
- #How to format an external ssd drive for mac high sierra how to
- #How to format an external ssd drive for mac high sierra mac os
- #How to format an external ssd drive for mac high sierra install
First of all, get your data backed up before do the format. In this article, we will introduce you a few tools you can use for formatting hard drive under macOS 10.13 High Sierra. Maybe this is documented somewhere else, but if not I hope it helps someone. When you have the need to format a hard drive under macOS 10.13 High Sierra, it typically requires the use of third-party hard drive format software like Disk Utility. In the Disk Utility tab, select the external hard drive that is connected to the Mac, and then click on Erase at the top. I'd also think this solution should work with compatible drives of any type. From Applications, go to Utilities and from there, find and double click on Disk Utility. So it appears that even though when you choose APFS you're given a choice to select "GUID Partition Map", if you don't already have a GUID Map it won't give you the choice of APFS, the extra format in GUID is required first. The drive successfully formatted the Physical disk and created the APFS Container and Volume * I left "Scheme" as "GUID Partition Map"

* For "Scheme" I selected "GUID Partition Map"
#How to format an external ssd drive for mac high sierra mac os
* For "Format" I chose Mac OS Extended (Journaled) * I selected the Physical Disk of my drive (the outside device)
#How to format an external ssd drive for mac high sierra how to
How to erase a disk for Mac - Apple Support OK, I figured it out by searching the best "Scheme" to use with Mac OS Extended (Journaled), which was my next best choice, this link recommends GUID. These images show the Disk Utility selections for both Disk and Volume: Is there anything I'm missing regarding how to format this drive with APFS? Is there some physical compatibility that it may be missing (which would be odd given the other user's experience)?

In searching, I found a thread about changing the Disk Utility View to "All Devices", I did that and tried both the 'Physical Disk' and 'Physical Volume' with the same results, APFS is not offered. In reading the requirements and recommendations for APFS it seemed it was appropriate for an SSD, internal or external, as long as it was being used with High Sierra 10.13 or later (this will be the case).

However when I opened the Disk Utility and attempted to "Erase", APFS was not offered as a choice. To format an external hard drive for Mac with Time Machine, you must follow the steps below.
#How to format an external ssd drive for mac high sierra install
is creating a bootable external drive with Install macOS High Sierra from the App Store, so that I can upgrade the internal disk to WD Blue 250GB SSD. I had communicated with another user of this drive who used it with Catalina and had excellent performance, some of which he attributed to formatting it with APFS.Īs received the drive came with ExFAT, and seemed to work fine attached via USB-C, though I decided before coping large amounts of data to it, I would reformat with APFS. How to Partition an External Hard Drive on Mac. Shortly after upgrading my Mac mini 2018 to Catalina I received a new Sabrent Rocket Pro 2TB NVMe External SSD.
