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I Need to Format a Hard Drive to Work With Windows, Help

I have a journaled external hard disk formatted to Mac OS. I no longer own a Mac, so I'd like to format my Windows computer's hard disk to exFat or fat32. My Windows computer recognizes the drive, but this drive does not appear in File Explorer.

Best Answered by

Roxanne· Answered on Apr 18, 2024

Before starting, I will introduce some background information on formatting a Mac hard drive to work with Windows. First, even if most external hard drives are built to be compatible with Windows computers, you still need to ensure this drive is compatible with Macs and Windows PCs. Then, the Windows system only supports the NTFS file system, not exFAT or FAT32. 

You must choose a reliable tool because your File Explorer can't recognize the target partition, and the format process is dangerous. I recommend EaseUS Partition Master, an all-in-one partition manager that can quickly and safely format the hard drive to multiple file systems quickly and safely.

Note: This operation will delete the data on your hard drive, think twice, and back up your valuable data to an external hard drive.

Free Download 

Windows 11/10/8/7100% Secure

Step 1. Launch EaseUS Partition Master, locate the hard drive, and select the "Format" option.

Step 2. Assign the hard drive's partition label, file system (choose NTFS), and cluster size, then click "OK."

Step 3. Click the "Execute 1 Task(s)" button and "Apply" option to begin formatting your external hard drive to work with Windows.

After formatting the hard drive to NTFS, you may like to partition this drive. No need to worry. EaseUS Partition Master can also cover you with its "Create" feature as follows:

More Information: How to Partition A Hard Drive in Windows

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