How to Format or Wipe WD External Hard Drive on Mac?

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Many Windows users know how to format a computer's Western Digital external hard drive. It's easy to format a WD external hard drive under Windows, either with the built-in quick format feature or a third-party disk partition tool.

For some Mac users, formatting a WD external hard drive on a Mac is not as easy as on a PC. Because Mac OS doesn't have a "quick format" feature and the Mac hard drive doesn't have a disk split tool.

You can format a WD external hard drive on a Mac by following some hard steps. But it takes too long and isn't completely safe. Here are two safe and easy ways to format a WD external hard drive on Mac OS.

Two Methods to Format WD External Hard Drive on Mac

Make a backup before you format your WD external hard drive. Then choose a method to format it on your Mac.

Method 1: Format WD HDD or SSD Using Disk Utility

Using Disk Utility to format your WD hard drive for Mac is a simple process that ensures it works well and is compatible. To complete this easily, follow these step-by-step instructions:

Step1. Use the right connection to connect your WD hard drive to your Mac.

Step 2. Start Disk Utility. You can find it by going to Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility.

Step 3. On the left side of Disk Utility, you'll see a list of linked disks and drives. Select your WD drive from the list.

Step 4. Find the menu in the Disk Utility window and click the "Erase" button.

Step 5. Name the drive and choose the file system type you want. A new window will ask you to do this. If you need "Mac OS Extended (Journaled)" or "APFS," those are some of the formats you can choose.

You can choose the scheme. For Intel-based Macs, the scheme is usually "GUID Partition Map."

Step 6. Check your choices again to make sure they are correct. Press the "Erase" button to start writing on the file. Remember that this will delete everything on the WD hard drive, so make sure you have copies of any important things before you do this.

Step 7. Disk Utility will show a proof message when the process is done. It's safe to remove the WD hard drive from your Mac.

Method 2: Format WD Hard Drive With Terminal Command

Using Terminal instructions to format your WD hard drive for Mac is a more advanced method that gives you more control over the process. To format your WD hard drive using Terminal, follow these steps one at a time:

Step 1. Use the right connection to connect your WD hard drive to your Mac.

Step 2. Startup Terminal. It can be found by going to Applications > Utilities > Terminal.

Step 3. Type this command in Terminal to see a list of all the drives that are connected and find your WD hard drive:

diskutil list

Step 4. Look through the list and find your WD hard drive. It's called "/dev/diskX" ("X" is the disk number).

Step 5. Once you've found the right disk, type the following command to remove it from the mount:

diskutil unmountDisk /dev/diskX

Change "X" to the number of the right disk.

Step 6. Choose the file system type you want to use to format the WD hard drive. To make it look like "APFS," for instance, use this command:

sudo diskutil eraseDisk APFS NewName /dev/diskX

Change "NewName" to the name you want to give your WD hard drive and "X" to the disk number.

Step 7. Enter your master password when Terminal asks you to do so. Type it in and hit "Enter."

Step 8. Wait for the editing process to finish. The time needed for this will depend on the hard drive size.

When the process is complete, a message that says " completed" will appear in the Terminal.

Now it's safe to remove the WD hard drive from your Mac.

Recover Lost Data from Formatted WD External Hard Drive on Mac

Whether you format the WD external hard drive with Disk Utility or Terminal command line, the formatted data is not lost for good and can be recovered by Mac data recovery software.

Donemax Data Recovery for Mac is a powerful data recovery software. It can help you get all lost files back if you formatted your WD external hard drive by mistake.

Step 1. Download and install Donemax Data Recovery on Mac, and connect the WD external hard drive to the same Mac.

Step 2. Open Donemax Data Recovery for Mac, then select the formatted WD external hard drive to start data recovery.

Step 3. Click on Scan button to deeply scan the formatted WD external hard drive and find all erased files.

Step 4. Once the scan is completed, you can select all the recoverable files, then click on Recover button to save them.

Wipe WD External Hard Drive on Mac [Files Unrecoverable]

Before you sell, donate or dispose of an old WD external hard drive (HDD or SSD), you’d better permanently wipe all data off the drive so that the data is lost for good, can’t be recovered by any recovery method.

Data erasure software, such as Donemax Data Eraser for Mac, can help you format and wipe your WD external hard drive on Mac, erasing all data permanently from the drive.

Step 1. Download and install Donemax Data Eraser for Mac, then open it on your Mac.

Step 2. Choose mode - Erase Hard Drive, select the WD external hard drive and click on Erase Now button.

It will securely and permanently erase all existing data and deleted/lost data from the WD external hard drive, leaving no trace for data recovery.

Conclusion:

To sum up, formatting or wiping a WD external hard drive on a Mac is necessary to maximize storage space or keep your data safe. There may be some problems for Mac users compared to Windows users, but the above steps are secure and will work. Using Disk Utility, which is easier for beginners, or Terminal instructions, which give you more power, will get the job done. Data eraser will format and wipe the WD external hard drive on Mac, leaving no trace for data recovery.

Mac users can confidently manage their WD hard drives by following the steps. This makes data management smooth and easy. With these tools, resetting or wiping a WD hard drive on a Mac is easy, ensuring it works perfectly and protecting your data.

FAQs About Formatting or Wiping WD External Hard Drive on Mac

1. How to format a WD external hard drive on Mac?

You can use Disk Utility to format a WD external hard drive on Mac:

• Connect the WD external hard drive to your Mac.
• Open Disk Utility, select the WD external hard drive.
• Click on Erase button, select a file system, click on Erase button again.
• When it gets finished, click on Done button.

2. Can I use a NTFS-formatted WD external hard drive on Mac without formatting?

NTFS is a Windows-based file system and it is not supported by macOS. If you want to read-write NTFS drive on your Mac, you should install a NTFS driver on your Mac.

• Download and install Donemax NTFS for Mac, open it.
• Select the NTFS WD external hard drive, click on Enable Writable button.

Then you can read the WD external hard drive on Mac and write data to it without any limitation.

3. How to permanently erase data from WD external hard drive on Mac?

Donemax Data Eraser for Mac is a powerful data erasure program. It can securely and permanently erase data from a WD external hard drive on Mac, making data recovery be impossible.

• Download and install Donemax Data Eraser for Mac.
• Open this data erasure tool, choose Erase Hard Drive mode.
• Select the WD external hard drive and click on Erase Now button.
• Wipe all data permanently from the WD external hard drive.