💽 You have a storage device that you want to erase to free up the space on it for new data.🎁 You received a storage device from someone and want to erase the contents on it so that you can start using it.

💵 Purchased a new external hard drive and you’re ready to set it up and use it.There can be many reasons why you may need to format a storage device. In this article, we will take a look at the various ways you can format a storage device on both Mac and Windows.įirst, let’s talk about the common situations for when you might need to format a storage device in the first place.Ĭommon Situations When You Need to Format a Hard Drive It could be because the storage device is experiencing an issue or maybe you purchased a new external storage device and are trying to get it to work with your Mac or Windows computer.

Even though most people associate formatting with system installation, there are many other reasons why you might want to format your hard drive. Both macOS and Windows allow users to format their hard drives using built-in utilities.

Formatting drive to ntfs on mac