Every Operating System supports some specific file systems only. For instance, Mac is compatible with the HFS+ file system. When you take Windows, it supports the NTFS file system. If you are someone who shuttles between Windows and Mac computers, the ideal file system will be exFAT. Therefore, you need to format your hard drive according to your operating system. This article will show the procedure for How To Format Buffalo external hard drive on Windows and Mac computers.
How To Format Buffalo External Hard Drive On A Windows Computer
- Connect your hard drive to your Windows computer using a USB cable.
- Open the Run dialog box (Windows +R).
- Type diskmgmt.msc and click OK.
- If prompted, enter the administrator password.
- When directed to the Disk Management section, right-click on your Buffalo external hard drive and select the Format option.
- In the Format dialog box, you need to enter the required details.
- In the Volume label field, input a name for your hard drive.
- In the File System field, specify the file system with which you want to format.
- Leave the Allocation unit size field as Default and click OK.
- Once the formatting process gets completed, click OK on the confirmation dialog box.
This is how you should format your Buffalo hard drive on your Windows computer.
How To Format Buffalo Hard Drive On A Mac
- Take a USB cable and connect it between your Mac and Buffalo hard drive.
- Now, your Mac will display your hard drive on the desktop screen.
- Open Applications >> Utilities >> Disk Utility.
- On the Disk Utility section, you can locate all the hard drives connected to your Mac.
- Select your Buffalo hard drive under the External section and click the Erase option.
- In the Name field, specify your Buffalo hard drive’s name.
- In the Format field, select the option you prefer.
- If you are going to use your hard drive only on Mac, select the HFS+ file system.
- Select exFAT if you want to use your hard drive on both Windows and Mac. However, exFAT is not compatible with Time Machine backup. In that case, you need to create a partition for Time Machine backup and format this separate storage with the HFS+ file system.
- Select GUID Partition Map in the Scheme field and click the Erase button.
- Once the formatting gets completed, click Done.
In this way, you should format Buffalo hard drive on your Mac & Windows. For further questions and clarifications, get in touch with our expert team.
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