Partition External Hard Drive Mac Pc

For Mac users: G-Technology Portable External Hard Drive 2TB From the sleek design to the pre-formatting, this terabyte-sized drive is perfect for Mac users who need a little extra space and offers the transfer rate up to 140MB/s for accessing all your files. Once a FAT32 or exFAT partition is created on your external hard drive, you can share it on both Mac and Windows PC. Solution 3: Create One HFS+ Partition for Mac and One NTFS Partition for Windows Alternatively, you can create 2 partitions on the external hard drive: one is for Mac, and the other is for Windows. Transferring Data From a Mac to PC via an External Hard Drive. Mac OS X and Windows can both read and write to disks in the FAT or ExFat format. Because Mac OS X Mountain Lion does not natively support writing to an external NTFS drive, you must erase your hard disk and format it using a compatible file system.

1. Partition External Hard Drive Windows 10
2. Partition External Hard Drive Mac And Windows

Sep 28, 2020 • Filed to: Solve Mac Problems • Proven solutions

Partitioning the hard drive on your Mac computer will make it possible for you to run multiple operating systems independently without interfering with the smooth operation of the default partition that came with the device. Here is a quick tutorial on how to get it done on your own with Apple's disk utility program.

Overview of Disk Partition

What we mean by partitioning your Mac hard drive is simply to split it into different systems so as to enable two or more operating systems to run concurrently on your device. For example, you can install and a Mac and Windows OS on the device or two Mac OS versions on the same device. You can also create a partition to back up important files or to organize similar files into separate folders. There is quite a lot you can do with new partition creations but let's stick to Mac hard drives since that is what this article is for.

Benefits of making a Partition in a Mac Hard Drive

Like I noted already, a partition makes it technologically possible to run two different versions of MAC OS on your device or a Windows OS on a Mac device. Without a separate partition, running a Windows OS will not be possible since Windows is entirely different software. If you know how to go about initiating a partition, you will have no trouble implementing two different OS on the same device, and in this tutorial, we will show you how it is done.

Things to note before you start

Before you start the process, it is important that you back up the data in your hard drive in case of system errors which may lead to data loss. The easiest way to back up your data is through the use of a backup application. You can also store the backed up data in a separate system if you have another device available for use.

Open a pdf on mac. Finally, make sure there is enough space in your hard disk for the other operating system you intend to Install. A disk space of 30GB- 50GB should be enough to complete the process.

How to partition an External Hard Drive on Mac

After you must have backed up vital files and ensured that there is sufficient space in your hard disk, follow these simple steps to partition an external drive on your Mac computer.

1st Step- Click on Partition in your Disk Utility

Open your Disk Utility application to highlight the external drive you are working on. Select the icon found under External to highlight the Partition option.

2nd Step- Allocate volume to each Partition

Once you click Partition, you will see a window on the left with a blue circle. The circle is named after the external drive and it also showcases the drive's size. Click on the + button to raise the number of partitions in the external drive. After you've down this, choose a volume for each of them by clicking the white circle.

At this point, rename the partitions then pick a file system for each of them.

3rd Step- Confirm the process

Hit the Apply button for a pop up to ask for confirmation. Make sure you read the text to be sure the command is in accordance with your instructions. If it is, click 'Partition to move on.

4th Step- Finish the process

To finish the process, you will have to check if the operation is successful from your desktop. A successful partition will show several icons. I prefer to create a partition for personal use and another for data backup. You may choose to use the partition you've created whichever way you deem fit.

How to Partition a Hard Drive or SSD on Mac (With Boot Camp)

You can also partition your Mac or SSD with Boot Camp if you want to run a Windows OS on the device. Boot camp has a handy app called Boot Camp Assistant for partitioning hard drive space so each partition created will run and operate both OS's independently.

Conclusion

There is a whole lot one can learn about hard drive partitioning on Mac computers but this summarized tutorial should be enough to guide you should you choose to partition your hard drive. Do note that creating new partitions consumes more space on your hard disk so make sure that you have sufficient space before you do it.

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Partitioning a disk on a Mac is an effective way to organize your data into different categories. Rar maker mac. However, the main concern is that most external hard drives and USB keys come formatted for Windows, which is primarily for PCs. By default, a Mac runs a different file system, so it may bring issues while partitioning your disk on Disk Utility.

Hard drive partitioning is a common issue discussed in many tech forums. In a thread on Apple's support forum, users complain that their Mac Disk Utility partition grayed-out while trying to partition their external hard drives.

Probably, you just bought your external hard drive and are eager to use it on your Mac. But somehow, you cannot access the Mac Disk Utility partition, so you can't write data to the drive.

Fear not, we have a solution to this problem. In this post, we will guide you through a step-by-step process on how to restore a grayed-out Disk Utility partition. Many Apple users who have faced Partition grayed out in Mac issues eventually partitioned their external hard drives with the help of these fixes.

Why Partition Grayed Out in Mac (Plus Solution)

Problem 1: Sometimes, you cannot access the Mac Disk Utility partition because your hard drive doesn't have sufficient space.

Solution: If you want to go ahead with the partitioning task, you need to create more space on your hard drive. In other words, you have to erase the data on your drive to create additional space. You can then format your hard drive using GUID Partition Table. After that, go ahead with your partitioning plans.

Important Note: Before formatting your hard drive, back up your most important files. Needless to say, the process will get rid of all the data on the disk, so you risk losing your files for good.

Problem 2: As mentioned earlier, external drives are usually not compatible with macOS, which may bring issues when you want to partition. In most cases, users choose the wrong partitioning option, and as a result, the Partition option in Disk Utility remains grayed out.

Solution: The right way you should follow when selecting a partition option is to choose the drive name within the list provided under Internal or External (depending on the device you want to partition). Your hard drive will be available on the left side of the Disk Utility pane.

How to Restore Grayed Out Disk Utility Partition: Format Your Hard Drive to Work with Mac

To format your external disk to be compatible with macOS, connect your hard drive to the Mac and follow these steps:

1. Open Disk Utility by going to Applications, then select Utilities > Disk Utility.
2. Choose the drive name within the list provided under ‘External'. If your hard drive is connected, it will show in the left panel of the Disk Utility. Highlight the disk and click the Erase button in the top toolbar.
3. Wait for a window asking you to select the file system you want to use to format your external drive to pop up. For your case, you will select ‘Mac OS Extended (Journaled)'. But if you have plans to use your disk for both PC and Mac, then a better option is ‘ExFAT'. You can also rename your hard disk here to your desired name.
4. Wait for the formatting process to complete. The process usually takes less than a minute, but it depends on the size of your hard disk.
5. When done, confirm if the formatting was successful by right-clicking the icon for your disk on the desktop and then choosing Get Info. The information is available under Format.

If it reads 'Mac OS Extended (Journaled)', congratulations, you successfully restored the grayed-out Disk Utility and your hard disk is now compatible with macOS.

Partitioning Your Hard Drive on Mac

Now that you have prepared your hard drive to work with Mac, the next step is to partition it on your Mac by following these steps:

1. Launch the Disk Utility app on your Mac and highlight the hard drive icon under ‘External' (for external hard drives). If you choose any other drive, the partition option will become unclickable.
2. Now click Partition on the top toolbar. A window that has partition information will pop up. On the left side of the window, look for the name and the volume size of your hard drive. The next step is to click add(+) button on the bottom of the window to create partitions on your disk. Allocate the desired volume size to each partition.
3. Hit the Apply button and wait for a window asking you to verify your choices. Confirm the changes by clicking the Partition button.
4. Wait for the process to complete. You can confirm if the process was successful on your desktop. You will see additional disk icons show

Partition External Hard Drive Windows 10

Pro Tip: If the main reason for partitioning your hard drive is to install Windows, Apple recommends that you use Boot Camp Assistant instead of Disk Utility. You should, however, note that you cannot use Disk Utility to erase a partition generated using Boot Camp Assistant.

What Else Can You Do to Resolve Common Mac Issues

If you are like many users, partitioning a hard drive on Mac may not be the only challenge you have had with your computer. Mac users have also reported slow performance, random freezes, and space issues. The best way to guarantee the best performance for your Mac is to scan and clean the computer. Outbyte MacRepair helps you to optimize your Mac for peak performance by checking for and cleaning up junk files, unnecessary apps, and other space hogs that may affect your Mac's memory.

We hope the above solutions helped you to restore the grayed-out Disk Utility partition. As always, we would love to hear your success story. Share it in the comment section. Also, let us know if you experienced challenges during the partitioning process.

Partition External Hard Drive Mac And Windows