Sep 25, 2017 - With the launch of Apple's new Mac operating System, MacOS High Sierra. Partition management, and native encryption, amongst other things. You can convert all your external hard drives, regardless of whether they are. Format a Mac's Drive Using Disk Utility (OS X El Capitan or Later). An internal or external, or if it’s a hard drive. Type and partition map scheme to use.
This Answer explains how to Partition and Format a WD Drive on macOS El Capitan, Sierra, and High Sierra.*END
Critical: The instructions in the article below are designed to help repartition and format a hard drive. This process is Data Destructive and cannot be undone. Once the process begins, ALL THE DATA ON THE DRIVE WILL BE LOST! |
![Partition Partition](/uploads/1/2/6/2/126274297/765226113.png)
![How How](/uploads/1/2/6/2/126274297/455006239.png)
How to Partition and Format a WD Drive on macOS El Capitan, Sierra, and High Sierra
macOS 10.11.x (El Capitan) and macOS 10.12.x (Sierra) | Click here for Instructions |
macOS 10.13.x (High Sierra) | Click here for Instructions |
Please select the topic from the table above to display the feature steps.
Important:Volumes formatted as APFS can be read by a Mac running High Sierra, but not by a Mac running Sierra or earlier. Please see HT208018 - Prepare for APFS in macOS High Sierra for more information. Please see Answer ID 9968: How to Convert a WD External Drive to Apple File System (APFS) Format If you get the following error message: MediaKit reports not enough space on device for requested operation. Operation failed... Please see Answer ID 20270: macOS Disk Utility Error 'MediaKit reports not enough space on device for requested operation' |
Critical:The instructions in the article below are designed to help repartition and format a hard drive. This process is Data Destructive and cannot be undone. Once the process begins, ALL THE DATA ON THE DRIVE WILL BE LOST! |
Steps for macOS 10.11.x (El Capitan) and macOS 10.12.x (Sierra)
- Open Disk Utility. Please See Answer ID 3823: How to access Disk Utility on macOS
- Click the Eject button next to the external hard drive volume (My Passport, etc)
- The drive will now be greyed out
- Click the Erase button
- Choose a new Format: Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
Choose Scheme: GUID Partition Map - Type the drive new Name
- Click the Erase button
- When finished, the drive will be formatted and repartitioned successfully. Click theDone button
Critical:The instructions in the article below are designed to help repartition and format a hard drive. This process is Data Destructive and cannot be undone. Once the process begins, ALL THE DATA ON THE DRIVE WILL BE LOST! |
Steps macOS 10.13.x (High Sierra)
- Open Disk Utility. Please See Answer ID 3823: How to access Disk Utility on macOS
- In the top menu bar, go to View, and choose Show All Devices
- Click the eject button next to the drive volume (My Passport, etc)
The drive Volume will now be greyed out - Select the drive (WD My Passport _____ Media, etc)
- Click the Erase button
- Choose a new Format: Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
Choose Scheme: GUID Partition Map - Type the drive new Name
- Click the Erase button
- When finished, the drive will be formatted and repartitioned successfully. Click the Done button