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

How to format WD elements SE for Mac on the Windows Operating system? Connect your hard disk with the computer. Connect the hard disk to the computer using a USB cable and wait for a bit so that the device can be recognized. Once that is done, click on the 'This PC' option and find the icon that represents the Hard disk. Turn on your Mac and connect the WD easystore hard drive using a USB 3.0 cable. Once you have connected the hard drive successfully, click the Disk Utility icon located at the Dock. Alternatively, press the Command + Spacebar shortcut keys to open the Spotlight. Type “disk utility” in the search panel and hit the Enter key to open the Disk Utility window.

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Both your Mac and a PC can see the ExFAT partition. Of course if you want the whole drive shareable between a Mac and PC you can format the entire hard drive to ExFAT and then both can read and write to the complete hard drive. I trust that I have helped you stay nice and calm as you learnt how to use WD My Passport for Mac. So I’ve recently made the transfer from a Mac, back to a PC. Before making the move I saved all the files from my Mac onto My Passport. Now that my Windows laptop is up and running I’d like to transfer my files from My Passport to it. This includes my CV, scanned documents, around 30gb worth of music, and hundreds of baby photos of my son. The drive doesn’t show up at all on my laptop.

A lot of people face issues when they try to connect their external hard drives to their Mac devices. This is because of the differences in file format between windows and Mac systems.

People often search for things like how to make WD elements compatible with Mac so that they can use their external HDD without any issue. Having an External HDD that isn’t supported on Mac devices can be an issue for professionals who need to consistently transfer files from one type of computer to another. Hence in order to keep your workflow smooth and without any obstructions, it will be better to get your HDDs formatted into formats that are supported across all the operating systems that are used generally

Part 1. Does WD Elements Work with Mac

By default, a WD Elements HDD cannot work on Mac computers as they are formatted in NTFS format. This format is not supported on Mac devices and you will not be able to access the hard drive. The differences in formats cause issues in reading the hard drive and in order to be able to use it universally across your entire device, it is important to first reformat the drive into a supported format.

Common Formats of WD Elements Drive

Most commonly WD elements come with NTFS format which is not supported by Mac by default. It is important to check the formats before you buy external HDD as not all the HDDs are supported across both devices. Some versions might also be available in FAT32 and ExFAT formats, which are widely supported across different types of operating systems and devices.

Does WD Elements Work on Mac

Depending upon the format in which HDD is created, it may or may not work on Mac devices. Most of these hard disks are formatted into NTFS format that is only supported on Windows PCs. If you want to buy WD elements that work on Mac, ask the shopkeeper to give you an HDD that has HFS+ format as it is supported by Mac devices or you can go for file formats like ExFAT and FAT32.

How to Make WD Elements Compatible with Mac

As the WD element is a popular external hard disk, more and more people prefer buying it due to their reliability. Because of the fact that Windows PCs are more popular, they generally come with NTFS format. The only way to be able to use these hard disks on your Mac is by reformatting it into other formats like Journaled, ExFAT, or FAT32 formats as they are supported across all the devices.

Part 2. How to Format WD Elements for Mac

Due to the differences in the operating systems, most of the ED elements external hard disks don’t work natively on the Mac OS powered devices. In order to get over this hurdle, it becomes necessary to format the hard disk into a format that is widely supported. How to reformat WD elements for Mac you ask? Well, it is quite easy, to begin with, and can easily be done across different devices so that it can be used with cross-platform usage features. There is no requirement of any third-party application to be able to do so and the processes are quite easy as well.

What’s the Best Format of WD Elements for Mac

Choosing the perfect format to which you will reformat the hard disk can be quite tricky as there are a lot of formats and they have their own pros and cons. For example, ExFat systems have limitation oversize of partitions, FAT32 systems are not widely found and Mac OS’s Journaled formats will only work on Mac OS powered devices. Hence in order to choose the right format, you will have to understand your requirement.

If you primarily use Mac OS devices only then it will be better to go for Mac OS journaled formats as they have little to no limitations for partitions and file sizes. But if you like to use it across all the devices, it will be better to convert it to HFS+ formats as it is supported on Android, Windows, and Mac OS without any issue and there are no limitations that make it any less useful than NTFS systems.

How to Format/Reformat WD Elements for Mac

Depending on the system that you are using, there are 2 ways to format your hard disk into a Mac supported format. One is by using the indigenous file format option in the windows OS powered computers and the other is through the similar tools found in the Mac OS. Have a look down below to understand how to format WD elements for Mac using Windows as well as Mac OS devices-

How to format WD elements SE for Mac on the Windows Operating system?

Step 1. Connect your hard disk with the computer

Connect the hard disk to the computer using a USB cable and wait for a bit so that the device can be recognized. Once that is done, click on the 'This PC' option and find the icon that represents the Hard disk.

Step 2. Click on the format option

Right-click on the hard disk icon and browse through the options to find the format option. Click on it and you will now see a dialogue box with options like the File system, Volume Label, etc. Click on the File system option and look for the available formats. Select the one that you wish to continue with and then enter a relevant name for the hard disk in the Volume name option.

Step 3. Format the drive

Once you have set everything as per your requirement, select the ‘quick format’ option, and press the start button. Wait for a few moments and your drive will be formatted into the set format.

How to format the WD element on your Mac device?

Step 1. Connect the WD elemental hard disk to your Mac powered device

Connect your Hard disk to your computer and wait for a bit so that the system can recognize and mount the drive so that it can be used. Once it does recognize the disk, a Hard disk-shaped icon will appear on the desktop.

Step 2. Go to the disk utility option

Go to the finder option from the Mac OS dock and open it. When it opens, select the Go option from the menu bar and after that, click on utilities. Now you will be able to see things like application/utilities, etc. Go to the utility option and select the disk utility application.

Step 3. Choose the hard drive you want to format

Now after opening the Disk utility option, select the external drive connected with your device that you wish to format.

Step 4. Select the format options

Now click on the Erase option from, the disk utility file menu. You will now see a new dialogue box will appear. From here you will have to customize the format in which you want the hard disk to be formatted to. Also, set the new name of the hard disk as per your requirements.

Step 5. Erase the drive

Once everything is done according to what you wanted, click on the erase option and within a few seconds, your hard disk will be formatted.

Part 3. How to Recover Formatted WD Files on Mac

When external hard disks are formatted, it becomes next to impossible to recover files that were stored in it. There are a few third-party tools that can help you to do so with ease. While formatting your hard disk, it is important to make sure that there are no important files or folders present inside the hard disk that is not backed up yet.

If such files exist in your external hard disk, make sure that you make the backup before formatting your hard disk as once you initiate the format option, you will not be able to recover any of the files.

The Consequence of Formatting WD Accidentally

A lot of people tend to initiate format options by accident and this can cause a lot of issues for them. The following are some of the primary ones that they face-

• If you don’t regularly back up your data, you might end up losing a lot of important files and folders.
• Your hard disk might also become corrupt and unusable after you format it quite often by mistake.

How to Recover Formatted WD Elements Drive Files

If your WD elements have got corrupted, damaged, is unreadable or was accidentally formatted, there is little that can be done to recover the data. However, there are a few applications like the Recoverit Data recovery tool that can help you to gather and retrieve lost or corrupted files that you want. It can be used on both Mac as well as windows powered devices and are extremely easy to use as well. The tool is available to be downloaded and used for free on the official website and doesn’t require a high-end PC to work properly. It can easily repair corrupted videos, files, etc. with ease.

The following are the steps that can help you to recover the files with the help of Recoverit data recovery tool-

Step 1. Select the drive you wish to recover the data from

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Download, install, and launch Recover it data recovery tool on your Mac. Once done, select the drive that you wish to repair and get the data out of. If you already know the exact folder, select it and then press the start button to proceed.

Step 2. The location will be scanned

Now recover it will scan the location you have provided thoroughly with the help of advanced algorithms. All the deleted, corrupted and hidden files and folders will appear in the tool after the scan is complete. The best thing about the tool is that the scanning can be customized with the help of a lot of filters that can make scanning faster and more efficient, also it allows the user to pause and resume the scanning as per their convenience.

Step 3. Preview the files

Now you will have a list of all the files that could be found in that location. Browse and search the file that you wanted and click on it to preview bit. If everything seems fine, select the file, and click on the recover option, select the location where you want to store the file, and then start the process. Your file will be recovered and restored within a few seconds.

Part 4.Tips for Formatting WD Elements for Mac

WD Elements is a very popular external hard disk that is used by a lot of people around the world. In order to make sure that there are no issues happening with the hard disk while you format it, it is important to make sure that everything is being done properly.

Know Benefits of Formatting WD Hard Drive

Formatting your hard disk from time to time helps to provide you with tons of benefits like-

• It will provide you with better transfer speed, get rid of bugs and glitches, remove the unwanted files and create space, and will also keep viruses at bay.
• If you use it as a primary storage unit, it will also result in faster and more efficient performance.

Learn Tips on Changing WD Elements for Mac

The following are a few tips that you can follow while changing the WD elements for Mac-

• Make sure you choose the right format as per your requirement so that it can be supported across different devices.
• The best formats for this purpose will be ExFAT or HFS+.
• Ensure that your computer doesn’t turn off during the time that the hard disk is being formatted.
• Avoid using 3rd party applications to reformat the hard disks as it can harm it and

Conclusion

WD elements are very popular external hard disks that are used by people across the world. It comes formatted with the NTFS format which is not supported on Mac OS. Hence in order to be able to use this tool, it is important to reformat it into supported formats like HFS+, FAT32, and ExFAT before you can use them.

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Summary: Let’s figure out how to format your WD Passport on macOS & Windows. In this blog post, we will walk you through the formatting process and share instructions to format an external drive on macOS & Windows.
But before you proceed, understand that formatting carries a risk of hard drive corruption and data loss. So, in case, if you had accidentally lost your data due to drive formatting or corruption, we also recommend a data recovery software that can rescue data from your HDD. Take a free trial to evaluate the software now.

Professional Photographers and videographers have their hands laid upon various digital devices. Usually, their arsenal includes a cutting-edge Windows 10 desktop, the latest and the magnificent MacBook Pro, DSLR & SD-Cards of-course and the trusted & loved external drives such as the WD My Passport. The role of the WD My Passport drive is crucial since the individual will leverage the portable media to safely store their collection of pictures, videos, audio, and docs. But despite the best of the best device specifications; there remains one small glitch to rectify.

We know, Macs and Windows have their native file systems such as the new APFS or HFS and the NTFS. A WD My Passport formatted with Mac file system will be a dud on the Windows and vice-versa. Thankfully, MS-DOS FAT32 and ex-FAT formats have survived to date, and these are the file system to make your WD My Passport work with a Mac and a Windows PC simultaneously. In the next 5 minutes read, you will master yourself in formatting a WD My Passport safely and in a manner best suited for sharing your digital files between a macOS and Windows OS.

To format a Western Digital My Passport external hard drive in ex-FAT or FAT32 format, you can bank on built-in applications of Mac & PC. However, while doing this, there are things you have to keep in mind and follow the correct steps. Here you will get to know about the process to format your “My passport” portable drive in FAT32 and ex-FAT file system in both Windows and Mac platforms.

In Windows Platform:

1. Connect your Western Digital My Passport hard drive to your Windows PC through the USB cable. Wait till the Windows detects the external hard drive and configure it as an expansion drive automatically.

2. Now, click the Start button and select ‘This PC’. A new Windows Explorer window opens, on the left side of the screen; you will see a list of installed drives and their drive letters.

3. Locate the icon assigned to Western Digital My Passport drive and Right-click the connected drive icon and click ‘Format’ in the pop-up menu.

4. Select the ‘File System’ from the drop-down list, which is available in the format expansion and choose either ‘ex-FAT’ or ‘FAT32’.

5. Enter a relevant name in the ‘Volume Label’ field. This name will represent your drive when you connect it with Windows Explorer or Mac and will be mentioned above the drive letter for the My Passport drive. Therefore, enter a descriptive name.

6. Now, again select a ‘Quick Format’ option, then click ‘Start’ option, wait for a few minutes to get your drive reformatted with the FAT32 file system, so that you can use it. After successful formatting, you can directly save or move files to it like any other external hard drive.

In macOS / OS X Platform

1. Connect your Western Digital My Passport drive to Mac computer, and let the OS detect and mount the drive for use. Now, a new hard drive icon will appear on the desktop.
2. On macOS Dock, select Finder. When the Finder window opens, on the menu bar, select ‘Go’ and then ‘Utilities.’ After that, you will be able to see /Applications/Utilities folder in Finder. From the Utilities folder window, select ‘Disk Utility’ application.
3. When the Disk Utility opens, choose the Western Digital hard drive icon from the sidebar.
4. Click ‘Erase’ on the Disk Utility file menu. Now, the Erase dialogue window appears, here select the ‘Volume Format’ drop-down list and choose ‘MS-DOS (FAT)’ or ex-FAT File System.’ Note: ex-FAT is a better choice for formatting WD My Passport on Mac.
5. Now, click the ‘Erase,’ button and wait a few minutes and let the macOS erase data on the drive and reformat it by FAT32 or ex-FAT format.
6. Once formatting is done, you can use the drive in macOS or OS X as a regular hard drive.

Window’s Disk Management and Mac’s Disk Utility applications are secure platforms to erase your WD My Passport easily. You don’t require any third-party software to format your WD My Passport with FAT or ex-FAT.

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Caution: Avoid Formatting your WD My Passport without Backup

We can’t rule out the possibilities of human errors resulting in the accidental formatting of the WD My Passport external drive. A silly man-made mistake will permanently remove all of the contained pictures, videos, audio files, and docs instantly from the WD My Passport. Hence, fasten your seat-belts and backup your WD My Passport before erasing. If you have already joined the data loss club unwillingly, then try running D-I-Y applications to recover data from Mac and Windows.

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Tips for Effective Formatting

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1. Format your Western Digital My Passport external hard drive to FAT32 or ex-FAT format so to transfer the data between a Mac and Windows system conveniently.
2. There are specific third-party systems, like Digital Camcorders, and Sony PlayStation 3, which need the drives to be formatted in either FAT32 or ex-FAT format to perform read from and write operation. Check it before selecting a file format.
3. Due to some limitations FAT32 format is not useful for every type of user, and also affects both Mac’s and PC’s performances. Therefore, it is better to choose ex-FAT instead.
4. Ex-FAT supports maximum volume size up to 128 PiB, and its supported maximum file size is 128 PiB.
5. Like FAT32, ex-FAT is not a very commonly used file system, due to which its support may vary among third-party devices.
6. The corruption chances of the external drive increases, if it is used on both Mac and PC systems regularly. Therefore, it is better to take backup of your important photos and videos before sharing them between both the computers.