How to Make a WD Passport Read and Write on a Mac
When you receive a new WD Passport external hard drive, you may find that you need to take some steps to ensure it works seamlessly with your Mac. Proper formatting is key to making your WD Passport both read and write on your Mac. In this guide, we’ll walk you through the steps necessary to format your WD Passport for Mac compatibility.
Steps to Format a WD Passport for Mac
To make your WD Passport read and write on a Mac, you need to format it properly. Follow these detailed steps to achieve seamless operation:
Connect the WD Passport
Connect the WD Passport to your Mac via a USB port. This will ensure that your Mac can recognize the drive and properly communicate with it.
Open Disk Utility
Go to Applications rarr; Utilities rarr; Disk Utility. Alternatively, search for Command Space and type Disk Utility.Select the WD Passport
Locate your WD Passport in the list of drives on the left sidebar within Disk Utility. Carefully select the correct drive to avoid accidentally erasing the wrong one.
Erase the Drive
Click on the Erase button at the top of the Disk Utility window.
Choose the following options: Name: Enter a name for the drive. Format: Select between APFS for macOS 10.13 or later or Mac OS Extended (Journaled) for compatibility with older macOS versions. Scheme: Select GUID Partition Map.Once you’ve selected the appropriate options, click the Erase button to format the drive. This process will delete all data on the drive, so make sure to back up any important files first.
Wait for the Process to Complete
After starting the formatting process, wait for it to complete. Once it’s finished, you should see a message indicating that the drive was successfully erased.
Close Disk Utility
Your WD Passport is now formatted for use on your Mac. You can close Disk Utility and start using the drive for both reading and writing.
Additional Notes
For optimal results, especially if you plan to use your WD Passport on both Mac and Windows systems, consider the following:
Use with Windows: If you need to use the WD Passport on both Mac and Windows, consider formatting it to exFAT, which is compatible with both operating systems. This format ensures that you can easily move files between your Mac and Windows without any issues. Backup Important Data: Always back up any important data before formatting the drive, as this process will erase everything on the drive. Yar!In situations where you only use the drive with Macs, you can format it to either HFS (Mac OS Extended [journaled]) or APFS. Using GUID Partition Map with HFS is recommended to ensure data integrity.
However, if you find that you need to use the WD Passport on Windows machines, you might want to leave the drive in its default NTFS format. You can use commercial options like Paragon NTFS or Tuxera NTFS to enable read and write operations on Windows systems. For Mac users, a safer long-term option is to format the drive to exFAT for cross-platform compatibility.
For cross-platform compatibility, another option is to format the drive to exFAT, which is effective and works on most Windows systems, many Linux systems, and most Macs.
Conclusion
By following these steps, you can ensure that your WD Passport is fully compatible with your Mac and can be used for both reading and writing operations. Whether you opt for the default NTFS format, the cross-platform-friendly exFAT format, or a Mac-specific format like HFS or APFS, you should have a reliable and versatile external hard drive for your needs.