ease. While formatting your hard disk, it is important to make sure that there are no important files or folders present inside the hard disk that is not backed up yet.
If such files exist in your external hard disk, make sure that you make the backup before formatting your hard disk as once you initiate the format option, you will not be able to recover any of the files.
The Consequence of Formatting WD Accidentally
A lot of people tend to initiate format options by accident and this can cause a lot of issues for them. The following are some of the primary ones that they face-
- If you don’t regularly back up your data, you might end up losing a lot of important files and folders.
- Your hard disk might also become corrupt and unusable after you format it quite often by mistake.
How to Recover Formatted WD Elements Drive Files
If your WD elements have got corrupted, damaged, is unreadable or was accidentally formatted, there is little that can be done to recover the data. However, there are a few applications like the Recoverit Data recovery tool that can help you to gather and retrieve lost or corrupted files that you want. It can be used on both Mac as well as windows powered devices and are extremely easy to use as well. The tool is available to be downloaded and used for free on the official website and doesn’t require a high-end PC to work properly. It can easily repair corrupted videos, files, etc. with ease.
The following are the steps that can help you to recover the files with the help of Recoverit data recovery tool-
Step 1. Select the drive you wish to recover the data from
Download, install, and launch Recover it data recovery tool on your Mac. Once done, select the drive that you wish to repair and get the data out of. If you already know the exact folder, select it and then press the start button to proceed.
Step 2. The location will be scanned
Now recover it will scan the location you have provided thoroughly with the help of advanced algorithms. All the deleted, corrupted and hidden files and folders will appear in the tool after the scan is complete. The best thing about the tool is that the scanning can be customized with the help of a lot of filters that can make scanning faster and more efficient, also it allows the user to pause and resume the scanning as per their convenience.
Step 3. Preview the files
Now you will have a list of all the files that could be found in that location. Browse and search the file that you wanted and click on it to preview bit. If everything seems fine, select the file, and click on the recover option, select the location where you want to store the file, and then start the process. Your file will be recovered and restored within a few seconds.
Part 4.Tips for Formatting WD Elements for Mac
WD Elements is a very popular external hard disk that is used by a lot of people around the world. In order to make sure that there are no issues happening with the hard disk while you format it, it is important to make sure that everything is being done properly.
Know Benefits of Formatting WD Hard Drive
Formatting your hard disk from time to time helps to provide you with tons of benefits like-
- It will provide you with better transfer speed, get rid of bugs and glitches, remove the unwanted files and create space, and will also keep viruses at bay.
- If you use it as a primary storage unit, it will also result in faster and more efficient performance.
Learn Tips on Changing WD Elements for Mac
The following are a few tips that you can follow while changing the WD elements for Mac-
- Make sure you choose the right format as per your requirement so that it can be supported across different devices.
- The best formats for this purpose will be ExFAT or HFS+.
- Ensure that your computer doesn’t turn off during the time that the hard disk is being formatted.
- Avoid using 3rd party applications to reformat the hard disks as it can harm it and
Conclusion
WD elements are very popular external hard disks that are used by people across the world. It comes formatted with the NTFS format which is not supported on Mac OS. Hence in order to be able to use this tool, it is important to reformat it into supported formats like HFS+, FAT32, and ExFAT before you can use them.
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Apr 16,2020 • Filed to: Hard Drive Recovery • Proven solutions
Professional videographers and photographers use several digital devices. Generally, it includes Windows 10 desktop, MacBook Pro, SD card, DSLR and external drives, for instance, WD My Passport. The WD My Passport drive is imperative because the individual will use the portable media to store their collection of videos, photos, docs, and audio safely. Even though the superlative device specifications, there is still one small hitch to rectify, which is the reason you need to format WD My Passport.
Most of us know that Windows and Macs have their own native file systems, for instance, NTFS and new APFS/HFS respectively. A WD My Passport formatted with the Windows file system will be useless on the Mac and vice-versa.
But, the good news is that MS-DOS exFAT and FAT32 formats come quite in handy in such cases. These file systems can help you to make your WD My Passport work with a Windows PC and Mac at the same time. In this post, we’re going to help you learn how to format WD Passport for Mac and Windows safely so that you can share your digital files between a Windows OS and macOS with ease.
Part 1: What is My Passport WD?
Before you learn how to format a WD My Passport, it’s good to know about what is My Passport WD. So, let’s start.
My Passport is a sequence of portable external hard drives by Western Digital. Currently, there are six series, which include
- Essential Edition
- Essential SE Edition
- Elite Edition
- Essential for Mac
- Studio Edition
- Essential SE for Mac
My Passport drives by WD are designed to give look and feel like a passport. There is no drive in the passport series that needed a power socket, even though the “elite editions” comes with a docking system.
At present, WD My Passport hard drives have become popular thanks to its portable feature. In fact, WD My Passport is the most trusted and well-known name on the market and all credit goes to a wide range of features, which include several memory variants, durable structure and many more. If you’re planning to add to your system’s storage or backup your important data without another costly hard drive in it, then the WD My Passport external hard drives are the best options.
To format Western Digital My Passport for Mac or Windows, you can rely on in-built applications of your system to format your WD My Passport in exFAT or FAT32 format.
Before proceeding further, it is recommended to take a backup of your important files. As formatting will going to erase everything on your drive and that’s why avoid formatting your drive without a backup.
Part 2: How to Format WD My Passport in Mac System
Mac systems feature Disk Utility that can help you format your WD My Passport easily and safely. So, follow the steps mentioned below on your system -
Step 1 To start the process, connect your WD My Passport drive to your Mac system. Once the system detects your connected drive and mounts it for use, you’ll see a new hard drive icon on the desktop.
Step 2 On Dock, choose “Finder” to open the Finder interface. Next, from the menu bar, select “Go”>” Utilities”. Thereafter, select the “Disk Utility” from the Utilities folder.
Step 3 Once the Disk Utility opens, select your Western Digital hard drive from the sidebar.
Step 4 After that, click on the “Erase” from the file menu of the Disk Utility. Now, you’ll see the Erase dialogue windows and here, choose the “Volume Format” drop-down list to select the exFAT or FAT file system.
Note: The exFAT file system is a better option when it comes to formatting WD My Passport on Mac.
Step 5 Thereafter, click on the “Erase” button and let the system erase everything on the drive and reformat WD elements for Mac by exFAT or FAT32 format.
Step 6 Once formatting completes, you can then use your drive in Mac as a usual hard drive.
Part 3: How to Format WD My Passport in Windows System
Just like Disk Utility on Mac, there is an in-built tool known as Disk Management in Windows. With Disk Management, you can easily erase your Western Digital My Passport drive without the need for any third-party application. So, let’s learn how to do so -
Step 1 To begin with, connect your WD My Passport hard drive to your Windows system through the digital cable. Wait for your system to detect your connected drive.
Step 2 After that, click the “Start” button and choose “This PC”. You’ll see a list of detected drives along with their drive letters on the left side.
Step 3 Next, right-click on the connected drive icon and click on the “Format” option in the pop-menu.
Step 4 Now, choose the “File System” from the list and select either “FAT32” or “exFAT”. Then, enter a name in the field named “Volume Label”.
Step 5 After that, choose a “Quick Format” option, and click on the “Start” option. Wait for your system to reformat the drive with the FAT32 format so that you can reuse it.
That’s how to format WD My Passport. As you can see that there is no need for any third-party software to get the job done, be it for Mac or Windows PC. Once the formatting process completes, you can read and write data on it as you do on any other external hard drive.
Part 4: How to Extend the lifespan of WD My Passport
A WD My Passport hard drive can be one of the great assets for your system in terms of storage space for your important files. If you want to use your Western Digital My Passport external hard drive for many next years to come, following the below tips can help you do so.
- Be Gentle - Being rough with your hard drive storage medium is a quick way to reduce its lifespan. Luckily, several damages can be prevented and all it takes is care. In other words, you should be careful while using it. For instance, you should place it a padded container or bag while carrying it around.
- Eject Properly - Don’t unplug your WD My Passport drive without performing the ejection operation. If you do so, then you can put yourself at the risk of losing files and even, damaging your drive. That’s why use the “eject” feature and let the drive take the time it requires to remove it in the right manner.
- Keep it Cool - Just like internal hard drive, WD My Passport drives will produce heat while you’re using then. The real trouble begins when your drive process excessive heat. So, keep it in a sport where there is airflow around it.
There are numerous factors that can reduce the lifespan of your Western Digital My Passport drive. But, keeping the things mentioned above can make a difference.
Tips:
Recover Data from Both Windows and Mac System
No one can specify the possibilities of human errors that result in the accidental formatting of the Western Digital My Passport drive. Your silly mistake can permanently delete all of the contained videos, photos, docs, etc from your WD My Passport. That’s why it is recommended to create a backup of your drive before you reformat WD My Passport for Windows or Mac.
But, what if you have already found yourself in the data loss situation? The best thing you can do is to use professional data recovery software like iSkysoft that can help you get back your important files from Windows and Mac. Using Recoverit, you can rescue your data in no time.
Recoverit (IS)
Here are its key features -
- Recovers 1000+ file types, for instance, videos, audios, graphics, documents, photos, and a lot more.
- Recover files from any kind of storage device, such as external hard drive, internal hard drive, digital camera. SD card, etc.
- You can recover data due to accidental formatting, unintentional deletion, virus attack, sudden system shut down, etc.
- Supports to recover files on both Windows and Mac.
- Click-through process to recover data easily and quickly.
Conclusion:
Wd My Passport For Mac Format For Windows
That’s all on how to format WD hard drive for Mac and PC. As you can see that formatting or reformatting the Western Digital My Passport drive is easy, be it on Windows or Mac systems. All thanks go to their built-in formatting tool. If you lost your important files in the process, there is no need to panic as Recoverit can help recover them without much hassle.