Western Digital Elements 12TB is an external hard drive that makes it easy to back up your photos, videos, documents, etc. This external hard drive comes with backup software that allows you to schedule the backup process automatically. If you are going to use the WD Elements 12TB external hard drive on your computer for the first time, you need to set it up. Then, you can start using the hard drive on your computer. To do so, just perform the below instructions carefully.
WD Elements Desktop 12TB Hard Drive Setup
First, connect the power cord to the Elements 12TB external hard drive and the wall socket.
You can now connect the hard drive to your computer.
Plug the USB cable into the hard drive and the other end to your computer.
Hit the Power button at the back of the external hard drive to turn it on.
Check if your computer is turned on.
Now, launch the File Explorer window on your computer.
Here, you can see the external hard drive that is detected on your computer.
Formatting The WD Elements 12TB Desktop Hard Drive (Windows)
Connect the 12TB hard drive to your computer.
Launch the Computer Management window on your computer.
Select the Disk Management option below the Storage section.
Next, right-click on your external hard drive and select the Initialize Disk option from the list.
Now, choose the partition style and click OK.
After initializing the disk, the partition status will be Unallocated. Right-click on the Unallocated partition and choose the New Simple Volume option from the drop-down list.
Perform the on-screen instructions and click Next.
Here, choose the partition size and click the Next button.
Select the drive letter from the drop-down list and click Next.
Next, go to Format this volume with the following settings section and set the File system and Volume label from the drop-down list.
Perform the on-screen instructions to complete the formatting process.
WD Elements 12TB Hard Drive Format (Mac)
First, ensure to connect the external hard drive to your Mac computer.
Now, open the Finder window and select Applications.
Click on the Utilities option from the list.
Here, choose Disk Utility.
Click the View button at the top-left corner of the window.
Select the Show All Devices option.
Now, you will see the external hard drive that is connected to your Mac computer.
Choose your hard drive from the left menu panel on the screen.
Next, click Erase at the top of the window.
A small dialog box will pop up at the top of the window.
Here, enter a name for your hard drive in the Name field.
Select the Format field and choose one of the options you want to use from the drop-down list.
Next, click the Scheme field and select the GUID Partition Map option from the drop-down list.
Once providing all the details, click Erase.
It takes some time to create the partition and set up the drive on Disk Utility.