How to Clone External Hard Drive on Mac - Easy Steps

• Can I clone external hard drive to another on Mac?
• Absolutely. Cloning an external hard drive on a Mac can be a straightforward process with Disk Utility or third-party cloning software along with guidance.

If you want to create backups, upgrade your hard drives, or duplicate files, MacOS has built-in utilities and third-party tools to make it happen easily.

This guide from EaseUS will take you through the steps to clone an external hard drive on a Mac, helping you safely transfer all your data without losing any necessary files or configurations.

Preparation for Cloning

Preparing properly before starting the cloning process is necessary so that everything goes smoothly. Let's look at the main steps you need to take before beginning the cloning process.

#1. Prepare your external disk

To begin with, it is essential to select an appropriate external hard drive for your destination. The destination drive must have sufficient free memory to store all the Information that you'll move from the source drive. The new one should ideally have the same capacity or be higher than the original one to avoid any space constraints.

#2. Get a disk cloning tool

For Mac users wanting to clone their external hard drives, there are two major ways: either utilize the Disk Utility that comes with Macs or download a third-party application such as EaseUS Partition Master for Mac. While Disk Utility is a free and readily available tool, third-party software often offers more features and a user-friendly interface.

Here's a comparison table between EaseUS Partition Master for Mac vs Disk Utility:

How to Clone External Hard Drive to Another on Mac - 2 Ways

At this point, after covering the preparatory steps and comparing various tools, we can now get down to the actual procedure of cloning your external hard disk drive. Two different approaches will be discussed: utilizing EaseUS Partition Master for Mac and using the built-in Disk Utility. Each approach has its own benefits, so it is important to select one that is more fitting for you, depending on what you're used to or what makes you comfortable.

Way 1. EaseUS Partition Master for Mac

EaseUS Partition Master for Mac is an outstanding option for anyone looking for a simple yet feature-packed choice. This dynamic application makes cloning easier and additionally comes with several other disk management apparatuses.

Some key advantages of using this tool include increased cloning speed, especially on bigger drives, and the ability to conduct incremental cloning, which makes it more convenient when updating your backups.

Now, let's look at the steps to clone an external hard drive on a Mac using EaseUS Partition Master:

Step 1. Connect your removable device to Mac and run EaseUS Partition Master.

Click "Clone" at the left pane under the Abilities section, click the "+" icon to select a source external device you want to clone.

Step 2. Select a new target disk as destination to clone the selected removable disk - external HDD/SSD, USB, or SD card.

When both source and target external storage devices are selected, click "Start" to begin.

Step 3. Click "Yes" when EaseUS Partition Master for Mac request you to confirm the operation.

Step 4. Wait patiently to let EaseUS Partition Master for Mac to complete the cloning process.

Beyond cloning, EaseUS Partition Master for Mac offers a variety of other valuable features:

• Clone Mac hard drive
• Read & write NTFS Drive
• Convert drive from FAT to exFAT
• Unlock BitLocker-encrypted drives
• Create a bootable installer for macOS

This software goes beyond mere cloning functions due to its extra functions, thus making it a flexible application for your disk administration requests, whether you are a home user or an IT specialist. If you like this tool, don't forget to share it with other users.

Way 2. Disk Utility

If you want to stick to Apple's native tools for cloning or just want a more straightforward way, Apple's built-in Disk Utility comes in handy. It's pre-installed on all Mac devices and offers a no-cost solution for cloning your external hard drive.

Let's look at the steps to clone your external hard drive on Mac using Disk Utility:

Step 1. Launch Disk Utility using the following path: "Applications" > "Utilities" > "Disk Utility." Alternatively, you can use the Spotlight Search.

Step 2. On the Disk Utility sidebar, choose the target external hard drive where you want cloned data to be saved. Ensure it's the main drive and not a partition.

Step 3. Click on the "Restore" button located at the top menu of Disk Utility to open its interface.

Step 4. In the restore window, select the source disk in the "Restore from" box and then click "Restore" to clone the disk.

Step 5. Start cloning by clicking on the "Restore" button.

When you follow these steps, you can create a perfect clone of your external hard drive with Disk Utility. The method is simple and does not need any third-party applications; hence, it is a good choice for people who are comfortable with Apple's inbuilt programs.

However, provided that its tasks are simple, it can be relied upon, but it doesn't have all the advanced features and speed optimizations of specialized third-party software.

Conclusion

In this tutorial, we've explored two effective methods to clone external hard drive on Mac. We've discussed the necessary preparations, compared these tools, and provided step-by-step instructions for both methods.

The focus was on empowering Mac users with the skills to make identical replicas of their outside drives correctly and comfortably, either for backup purposes or when replacing an old device with a new one.

We recommend EaseUS Partition Master for Mac for its user-friendly interface and advanced features, such as partition management, incremental cloning, and disk conversion, which make it a comprehensive solution for all your disk management needs.

Clone External Hard Drive on Mac FAQs

If you still have questions on how to Clone an external hard drive on a Mac, check out the FAQs section below.

1. How do I Restore my external hard drive on my Mac?

To restore your external hard drive on a Mac, you can use Disk Utility:

• Connect your external hard drive to your Mac.
• Go to Disk Utility (Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility).
• Choose your external hard drive from the sidebar menu.
• In the upper menu bar, click on the First Aid button.
• Click "Run" to start the repair process.
• Wait for the process to complete and follow any on-screen instructions.

If Disk Utility can't repair your drive, consider using third-party data recovery software or consulting a professional.

2. Is it possible to install macOS on external hard drive?

Yes, it is possible to install MacOS on an external hard drive. This can be useful for creating a bootable backup or for running MacOS on multiple Macs.

Here's a brief overview of the process:

• Connect an external drive with at least 64GB of space.
• Get the macOS installer from the App Store.
• Launch the installer but don't start installation yet.
• Go to Utilities > Disk Utility and format the external drive as APFS.
• Quit Disk Utility and go back to the installer again.
• Select the external drive as the installation destination
• Follow the prompts to complete the installation.

Remember that the external drive needs to be connected for you to boot from it.

3. Can I use my old Mac hard drive as an external drive?

Yes, you can repurpose your old Mac hard drive as an external drive. Here's how:

• You must take out the hard drive from the old Mac (if you need more clarification, consult your Mac's manual or professional).
• Get an external hard drive enclosure or adapter depending on your drive type (e.g., SATA, IDE, etc.)
• Put your old drive into the enclosure or connect it to the adapter.
• Use USB to connect the enclosure/adapter to your Mac.
• Format the drive using Disk Utility if prompted.

Once set up, you can use it like any other external hard drive for additional storage or backups. However, older drives may be slower than current drives.