You’re now ready to use your external drive on your Mac (along with Windows and Linux if you went for ExFAT!). You’ll also be asked if you’d like to run First Aid on the drive before erasing – this is more for those with corrupted drives, so feel free to skip if you want.

Click Erase to reformat your drive – this shouldn’t take more than a few minutes, but it could vary depending on storage size and the type of drive you’re using.

Enter the name of the drive and select the format of your choice in the Format dropdown menu.

When you’re ready, hit the Erase button.

If you’re using more than one drive, be sure that it’s the one you want to reformat as the process is largely irreversible.

Select the external drive under the External Drive subheading on the left-hand side.

You can search for the app by accessing Spotlight (Command + Space) or by going to Finder > Applications > Utilities.

Connect your external drive to your Mac.

It’s worth noting that reformatting a drive will erase everything stored on the drive, so make sure you transfer important files before you follow the below steps.

Thankfully, reformatting an external drive on a Mac is a relatively straightforward process – Apple even ships Macs with a built-in utility to do so. While it’s not as efficient as Apple’s APFS, the universal support makes this the go-to for most external hard drive users. Like its older sibling, ExFAT is compatible with Mac, PC and Linux, but doesn’t have the same 4GB file limit. ExFATĮxFAT is an upgraded version of FAT32. However, the ageing file system has a big flaw: it’s limited to a maximum of 4GB, and it’s prone to disk errors too. FAT32įAT32 is the go-to for some, offering cross-platform compatibility between Mac, PC and Linux, ideal for those that hop across different platforms on a day-to-day basis. You can also opt for Mac OS Extended (Encrypted) to password-protect the data on the drive – a great security feature for those dealing with sensitive data and/or travelling with an external drive.

It’ll play nicely with your Mac, but like the above APFS, Mac OS Extended isn’t compatible with Windows or Linux PCs. If you’re running macOS Sierra or an earlier version of macOS/Mac OS X, Mac OS Extended is the default file format.

Macbook air reformat