Easy Way To Format, Backup And Recover Files

Maybe you forgot to back up an important file. Maybe the storm of the century left your office looking like Waterworld. Or maybe a cyber-attack took everything you held dear. Here’s how to format, backup and recover lost files, curated by experts from casino pokies online.

How to Format an External Hard Drive

You may be asking “how do I reformat for Mac external hard drive now that I know which file type I need to use?” Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered! Follow these steps carefully:

Plug the external drive you want to format into your Mac
Launch the Disk Utility app on your Mac
On the left side of the Disk Utility Window, select the external drive you want to format (Note: You should create a backup of all files before proceeding. We discuss the best way to do that below!)
At the top of the Disk Utility window, select “Erase”
format an external hard drive mac

In the popup that appears, select a new name for your external hard drive
Choose the disk format you want your external drive to be (Note: Your Mac will choose the option it thinks is most appropriate. The drop-down menu has other options.)
format mac hard drive mac

Choose the “scheme” you want to use to reformat your external drive
Select “Erase” in the popup window

How to Partition External Hard Drive on Mac

Partitioning an external drive for use with your Mac is actually very simple! Once you’ve followed the direction above closely (including backing files up) you can create a partition. Know partitions can only be created on freshly formatted drives with no files or folders added – and only if you choose “Apple Partition Map” under the “Scheme” menu.

If you’ve erased an external drive and used the “Apple Partition Map” scheme, here’s how to partition your external drive:

With Disk Utility open, and your external drive plugged in, select “Partition” at the top of the Disk Utility window
Choose how large you want your partition to be
partition hard drive mac

Select the format you’d like your partition to be
Tap “Partition” in the new window that appears
Choose “Done” when Disk Utility tells you the operation was successful
Before you erase, format, or partition an external drive, it’s important to know it’s in good condition. To keep your Mac and all external drives in tip-top shape, use CleanMyMac X.

CleanMyMac X helps monitor your computer for malware unnecessary junk while optimizing your Mac for speed and better performance. Simply plugging your external drive into your Mac and selecting the “Smart Scan” module in CleanMyMac X will scan both drives.

If you want to focus on your external drive, choose the “Maintenance” module in CleanMyMac X, and select your external drive. This performs a through scan of your drive and ensures there are no broken files that can cause errors. If CleanMyMac X finds any issues, it even helps repair your drive so it can be partitioned and formatted without any problems. And you can go on to play your favourite games from online casinos in USA freely without interruption.

Backup Your Files Before Reformatting

In the directions above, we advise you to back your files up so you don’t lose anything when formatting an external drive on your Mac. The best app for this is Get Backup Pro.

Get Backup Pro for Mac provides full control over your backups. You can schedule backups to occur any time you like, and Get Backup Pro lets you choose which folders are backed up. It’s a great option for those of us who use external drives often, and routinely store new files on them. Now, you can leave your external drive plugged in and use Get Backup Pro to ensure the drive is backed up to your Mac or another external drive.

Backing files up is critical, but you’re almost sure to run into a scenario where your Mac can’t locate the file you’re looking for. It’s not lost, per se, it’s just in a spot your Mac isn’t looking at. That’s where Disk Drill comes in handy.

Disk Drill for Mac searches your hard drive and external drives for files that may be hiding. It retrieves data seemingly lost, no matter what caused the file to become hidden in the first place. Whether the files were corrupted, you removed them unintentionally, or Disk Utility returned an error, Disk Drill can help.

Disk Drill is particularly handy for those who format their disks in a new file type – like going from APFS to FAT32. Files can become corrupted or missing; Disk Drill can help you retrieve them as it supports all popular formats for the Mac.