If the Security Options button is not available, Disk Utility cannot perform a secure erase on the storage device. If you are unsatisfied with the resolution provided by our support team, please let us know. Click on the drop down menu to view and/or select different external drives from the list, should there be additional drives connected to the system. We appreciate your business, and I am grateful for the trust you’ve placed with us. How to format your drive Mac OS Extended (Journaled) on macOS 11 (Big Sur) and later Open Disk Utility Click View in the upper left and select Show All. Mac users, of course, can just plug and reformat the drive. Secure erase options are available only for some types of storage devices. When you purchase from Western Digital, you can expect an advanced, highly reliable product, backed by a team of industry-leading engineers and customer professionals. (Image credit: Western Digital) 2 WD Elements 12TB external hard driveBest price per. (Optional) If available, click Security Options, use the slider to choose how many times to write over the erased data, then click OK. For more information, You can contact WD’s Technical support from the below mentioned link. If the Scheme pop-up menu isn’t available, make sure you selected the storage device you want to erase-it’s at the top of the hierarchy.Ĭlick the Format pop-up menu, then choose a file system format. How to Format a Drive for Use on Both Windows and macOS Using exFat or FAT32 How to format an external hard drive to be compatible with Windows and mac operating systems. Ĭlick the Scheme pop-up menu, then choose GUID Partition Map. One is by using the indigenous file format option in the windows OS powered computers and the other is through the similar tools found in the Mac OS. Depending on the system that you are using, there are 2 ways to format your hard disk into a Mac supported format. In the sidebar, select the storage device you want to erase, then click the Erase button. How to Format/Reformat WD Elements for Mac. If you want to erase any other type of storage device: Double-click Disk Utility in the /Applications/Utilities folder.

Note: If you want to get your Mac ready to trade in, sell, or give away, and your computer is a Mac with Apple silicon or an Intel-based Mac with an Apple T2 Security Chip, use Erase Assistant.

How to reformat wd elements for mac