Open Disk Utility in your Utilities folder. Formatting is a drastic measure that’s effectively the same as a factory reset, so it’s rarely used as part of regular hard drive maintenance.1. Sometimes formatting is the right approach if you’re 100% sure you won’t need any of the files on an old hard drive, but this is rarely the case. If you’re looking for a way to reduce clutter and purge old data or files from your hard drive, you should look into ways to clean your hard drive instead of formatting it. However, this is usually done as a last resort in most troubleshooting processes. In this case, formatting the hard drive makes it possible to reinstall an operating system. You may also need to format a hard drive if other troubleshooting steps haven’t successfully resolved a technical problem. It’s best to perform a normal format if you don’t want anyone to be able to access your old files-though normal formatting can take a considerably longer time. If you choose to perform a quick format, there’s a chance some files may be retrievable. The most common reason is if you want to sell your device or give it to someone else. There are several reasons you may need to format your hard drive. Why you may need to format your hard drive When an external drive is successfully connected to your computer, you should be able to select it from the list of available drives to format by following the steps above. These include flash drives, SD cards, and similar portable devices. If the primary drive is partitioned, the operating system may be maintained separately from other files.Įxternal hard drives, on the other hand, are storage devices that are easily removable. Primary hard drives or C drives (C:) are internal hard drives that contain a computer’s operating system. They cannot be removed without opening the computer and accessing the drive enclosure. An internal hard drive, as the name suggests, is a drive built into the device. The steps above are the same whether the hard drive you’re formatting is internal or external. Reformatting different types of hard drives

Select the file system you want to use (default is APFS) and click “Erase”.Select the correct hard drive from the menu on the left and click “Erase” at the top of the window.Access the Utilities folder under “Go” in the Finder menu.

If you only want to delete the data on the drive, a quick format should suffice. If you want to wipe the entire drive, make sure “Perform a quick format” is left unchecked and it will perform a normal format.

In the box that appears, select the file system you want to use (default is NTFS).

In the details box that appears across the bottom, right-click and select “Format” from the menu.

Select the correct hard drive from the list that appears in the Disk Management window.

Open the Run app by searching for it in the Windows menu.

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