Formatting your hard drive is a necessary step before using a new hard drive in any operating system. Apart from that, you can choose to format hard drive windows 10 or any other operating system if you face any issues with the hard drive. Usually, this is done to ensure that the hard drive is completely clean as well as is in working condition. In addition, it is good practice when you are changing from one OS to another. Formatting the hard drive will make sure that you can avoid any compatibility issues or problems of the operating system.
So, if you are here with a query on how to format a hard drive, then you will get all your answers by going through this post. In this guide, we have discussed how to format as well as partition the internal hard drive for Windows. In addition, we also have discussed how to format external hard drives Windows 10 as well as for MacOSX. Follow the instructions till the end and format your hard drive seamlessly.
A Brief Description about File System of the Operating Systems
File System is how the system stores the data according to the computing language. To format a hard drive, you have to choose a file system for the Operating System. However, all the operating systems use different types of file systems to store data in the hard drive. You can see the below list to know some of the popular file systems.
NTFS: Windows default file system is NTFS. Windows is able to read, write and format this file system. Even NTFS can easily be read as well as written by both Linux and OSX.
FAT32: This is a very old version of the file system. However, newer versions of Windows cannot be installed in this type of file system. Although FAT32 is quite a good option to choose as an external hard drive as it can be easily read by all the OS.
ExFAT: A very less commonly used is the ExFAT file system. It has similar downsides just like the FAT32 file system. However, it does have a good side as it can store files over 4GB.
HFS Plus: Mac OS default file system is HFS+. Windows is unable to write on this file system. Though a third-party application can be used to enable Windows to write on the HFS+ file system.
How to Format Hard Drive Windows 10 (Internal Hard Drive):
Here we will provide all the instructions on how to format an internal hard drive. There are various methods that can be used to format a hard drive. However, it is recommended to use Disk Management, as this is the best option that you can carry out easily. Disk Management is a tool to manage the disk compatibility of Windows.
Follow These Steps to Format Existing Partition
If your system is already having a configured partition file system, then you can opt for the given below instructions to format.
- Click on the Windows icon to open the Start menu.
- Then, in the search bar, type “Disk Management” and hit Enter.
- Alternatively, you can press and hold the Windows key + R, to open the Run box, then you can type the “diskmgmt.msc” in the search bar and hit Enter to open the Disk Management.
- Then you have to right-click on the new hard drive that you have introduced in the system and then click on the Format button.
- You now have to give it a name for the drive, which is under the Value Label option.
- Thereafter, you have to click on the “File System” menu and then select the NTFS option as this is strongly recommended for the Windows system.
- Then set the “Default” option for the “Allocation unit size”.
- After that, you have to select the Perform a Quick Format option.
- Lastly, you have to click on the OK button to continue. Following that, again, click on OK when the warning window pops up.
Windows will now format the hard drive, once you have successfully followed the abovesaid instructions. Although, if you have any queries on how to reformat a hard drive, then you can apply these instructions.
Check Out the Below Procedure to Create & Format New Partition
What if you have an old hard drive that you have never formatted? then this procedure is just for you. However, to format such a hard drive, firstly, you have to create a partition for the hard drive. Perhaps you might know that if the hard drive is not having any, then it will not show in the File Explorer. So, to initialize the partition as well as the format of the hard drive, follow the instructions given below.
- Click on the Windows icon to open the Start menu.
- Then, in the search bar, type “Disk Management” and hit Enter.
- Alternatively, you can press and hold the Windows key + R to open the Run box. Then you can type the “diskmgmt.msc” in the search bar and hit the Enter button to open the Disk Management.
- Further, you have to right-click on the hard drive which is labeled as “Unknown” and not initialized. Then click on the Initialize Disk options
- Before you go the next steps, perform a check to the disk to initialize.
- Follow and Select the partition style as follows, then click the OK button:
Master Boot Root (MBR) recommended for HDD that is lower than 2TB in size.
GUID Partition Table (GPT) recommended for HDD that is larger than 2TB in size.
- Navigate and right-click on the Unallocated Space, followed by clicking on the New Simply Value option.
- To continue, click on the Next button. Though if you wish to make no change in the size, then you can go with the Default option. If you wish to partition the hard drive, then allocate the size you want the hard drive to divide into.
- Continue by clicking on the Next button. Then when the “Assign Drive Letter or Path” window shows, click on the drop-down menu and select an alphabet. Further, click on the Next button.
- Thereafter, you have to click on the “File System” menu and then select the NTFS option as this is strongly recommended for the Windows system.
- Then set the “Default” option for the “Allocation unit size”.
- After that, you have to select the Perform a Quick Format option.
- Lastly, to continue, you have to click on the OK button. When the warning window pops up, again you have to click on OK.
How to Format Hard Drive Windows 10 (External Hard Drive):
Now, if you want to know how you can format external hard drives, then follow the instructions mentioned in this section. Here you will find the step-by-step guidance to format an external hard drive or any flash drive for both Windows as well as Mac OS.
Format External Hard Drive in Windows 10
Bought a new external hard drive or flash drive, and wish to format it before dumping your files in it? You can check the following steps provided here. However, it is suggested to format every new external hard drive or flash drive you want to use before dumping your personal files. This will make sure that there is no error or corrupted files in the external drive.
- Connect the External drive with the PC using the USB cable.
- Now, double-click on the This PC option to open the My Computer folder
- Under the Drive section, you will find the new external hard drive that is connected to the system.
- Right-click on the new external drive and then click on the Format options.
- When the next window pops up, you now have to choose the File System depending on what external drive you are using. That is under the ”File System” section.
(For Example, if you are using a Flash drive under 4GB, then you have to choose FAT32 as the File System.)
- Now, provide your new external drive a name, which is under the “Volume Label”.
- Thereafter, mark the “Quick Format” option.
- Lastly, to start the procedure, just click on the Start button and then the external hard drive will be formatted within a few minutes. Once the format is done, it will notify you with a popup window.
Format External Hard Drive in Mac OS X
Things are a bit different for the Mac OS, as Mac is a different operating system. Although here you will know about how to format an external hard drive Mac. Just go through the given below steps to format the external hard drive.
- First, click on the Finder options.
- After that, go to the Applications/Utilities folder.
- Then you have to double click on the Disk Utility option.
- Now, select the new External Flash drive from the left-hand slider.
- Then select the Erase tab.
- Select the drive that you want to format, which is under the Format options.
- Then provide a name to the new external drive and click on the Erase button to start the formatting process. The Format will take a few minutes to complete. Once done, you will be notified.
Summing Up
Hopefully, if you have followed the abovesaid instructions carefully, then the query on “how to format a hard drive?” will be answered. However, before you start implementing the format of the hard drive, make sure that you have a backup of the data or files in the hard drive as formatting will erase all the data from the hard drive.