Aug 30, 2018 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.

• Wd Passport Formatting For Mac Windows 10
• Formatting Wd Passport For Mac

Aug 28, 2020 • Filed to: Solve Mac Problems • Proven solutions

• Apr 16, 2020 A WD My Passport formatted with the Windows file system will be useless on the Mac and vice-versa. But, the good news is that MS-DOS exFAT and FAT32 formats come quite in handy in such cases. These file systems can help you to make your WD My Passport work with a Windows PC and Mac at the same time.
• Every journey needs a passport. The My Passport™ for Mac drive is trusted, portable storage that perfectly complements your on-the-go lifestyle. Compatible with USB-C™ and USB-A, the My Passport for Mac drive comes equipped to connect with today's latest technology. With a new, stylish design that fits in the palm of your hand, there’s space to store, organize, and share all the.
• Right-click on the WD Easystore drive on the left panel. Select the Erase option from the displayed list. Give a suitable name for the external drive in the Name section. Choose the Mac OS Extended (Journaled) option in the Format section.

This is a question often asked by Mac users only. Windows users don’t need to do much other than plug in the WD Passport to use it, but for Mac, it’s not as straightforward as that.

The difference in Mac and Windows’ native format systems are to blame for this. But don’t fret, because this article will show you simple ways to go about formatting your WD Passport so you can easily use it on both Mac and Windows.

Part 1 - Overview of WD My Passport File System

Technology has reached a point where it pretty much seeps into every aspect of our daily life. We’re always using our phones and computers to send messages, host meetings, shop online, etc.

Of course, there is much exchange of valuable data as these happen, and where you keep this data is extremely important; that’s where WD’s My Passport comes in.

My Passport is a hard drive that’s trustworthy and portable enough to be given a 5-star rating on almost any website you check. Coupled with the WD Backup TM app and password protection feature, My Passport helps to keep your data safe. That being said, situations arise when you’ll need to format or reformat the drive.

Default File System of WD my passport

Western Digital (WD) hard drives are formatted with NTFS (Windows) or HFS+ (Mac) by default to make them more compatible with both operating systems.

Granted, FAT32 is less efficient than NTFS in Windows, but it has inherent benefits too, like its compatibility. And to connect your NTFS-formatted My Passport to macOS, you’ll need to utilize a formatting tool.

This is especially true if you regularly use your WD drive on both Windows and macOS. So always remember to check if the drive is formatted or not.

Why WD my Passport can’t be used on mac?

A significant number of users trust West Digital hard drives. Their auto backup, password protection, and high reliability are second to none.

But nothing is perfect, right? Sometimes when you connect the WD My Passport drive to your Mac, it’s grayed out in Disk Utility.

The drive’s external light can be on too but it still doesn't work. Worse still, it could become unreadable on your Mac. You know what that means, right? Your data can’t be accessible now.

What Are the Reasons for My Passport Not Showing Up on Mac?

More often than not, an external hard drive doesn't show up on Mac simply because your Mac's USB cable or USB port is bad. But the following factors may also contribute to WD not showing up.

• Latest macOS update

What happens here is when you update your macOS to the latest build or release, issues of incompatibility could arise. So, you might have to update the WD My Passport’s drivers to at least meet the minimum requirements of the newly-installed macOS.

• Device malfunction

The simple fact is, your Mac could malfunction due to one error or another, and that could tamper with how your macOS identifies your WD My Passport. Computers are susceptible to unexpected or unforeseen glitches and errors, so never rule this out as a possible cause.

• Anti-virus

Yes, an anti-virus is meant to protect your system, but it can also have “side effects” that won’t bode too well for it. For example, most anti-virus is notorious for identifying laptop games as a virus, even though they aren’t. Sometimes, they prevent the games from launching.

They can also stop some software from starting. This applies to your hard drives too.

Likewise, the antivirus could stop your system from accessing your WD Passport, perhaps because there is already a virus in it. Thus, it’s imperative you install the right anti-virus that will work well and won’t tamper with your system’s settings too much,

• Virus

Not much needs to be said because everyone knows the kind of damage virus is capable of. There’s a virus out there that can even hide your hard drive. So even if you plug it into your My Passport into your Mac, you won’t see it.

• Motherboard errors

Without a motherboard, a system is pretty much a screen and keyboard. So, if your Mac’s motherboard suffers software or hardware damage, almost nothing will work properly, and that includes your USB ports. So, your drive, even if it’s functioning properly, might not even be recognized.

• WD My Passport causes damage or corruption

This time, the problem stems from your WD My Passport. Maybe the drive fell or a malfunctioning system corrupted it. Either of these issues could lead to the drive malfunctioning or not showing up when you plug it into your Mac.

Part 2 - How to Format WD my Passport for Mac?

The simple step-by-step guide below will show you how to format your WD My Passport on your computer, so pay attention. The information you’ll find here touches on formatting and reformatting WD’s My Passport for your Mac.

• Login into your Mac

Just turn on your Mac and when it boots up, plug in your My Passport drive to your WD. Your WD My Passport drive will appear as a rectangular, yellow icon on your desktop (it looks just like the image below).

• Navigate to Finder if Your Drive Isn’t Visible

If your My Passport drive doesn't turn up for some reason, click on “Finder”, then select “Preferences”.

• A small window will open up. Make sure you tick the checkboxes “Hard Disks” and “External Disks.”

• Your WD My Mac Passport drive should now be running on your screen.
• Launch Disk Utility

You can find disk utility by clicking on the spotlight search button, then type “Disk Utility”.

• Highlight “Disk Utility”, then double-click it.

• Access your Drives

You'll see your internal and external hard drives on the left-hand side of the Disk Utility window.

• Click on the dropdown arrow to expand or collapse the drives on the list.

• Look under the “External” category and you’ll find your My Passport drive there. If it has not appeared, your Mac's USB port could be malfunctioning. So, unplug your drive and restart your Mac. That will probably fix the issue.
• Make sure you have your drive selected. By the way, choose the first drive you see on the list; you know, the one at the top. Doing otherwise might lead to issues when formatting the WD Passport for Mac.
• Format Your Drive

Find the “View” button at the top left of your Disk Utility window and click it. A drop-down menu will open up.

• Remember, what comes next is formatting. So, make sure your files have been copied off the drive if there are any on it.

• Click on “Erase”

• In the small window that pops up, you’ll have to input a name for the My Passport drive first.
• You'll find it useful to give a name to your drive to show what you'll be using the drive for.
• Right below that is the “Format” field. There are a few formats you can choose from but you only need one.
• Choose Format Type

Select “Extended Mac OS (Journaled)”.

This is the file system you will need if you want to be able to easily transfer files back and forth between your Mac and you're My Passport drive. The format is also what makes the drive compatible with Time Machine for backup on your Mac

• Next, for the Scheme option, select “GUID Partition Map.”
• Finally, click on the “Erase” button. It will just take a few seconds for the drive to be formatted. Once, look at your desktop and you’ll see the icon of WD my Passport on it.

• Eject Your Drive

Oh, and always remember to safely eject your drive before unplugging its cable. Failure to do this could lead to the driver crashing or suffering some issues.

• To eject your WD my Passport drive from your Mac, just right-click on its icon on your desktop.
• In the dropdown menu you see, click on “Eject”.

Part 3 - Recover Accidentally Formatted WD Files

If you are unable to locate or access the data on your Western Digital (WD) external hard drive, it can be devastating, particularly when the lost data contains precious images and invaluable backups.

The tips and shortcuts below will give you the necessary info and tidbits you need to format WD elements for mac. The loss of data from your WD hard drive can be caused by numerous things: Accidental deletion, disk formatting, computer corruption or damage, etc.

But all that doesn’t mean you can’t get your data back. There are some great solutions you can utilize to recover deleted, corrupted, or lost files and you’ll learn of them before the end of this post.

Why Formatted Data Can Be Recovered?

It makes perfect sense for you to worry if you lose your data, but sometimes, formatting becomes necessary too, doesn’t it?

• Accidental Deletion or Redesign

Sometimes when you reinstall the operating system, the drive or partition gets deleted, even if you don’t intend for it to happen.

• Unexpected Data Loss Situations:

Due to carelessness or haste, some people can unknowingly format or delete the wrong partition. It takes little more than a few clicks for the damage to be done, so you must exercise caution here.

Then, of course, you can’t rule out other possible causes like a virus, power failure, or hardware damage to your drive. They are all likely causes of data loss.

When it comes to Western Digital disk recovery, the first option that comes to mind is using third party data recovery applications. This is considerably better than the complicated and time-consuming manual data recovery options out there.

Restoring lost WD data takes only minutes, depending on the size of the drive and the amount of data to be recovered. The data recovery tool in question supports all Western Digital hard disk drives, such as My Book Pro, My Book, WD Elements, My Book Studio, etc.

Sometimes, there will be a need to learn how to reformat my passport for Mac, so once you’re acquainted with formatting, you should enlighten yourself on how to reformat WD my passport for Mac.

How to Recover Formatted WD Drive Files using Recoverit Data Recovery?

If you know anything about data recovery, then it’s very likely you’re familiar with Recoverit Data Recovery. If you aren’t, you’ve been missing out a lot!

Recoverit Data Recovery is a data recovery tool that’s extremely capable of recovering data or any kind of file you lost from your drive. So, if you lost your data via formatting, accidental deletion, virus attacks, and more, Recoverit will get them all back.

Recoverit’s data recovery steps are often very similar irrespective of which type of system you own; Windows or Mac. But since you’re dealing with Mac today, that will be the focus here. So, go on and follow the 3 steps below to get back data on a Mac.

1. Select the WD drive
2. Scan the drive
3. Preview and retrieve data

Step 1: Select the WD Drive

Start Recoverit and look under the “External Devices” section. You’ll see some drives connected to your Mac. Select the WD drive and click on “Start”.

Step 2: Scan Your WD Drive

Recoverit will start scanning the drive. Look to the left of the software and you’ll see checkboxes that detail the types of files the software is finding. You can tick the checkboxes if you’re only looking for particular files; that will actually make the scan process faster, but it’s just an option.

Step 3: Preview and Recover Pen Drive Data

Once the scan ends, you’ll see the list of files Recoverit found. You can even preview them if you want. Recovering the files is pretty easy too.

Just tick the ones you want to recover or tick one checkbox that highlights everything. For the last step, click “Recover”.

All you have to do is wait for all your files to be recovered. See? Easy as pie. But here’s an important tip: Don’t save the files to the same WD drive they are being recovered from.

How to use WD my Passport on Mac?

Files and getting bigger and bigger, so you’ll need the best drive out there to capable of storing these files, right? There are countless hard drives you can choose from but the keyword here is the ‘best’, and WD is exactly that.

If you need a new backup solution for your photos or videos, the Western Digital My Passport Essential SE 1 TB drive can more than handle the job. It’s a compact external hard drive with 1 TB capacity coupled with high transmission speeds.

To use a WD my passport on Mac, you need to know how to reformat it. The same goes for using any kind of WD drive on Mac.

Benefits of WD my Passport

The simple fact is, you’ll be very happy with the shape, weight, look, and even feel of the WD My Passport drive. This 1 TB size is wonderful and can comfortably store even the large Digital SLR data files for many years to come.

For those who really love music, all their favorite songs can be stored on this drive too. These large and powerful drives even find use in hospitals and educational facilities, among other places.

The WD Passport is also patronized by computer programmers, innovative artists, and several other professionals in various business fields.

What makes this external hard drive so reliable and easily the best portable drive is the fact it was manufactured by the popular Western Digital Company. It’s a trusted company that has filled homes, offices, and institutions with hard drives for over 20 years; that’s over 20 years of experience and satisfied customers!

Because of how compact the drive is, it easily fits into your shirt or purse’s pocket. And the fact it weighs just about 0.44 pounds means it won’t feel uncomfortable or be obtrusive in any way.

This new device is excellent and doesn't need external power, eliminating the need for an extra power cord. It also works almost soundlessly, so no annoying grinding noises to distract you while you work.

If your WD drive is plugged into a USB 3.0 port, you can easily access and save files 3 times faster than what USB 2.0 port is capable of. To elaborate, you can upload a 2-hour HD video in just 5 minutes! But if it was USB 2.0, it will take at least 13 minutes or more. The difference is clear, isn’t it?

Tips on using WD my Passport for Mac

• Plug the wall/power bar and let power enter it.
• Plug one end of the USB cable into the drive and the other end in your system. If you have a USB 3.0 port on your system (it’s usually blue, especially for Windows systems), use it because it can make a big difference in the speed of the transfer of files.
• If you’re using Windows, the drive will now be turned on, showing up in “My Computer”. It might take a few seconds to do this, so be a little patient.
• If you’re on a Mac, navigate to “My Machine” to see the new hard disk. It's going to be called “My Book”.
• Double-click it and select “Create WD Applications”. This will start the Backup software installation process. If you don't see the “WD Apps Setup”, search for a folder called “WD Apps for Windows”. But if you're using macOS or OS X, you’ll see “WD Apps for Mac”.
• Only follow the Program Setup prompts. Don’t stray from them and tamper with instructions you don’t understand.

Final words

So, there you have it. A simple yet effective tutorial on making your WD drive work on Mac. Remember that the most important thing here is the safety of your files, so it is highly recommended you use a WD My Passport because it’s a drive that promises nothing but the highest quality.

And if anything does happen to your WD drive and you lose your files, there’s never a need to worry because Recoverit is ready and willing to get all those files back.

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Apr 16,2020 • Filed to: Hard Drive Recovery • Proven solutions

Professional videographers and photographers use several digital devices. Generally, it includes Windows 10 desktop, MacBook Pro, SD card, DSLR and external drives, for instance, WD My Passport. The WD My Passport drive is imperative because the individual will use the portable media to store their collection of videos, photos, docs, and audio safely. Even though the superlative device specifications, there is still one small hitch to rectify, which is the reason you need to format WD My Passport.

Most of us know that Windows and Macs have their own native file systems, for instance, NTFS and new APFS/HFS respectively. A WD My Passport formatted with the Windows file system will be useless on the Mac and vice-versa.

But, the good news is that MS-DOS exFAT and FAT32 formats come quite in handy in such cases. These file systems can help you to make your WD My Passport work with a Windows PC and Mac at the same time. In this post, we’re going to help you learn how to format WD Passport for Mac and Windows safely so that you can share your digital files between a Windows OS and macOS with ease.

Part 1: What is My Passport WD?

Before you learn how to format a WD My Passport, it’s good to know about what is My Passport WD. So, let’s start.

My Passport is a sequence of portable external hard drives by Western Digital. Currently, there are six series, which include

• Essential Edition


• Essential SE Edition


• Elite Edition


• Essential for Mac


• Studio Edition


• Essential SE for Mac

My Passport drives by WD are designed to give look and feel like a passport. There is no drive in the passport series that needed a power socket, even though the “elite editions” comes with a docking system.

At present, WD My Passport hard drives have become popular thanks to its portable feature. In fact, WD My Passport is the most trusted and well-known name on the market and all credit goes to a wide range of features, which include several memory variants, durable structure and many more. If you’re planning to add to your system’s storage or backup your important data without another costly hard drive in it, then the WD My Passport external hard drives are the best options.

To format Western Digital My Passport for Mac or Windows, you can rely on in-built applications of your system to format your WD My Passport in exFAT or FAT32 format.

Before proceeding further, it is recommended to take a backup of your important files. As formatting will going to erase everything on your drive and that’s why avoid formatting your drive without a backup.

Part 2: How to Format WD My Passport in Mac System

Mac systems feature Disk Utility that can help you format your WD My Passport easily and safely. So, follow the steps mentioned below on your system -

Step 1 To start the process, connect your WD My Passport drive to your Mac system. Once the system detects your connected drive and mounts it for use, you’ll see a new hard drive icon on the desktop.

Step 2 On Dock, choose “Finder” to open the Finder interface. Next, from the menu bar, select “Go”>” Utilities”. Thereafter, select the “Disk Utility” from the Utilities folder.

Step 3 Once the Disk Utility opens, select your Western Digital hard drive from the sidebar.

Step 4 After that, click on the “Erase” from the file menu of the Disk Utility. Now, you’ll see the Erase dialogue windows and here, choose the “Volume Format” drop-down list to select the exFAT or FAT file system.

Note: The exFAT file system is a better option when it comes to formatting WD My Passport on Mac.

Step 5 Thereafter, click on the “Erase” button and let the system erase everything on the drive and reformat WD elements for Mac by exFAT or FAT32 format.

Step 6 Once formatting completes, you can then use your drive in Mac as a usual hard drive.

Part 3: How to Format WD My Passport in Windows System

Just like Disk Utility on Mac, there is an in-built tool known as Disk Management in Windows. With Disk Management, you can easily erase your Western Digital My Passport drive without the need for any third-party application. So, let’s learn how to do so -

Step 1 To begin with, connect your WD My Passport hard drive to your Windows system through the digital cable. Wait for your system to detect your connected drive.

Step 2 After that, click the “Start” button and choose “This PC”. You’ll see a list of detected drives along with their drive letters on the left side.

Step 3 Next, right-click on the connected drive icon and click on the “Format” option in the pop-menu.

Step 4 Now, choose the “File System” from the list and select either “FAT32” or “exFAT”. Then, enter a name in the field named “Volume Label”.

Step 5 After that, choose a “Quick Format” option, and click on the “Start” option. Wait for your system to reformat the drive with the FAT32 format so that you can reuse it.

That’s how to format WD My Passport. As you can see that there is no need for any third-party software to get the job done, be it for Mac or Windows PC. Once the formatting process completes, you can read and write data on it as you do on any other external hard drive.

Part 4: How to Extend the lifespan of WD My Passport

A WD My Passport hard drive can be one of the great assets for your system in terms of storage space for your important files. If you want to use your Western Digital My Passport external hard drive for many next years to come, following the below tips can help you do so.

• Be Gentle - Being rough with your hard drive storage medium is a quick way to reduce its lifespan. Luckily, several damages can be prevented and all it takes is care. In other words, you should be careful while using it. For instance, you should place it a padded container or bag while carrying it around.
• Eject Properly - Don’t unplug your WD My Passport drive without performing the ejection operation. If you do so, then you can put yourself at the risk of losing files and even, damaging your drive. That’s why use the “eject” feature and let the drive take the time it requires to remove it in the right manner.
• Keep it Cool - Just like internal hard drive, WD My Passport drives will produce heat while you’re using then. The real trouble begins when your drive process excessive heat. So, keep it in a sport where there is airflow around it.

Wd Passport Formatting For Mac Windows 10

There are numerous factors that can reduce the lifespan of your Western Digital My Passport drive. But, keeping the things mentioned above can make a difference.

Tips:

Recover Data from Both Windows and Mac System

No one can specify the possibilities of human errors that result in the accidental formatting of the Western Digital My Passport drive. Your silly mistake can permanently delete all of the contained videos, photos, docs, etc from your WD My Passport. That’s why it is recommended to create a backup of your drive before you reformat WD My Passport for Windows or Mac.

But, what if you have already found yourself in the data loss situation? The best thing you can do is to use professional data recovery software like iSkysoft that can help you get back your important files from Windows and Mac. Using Recoverit, you can rescue your data in no time.

Recoverit (IS)

Here are its key features -

• Recovers 1000+ file types, for instance, videos, audios, graphics, documents, photos, and a lot more.
• Recover files from any kind of storage device, such as external hard drive, internal hard drive, digital camera. SD card, etc.
• You can recover data due to accidental formatting, unintentional deletion, virus attack, sudden system shut down, etc.
• Supports to recover files on both Windows and Mac.
• Click-through process to recover data easily and quickly.

Conclusion:

Formatting Wd Passport For Mac

That’s all on how to format WD hard drive for Mac and PC. As you can see that formatting or reformatting the Western Digital My Passport drive is easy, be it on Windows or Mac systems. All thanks go to their built-in formatting tool. If you lost your important files in the process, there is no need to panic as Recoverit can help recover them without much hassle.