A WD My Passport formatted with the Windows file system will be useless on the Mac and vice-versa. But, the good news is that MS-DOS exFAT and FAT32 formats come quite in handy in such cases. These file systems can help you to make your WD My Passport work with a Windows PC and Mac at the same time. Your My Passport drive is formatted as a single NTFS partition for compatibility with all updated Windows operating systems. If you want to use the drive with a Mac computer, see Reformatting the Drive and Troubleshooting. Physical Description As shown in figure 2, the My Passport drive has: A USB 3.0 interface port A power/activity LED indicator. Dec 21, 2020 Default File System of WD my passport Western Digital (WD) hard drives are formatted with NTFS (Windows) or HFS+ (Mac) by default to make them more compatible with both operating systems. Granted, FAT32 is less efficient than NTFS in Windows, but it has inherent benefits too, like its compatibility.
My Passport Ntfs Mac High Sierra
My Passport Ultra for Mac is formatted for Time Machine and ready to deliver plug-and-play storage out of the box. With WD Discovery™ software, you can also work across both Mac and PC. We provide a downloadable HFS+ driver for Windows® 10, 8.1 or 7 to enable you to read and write to your My Passport Ultra for Mac drive without reformatting. Next, click the Erase button to start formatting your hard drive. Most WD Drives come formatted in the NTFS (Windows) or HFS+ (Mac) format. 'how to format my WD My Passport for Mac on to windows 10',I have a WD My Passport for Mac. Note: ex-FAT is a better choice for formatting WD My Passport on Mac.
Can I Use WD Hard Drive on Mac and PC
DRIVER MY PASSPORT WD 2TB FOR WINDOWS 8.1 DOWNLOAD. Wd passport ultra, western digital nomad rugged, plenty files safe, western digital passport, palm online computer hardware overview. Microsoft software destination passport. Buy western digital wd 2tb my passport ultra usb. One black ink cartridge. Fingerprint commercial attendance machine. To Learn WD NTFS Driver for Mac here. Western Digital NTFS(New Technology File System) driver allows the Apple macOS to read and write hard drives and solid state storage devices. Apple macOS can read the Windows-formatted NTFS drives, however, they cannot be able to write them out of the box. To Read/Write the Western Digital(WD) NTFS formatted file without reformatting it with exFAT, you. Firmware updater for updating Western Digital My Book Duo, My Book for Mac, My Book, and My Passport Ultra Metal external drives WD Universal Firmware Updater (formerly WD Firmware Updater ) is a software package that provides a set of low-level instructions designed to control the performance.
Before you get the answer, you must figure out what kind of file system can work well on both the macOS and the Windows system. macOS supports a handful of common file systems - HFS+, FAT32, and exFAT, with read-only support for NTFS. While Windows employs two major file systems: NTFS and FAT. FAT was inherited from old DOS and has exFAT as its later extension. In addition, the ReFS file system was developed as a new generation file system for server computers starting from Windows Server 2012.
That is to say, only FAT32 and exFAT can work on both Mac and PC. If you want to share digital files between Mac and Windows system easily, you must convert WD My Passport to FAT or exFAT. Here are three ways to format a WD My Passport, follow any one of them to convert to FAT.
Solution 1. Format WD HDD with Software (FREE)
How to Format WD My Passport in Windows Platform (Free)
You can format a Western Digital My Passport external hard drive to ex-FAT or FAT32 format using a free ex-FAT or FAT32 converter - EaseUS Partition Master or use built-in applications Windows.
Solution 1. Format WD My Passport Using Software (Free)
It is a wise choice to use a professional format tool. With the help of EaseUS Partition Master Free, you can perfectly bypass the format limitation of the Windows disk management tool and help you format WD My Passport to FAT32 or exFAT easily without any obstacles. What's more, this Windows partition software helps you create, resize, clone, move, and merge partitions without difficulty. Follow the details below to convert WD My Passport to FAT32 or exFAT.
Step 1: Launch EaseUS Partition Master, right-click the partition on your external hard drive/USB/SD card which you want to format and choose the 'Format' option.
Step 2: Assign a new partition label, file system (NTFS/FAT32/EXT2/EXT3), and cluster size to the selected partition, then click 'OK'.
Step 3: In the Warning window, click 'OK' to continue.
Step 4: Click the 'Execute Operation' button in the top-left corner to review the changes, then click 'Apply' to start formatting your external hard drive/USB/SD card.
How To Install Wd Passport
Solution 2. Format WD My Passport Using File Explorer
Windows limits FAT32 partitions to 32GB. It does not offer the ability to format a drive larger than 32GB to FAT32, the only available choices are NTFS or exFAT. If you want to format your WD My Passport to FAT32, you must make sure that the size is smaller than 32GB. If it is larger than 32GB, you can only format it to exFAT.
Step 1. Open Windows File Explorer, locate and right-click on WD My Passport that you need to format, select 'Format'.
Step 2. Rename the drive, reset its file system to FAT32 or exFAT.
Step 3. Click 'Start' to begin the formatting.
How to Format WD My Passport in macOS/OS X Platform
The easiest way to format the drive to FAT32 or exFAT is by using macOS's built-in Disk Utility for FAT32 or exFAT.
Tips: The instructions below are designed to help repartition and format a hard drive. Once the process begins, all the data on the drive will be lost!
Step 1. Connect WD My Passport to your Mac.
Step 2. Once that's done, double left-click on the Mac HD, the internal Mac hard drive visible on the top-right corner of the desktop screen.Select 'Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility'.
Step 3. Select your WD My Passport on the sidebar, choose 'Erase'.
Step 4. Rename the drive, select the 'Volume Format' drop-down list and choose 'MS-DOS (FAT)' or 'ex-FAT File System'. Then click 'Erase'.
Wait for the process to complete and let the macOS erase data on the drive and reformat it by FAT32 or ex-FAT format. Then, you can use the drive in macOS or OS X as a regular hard drive.
Difference Between FAT32, exFAT, and NTFS
FAT is known as the File Allocation Table. The successive major versions of the FAT format are named after the number of table element bits: FAT12, FAT16, and FAT32. FAT32 is the oldest of the three file systems available to Windows. Individual files on a FAT32 drive can’t be over 4 GB in size. A FAT32 partition must also be less than 8 TB, which admittedly is less of a limitation unless you’re using super-high-capacity drives.
exFAT, Extended File Allocation Table, is optimized for flash drives. It was added to older versions of Windows with updates to Windows XP and Windows Vista. This file system doesn't have the limitations of FAT32. You can use it when you need a bigger file size and partition limits than FAT32 offers. Thunderbolt 3 hard drives for mac.
NTFS, NT File System, is the modern file system Windows likes to use by default. It is packed with modern features not available to FAT32 and exFAT. However, it only works with all versions of Windows, but read-only with Mac by default.
If you want to use WD My Passport or any other hard drive on Mac and PC, you need to format a Western Digital My Passport external hard drive in exFAT or FAT32 format.
Tips to Avoid Formatting WD My Passport Without Backup
Install sqlite for mac. Just as I have mentioned above, once the process begins, all the data on the drive will be lost. To avoid unnecessary data loss issues, we highly recommended all users extract or back up important data to another device or partition in advance. You can copy files one by one to a new disk or drive. If you have quite a lot of data to be transferred, professional backup software shall be your best choice. Here we recommend you try EaseUS Todo Backup which allows you to directly back up target data with simple steps.
Step 1: Launch EaseUS Todo Backup software and then choose 'File Backup', 'Disk/partition Backup' or 'System Backup' for different backup purpose.
Step 2: Choose the system, disk partition, files or apps that you want to back up. Then select a destination where you want to store the backup file.
Step 3: Click 'Proceed' to start the data backup process.
Hot Topics - People Also Ask These Questions
What is the difference between NTFS, fat32, and exFAT?
NTFS is the commonly used file system for Windows internal drives. Windows OS can only be installed on an NTFS partition. FAT32 is an older file system used for external drives due to its great compatibility. exFAT is a replacement for FAT32, which is not as compatible as FAT32 but without the limitations of FAT32.
Can I use WD hard drive on Mac and PC?
Yes. If you want to use WD My Passport or any other hard drive on Mac and PC, you need to format a Western Digital My Passport external hard drive in exFAT or FAT32 format.
Can I convert exFAT to NTFS without losing data?
You are unable to directly convert exFAT to NTFS without losing data, as there is no such utility that can help you perform the exFAT to NTFS conversion. You can back up exFAT partition data to another drive and then format the exFAT partition to NTFS with EaseUS Partition Master Free.
Wd My Passport Mac
How do I format my WD Passport?
Step 1. Run EaseUS Partition Master, right-click the hard drive partition you intend to format and choose Format.
Step 2. In the new window, set the Partition label, File system (NTFS/FAT32/EXT2/EXT3/exFAT), and Cluster size for the partition to be formatted, then click OK.
Step 3. Click OK in it to continue.
Step 4. Click the Execute Operation button on the top-left corner to review the changes, then click Apply. Office 365 for students mac free.
Conclusion
You can format your Western Digital My Passport external hard drive to FAT32 or exFAT format to transfer the data between a Mac and Windows system conveniently. According to the solutions above, the EaseUS partition tool stands out for its convenience and easiness. It's always your best choice.
My Passport Ntfs Driver For Mac
External storages are extremely important, especially when you have limited storage capacity with your computer. With an external HDD, you will be able to store your files and access them pretty easily. And whenever it comes to the external hard disk drives WD my passport for mac and PC is one of the most preferred options.
In case if you are looking ahead to buy my passport hard drive, then let me just help you with a WD my passport review. This will help you to understand why you should or should not purchase my passport external hard drive.
So here we go:
Contents on this page
WD My Passport For Mac Review
WD My Passport For Mac Features
WD My Passport For Mac Review
WD My Passport is one of the most popular external hard disk drives. It comes with some of the nicest features and has competitive pricing. Although it is not as fast as SSDs, but this HDD is a good option for quick storage and backup needs.
Talking about the specifications, this portable hard drive for Mac and PC comes in different storage options like 1TB, 2TB, 4TV, and 5TB. Plus, all of these options are backed by 3 years of warranty. However, the company has not talked about the performance of the HDD. But it is believed that it can hit up to 120 to 140 Mbps pretty easily.
The good part is that the HDD comes formatted in NTFS for Windows. However, if you are using Mac, then you must grab my passport for mac which is preformatted to be used with MacBook’s. Furthermore, the HDD is also said to be working fine in temperatures between 5 to 25 degrees Celsius.
What’s more? You will also get an 18-inch USB A To Micro USB B cable with this HDD. The cable is not too short or long.
Pros:
Comes with a compact design.
It comes with hardware encryption.
Available in multiple storage options.
Competitive price.
Solid software suite.
3 Years of warranty.
Cons:
There is no USB C connection.
WD My Passport For Mac Features
Slim Style
One of the best parts of the mypassport harddrive is that it comes with a slim style. It is extremely portable and can be carried anywhere pretty easily. Also, it comes with a bunch of vibrant colors. So you can choose your style.
Use As A Backup Option
The wd external hard drives for mac 1tb is an ideal choice for all your backup needs. With this HDD, you can easily take a backup of your photos, videos, music, and documents. Also, the best part is that it comes with the WD Backup software, which automatically takes backup of your system at the scheduled time. All, you have to do is set up the backup frequency time, and it will take a backup of your computer from time to time.
Encryption Supported
One of the best parts of the wd passport for mac 2tb is that it supports encryption. You will be able to protect your files using the built-in 256-bit AES hardware encryption. All you have to do is activate password protection and create a password for the hard disk drive, and you are all done.
Super Easy:
Getting started with my passport external hard drive is extremely easy. There is no complicated installation steps need to be followed. If you are using Windows, you can simply connect the external drive to your computer, and you ready to go. For Mac, make sure to buy the Mac version only, which comes preformatted for Mac and does not require any sort of installation procedure.
Cloud Storage Supported
Another best part of this HDD is that it supports popular social media and cloud storage services. As a result, you can connect the Hard Disk Drive to sites like DropBox, Google Drive, Facebook others. And you can easily import, organize, and share your photos, video, and docs.
Why WD My passport Ultra Not Showing Up Mac?
There is a possible chance that My Passport is incorrectly formatted, and as a result, Mac isn’t able to recognize it. In this case, try connecting the My Passport HDD to a Windows computer and format it with ExFat. Also, do sure to take a backup before formatting.
What is the difference between the pc and mac versions?
There is not a huge difference between Mypassport for mac and Pc version. The PC version is formatted for Windows use while the Mac version is formatted for Mac use. However, you can always format the disk later according to your requirements.
Ntfs Mac Snow Leopard
How to get wd my passport to work with Mac?
To get My Passport work with Mac, you will need to format it with exFAT. Comsol multiphysics free cracked games. For this, you can connect the drive to a Windows computer, then right-click on the drive and select format.
My Passport Ntfs Mac Os
Final Words:
So that was all for the WD My Passport for Mac and PC review. There is no doubt that this is one of the best external hard disk drives one can buy. Also, it supports quite a lot of devices such as gaming consoles, smartphones, Linux machines, and more.
My Passport Ntfs Mac Software
Anyway, if there is anything you would like to ask, then do feel free to comment below, and I will surely help you out with your query.