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As of 2018, Western Digital offers no shortage of external drives for Mac computers – from the My Book Essential to the My Book Pro and the My Book Studio, nearly 30 WD drives play nicely with Apple’s macOS operating system, as does the My Passport Studio model.
But with more than 262.5 million PCs shipped in 2017, according to data from Statista, there’s a good chance your Passport Studio will need to play nicely with a Windows computer, too. When it comes to cross-platform flexibility, you’ve got a few options for crossing the Mac and PC streams.
WD 4TB My Passport for Mac Portable External Hard Drive, USB-C/USB-A. Your Mac; Trusted drive built with WD reliability; Formatted for Mac OS X; Up to 4TB.
About eFAT and FAT32
Here’s something your My Passport for Mac Quick Install Guide might not tell you: Hard drives usually come formatted in two different ways, one catering to Windows and one catering to Mac. NTFS-formatted drives work with Windows computers, and HFS+ drives work with Mac.
However, by formatting your My Passport differently, you can ensure compatibility in a variety of different ways. Hard drives formatted to exFAT or FAT32 can read and write data on both Mac and PC operating systems, though FAT32 is limited to a 4-gigabyte-per-file size limit. Formatting your drive will erase all its data, so be sure to back it up before making the change.
External Drive for Mac to Windows 10
If you’ve got a WD external drive for Mac platforms and you want it to work on a Windows 10 PC, exFAT format is your best bet. To start formatting, connect your WD Passport to your Mac; then open “Mac HD” and click “Applications,” “Utilities” and “Disk Utility.” From the Disk Utility window, select the Passport hard drive.
Here, you’ll usually see two listings of partitions available on the drive – select the listing that is furthest left. Click the Disk Utility’s “Erase” button; assign the drive a name in the “Name” field; then hit “Erase,” and click “Done” when the erasing process is complete. Now, click the “Partition” button at the top of the Disk Utility and click “Format.” Choose “exFAT” from the drop-down menu that appears and click “Apply” to format the drive, which will take a few minutes. Once the formatting is complete and you get a message that says “Operation successful,” click “Done.”
To Windows 8 and Earlier
The external drive for Mac to Windows 8 transition makes use of Window’s built-in Disk Management software rather than the macOS Disk Utility, but you’ll still want to format your WD Passport as an exFAT drive.
To do so, connect the Passport to your PC, enter the Windows 8 Start menu and choose “Disk Management.” In the Disk Management app, right-click on the drive and select “New Simple Volume...” from the menu that appears. This brings up the New Simple Volume Wizard. Click the “Next” button until you get to the “Format Partition” window and choose “exFAT” under “File System” (you can also change the name of the drive under “Volume label” if you wish). Make sure the “Perform a quick format” box is checked, and click “Next” when you’re ready. Click “Partition” and then “Finish” to format the drive to a cross-platform compatible exFAT mode.
References (2)
About the Author
As the co-founder of an LLC, the owner of a small business and a partner at an S-corporation (all working in media), Dan is no stranger to small business. As a business writer, he's contributed to publications including Chron.com, AZCentral, Fortune, GlobalPost, MSN Money, GoBankingRates, Zacks.com, The Motley Fool and more.
Cite this Article Choose Citation Style
Ketchum, Dan. 'How to Switch a WD Passport From a Mac to PC.' Small Business - Chron.com, http://smallbusiness.chron.com/switch-wd-passport-mac-pc-49146.html. 30 August 2018.
Ketchum, Dan. (2018, August 30). How to Switch a WD Passport From a Mac to PC. Small Business - Chron.com. Retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/switch-wd-passport-mac-pc-49146.html
Ketchum, Dan. 'How to Switch a WD Passport From a Mac to PC' last modified August 30, 2018. http://smallbusiness.chron.com/switch-wd-passport-mac-pc-49146.html
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This Answer explains how to Partition and Format a WD Drive on macOS El Capitan, Sierra, and High Sierra.*END
Critical: The instructions in the article below are designed to help repartition and format a hard drive. This process is Data Destructive and cannot be undone. Once the process begins, ALL THE DATA ON THE DRIVE WILL BE LOST! |
How to Partition and Format a WD Drive on macOS El Capitan, Sierra, and High Sierra
macOS 10.11.x (El Capitan) and macOS 10.12.x (Sierra) | Click here for Instructions |
macOS 10.13.x (High Sierra) | Click here for Instructions |
Please select the topic from the table above to display the feature steps.
Important:Volumes formatted as APFS can be read by a Mac running High Sierra, but not by a Mac running Sierra or earlier. Please see HT208018 - Prepare for APFS in macOS High Sierra for more information. Please see Answer ID 9968: How to Convert a WD External Drive to Apple File System (APFS) Format If you get the following error message: MediaKit reports not enough space on device for requested operation. Operation failed... Please see Answer ID 20270: macOS Disk Utility Error 'MediaKit reports not enough space on device for requested operation' |
Critical:The instructions in the article below are designed to help repartition and format a hard drive. This process is Data Destructive and cannot be undone. Once the process begins, ALL THE DATA ON THE DRIVE WILL BE LOST! |
Steps for macOS 10.11.x (El Capitan) and macOS 10.12.x (Sierra)
- Open Disk Utility. Please See Answer ID 3823: How to access Disk Utility on macOS
- Click the Eject button next to the external hard drive volume (My Passport, etc)
- The drive will now be greyed out
- Click the Erase button
- Choose a new Format: Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
Choose Scheme: GUID Partition Map - Type the drive new Name
- Click the Erase button
- When finished, the drive will be formatted and repartitioned successfully. Click theDone button
Critical:The instructions in the article below are designed to help repartition and format a hard drive. This process is Data Destructive and cannot be undone. Once the process begins, ALL THE DATA ON THE DRIVE WILL BE LOST! |
Steps macOS 10.13.x (High Sierra)
- Open Disk Utility. Please See Answer ID 3823: How to access Disk Utility on macOS
- In the top menu bar, go to View, and choose Show All Devices
- Click the eject button next to the drive volume (My Passport, etc)
The drive Volume will now be greyed out - Select the drive (WD My Passport _____ Media, etc)
- Click the Erase button
- Choose a new Format: Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
Choose Scheme: GUID Partition Map - Type the drive new Name
- Click the Erase button
- When finished, the drive will be formatted and repartitioned successfully. Click the Done button