Last updated: Jun. 9, 2017
You've just got a new SSD (solid-state drive), and wanted to sell or donate the old HDD (hard disk drive)? Or your current external drive just got over-cluttered, and you want to give it a complete wipe to regain all the space.
When it comes to Windows NTFS-formatted USB drives, Macs are only built for reading. Tuxera NTFS for Mac is easy-to-use software that makes this all possible. Disk Manager, a companion app that makes it easy to format, check, and repair NTFS drives. “It made the scariest part of going from PC to Mac go away.”.
Either way, in this article we're going to show you three different ways to securely erase an external drive on a Mac computer (iMac, MacBook, etc.).
Note: the guide below works with all types of external disks, it doesn't matter whether you are using an HDD, SSD or a flash drive. Though SSDs can be a bit different when you use Apple's built-in tools. We'll explain later.
Warning: before you proceed, make sure you've already backed up all your important data. Once you use any of the methods below, the drive will be completely erased clean, and all data will be removed permanently. You've been warned.
1. Use Stellar Drive Wipe
Stellar Wipe Mac is a powerful third-party Mac app that's designed to securely erase a file/folder or the entire drive. To wipe an external drive, open the software and select 'Drive Wipe' option. Next, select your drive, choose a wiping algorithm that you want (read the description first) and start the erasing process. Compared to the other two options, this method is much easier and quicker.
2. Erase via Disk Utility
First off, connect your external hard drive to your Mac. Make sure the device can be detected by the machine. Then follow the step by step tutorial below:
- On your Mac, go to Applications > Utilities >Disk Utility.
- Click on the 'Erase' tab (next to 'First Aid').
- Select the disk or volume in the list on the left panel.
- Choose a file system to which you want to format your external drive. E.g. for a flash drive, it's usually FAT32.
- Next, click the 'Security Options' button at the bottom.
- Here you can specify how securely you want to wipe the drive, move to 'Most Secure' if you are paranoid because this option overwrites more times to the disk space. The drawback is that the process tends to be slower.
- After that, click Erase to continue.
Note: if your drive is an SSD, you won't be able to click 'Security Options' as this option will be grayed out. It's because SSDs don't have to go through this process due to the way it manages files.
You can also watch this video tutorial:
3. Format in Terminal (Command Line)
If for any reason, Disk Utility fails to format your drive. You can also try using Terminal, though you'll have to be a bit geeky.
- Search 'Terminal' in Spotlight.
- Open it and enter this line: diskutil list
- Now you'll see a list of disks there, target yours through the disk identifier. Jot down the information.
- Next, type: diskutil eraseDisk JHFS+ (diskname diskidentifier)
- Press Enter and your external drive will be erased completely.
This video also has more:
Final words
Erasing an external hard drive or flash card can be quite easy on a Mac. With one of the above three methods, you should be able to get the job done quickly. If you have any questions during the wiping process or towards a particular method, let us know.
Meanwhile, we want to remind you again to back up all your data before you get started.
Cover image courtesy to Flickr.
Influenced by the startup culture in the Silicon Valley, Jessica loves building things from zero to one and is keen on following news related to the Big Five tech giants and many SaaS startups.
While you can physically connect a Mac hard drive to a Windows PC, the PC cannot read the drive unless third-party software is installed. Because the two systems use different file systems for storage: Macs use the HFS, HFS+, or HFSX file systems, and PCs use either the FAT32 or NTFS. Luckily, as long as the drive type (e.g., SATA, IDE, or SCSI) is compatible with your motherboard, there are a few solutions to this dilemma.
NoteNTFS and FAT drives will open natively in macOS.
![Third party software for using a mac external hard drive on windows 8 Third party software for using a mac external hard drive on windows 8](/uploads/1/2/5/7/125792171/662710157.jpg)
Formatting a partition
You can delete a Mac-based HFS, HFS+ or HFSX partition and format it to be usable with a PC. If there are any files you would like to keep, copy them from you Mac hard drive to another storage device, then visit our page on setting up a partition in Windows.
Third-party software
Through the use of third-party software, Microsoft Windows can be configured to read a Mac hard drive. Free programs are available though they have fewer features and are not as east to use. One of the best free programs is HFSExplorer. If you are willing to pay, MacDrive and TransMac cost about $50. They both do a good job of allowing users to view the contents of a Mac hard drive on a PC due to their user-friendly interfaces. There is also a $20 solution from Paragon called HFS+ for Windows.