#Format mac hard drive for clean install how to
#Format mac hard drive for clean install mac os
#Format mac hard drive for clean install windows

In OS X El Capitan or earlier, you need to turn off Time Machine. For macOS Sierra or later, you can deselect Back Up Automatically.

To disable the automatic backups, open Time Machine preferences.

To backup immediately, go to the Time Machine menu and click 'Back Up Now.'.

Time Machine offers several ways for you to personalize your backups. Once the disk is full, Time Machine automatically deletes the oldest backups. The program saves daily backups for a month and weekly backups for previous months. These include continuous hourly backups over a 24-hour period. If you want to choose multiple disks for security or convenience, you can keep repeating these steps to add more disks such as one for home, work, or any other location necessary.Īfter setting up Time Machine, the program automatically makes backups for you. Select a backup disk from the list and then click 'Use Disk.' Once you have opened System Preferences, you can click 'Select Backup Disk', 'Select Disk,' or 'Add or Remove Backup Disk.'

Open Time Machine preferences or choose Apple menu > System Preferences > Time Machine.

However, if it does not do this automatically you can easily choose the disk. Time Machine should suggest a backup disk when you connect the drive to your Mac. Time Machine will automatically suggest that you encrypt your backup when you connect the external drive.

An AirPort Time Capsule, Apple’s wireless router with network-attached storage, which you set up on your network.

Connecting the external hard drive to the USB port on an AirPort Extreme Base Station on your network.

An external hard drive that connects using the USB, FireWire, or Thunderbolt port on your Mac.

To set up Time Machine, you need to start by buying an external storage solution such as:

#Format mac hard drive for clean install how to

Learning how to use Time Machine's features can help you create a backup for data recovery. Your Mac comes with Time Machine, Apple's built-in backup feature. Under 'Security Options' make sure to set the drive to write over past data three times or more.

#Format mac hard drive for clean install windows

ExFAT allows you to use Windows volumes over 32 GB.MS-DOS (FAT) allows you to use Windows volumes of 32 GB or less.

#Format mac hard drive for clean install mac os

Mac OS Extended (Case-sensitive, Journaled, Encrypted) adds password and encryption protection to the partition while also including Mac formatting with case sensitive folder names.('Backup' and 'backup' will be two different files.) Mac OS Extended (Case-sensitive, Journaled) makes case-sensitive folders and Mac format.Mac OS Extended (Journaled, Encrypted) adds a password and partition encryption to the Mac format.Mac OS Extended (Journaled) uses Mac formatting to protect data integrity.A Format pop-up window will give you the opportunity to choose one of the following:.

Click 'Erase' from the Disk Utility options.

Find your external hard drive in the list of drives.

Open Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility.

Since most external hard drives are formatted for PCs, before the backup of your Mac begins you need to format the hard drive for macOS. Additionally, although they are expected to have longer lifespans than HDDs, they are relatively new which means projections of their lifespan potential remains conjecture.Ĭopying the files from your Mac to an external drive allows you to save data on your own terms. While this technology makes them less likely to suffer physical damage, it also makes storing large amounts of data expensive. SSDs use flash memory which writes data to memory chips rather than spinning disks.

If you're looking to store 2 TB of data or less, an SSD offers tremendous value, boasting high speed, small size, and long lifespan. Pros: Speed, size, malfunction rates, lifespan Second, if you choose to fragment the information to protect your data recovery, the backup takes time. First, the spinning disks are more likely to break down if dropped or handled roughly.

HDDs use spinning disks to write data, however, which creates two different problems. If you're looking to store a lot of data, then a traditional HDD might be the best option because larger capacities drives are more reasonably priced. Hard Disk DrivesĬons: Physical damage, physical size, speed Choosing between an SSD or HDD means taking a look at the pros and cons of each. The first step in creating a backup for your Mac is choosing an external drive that enables the best data recovery option. Choosing an External Drive: Solid-State Drive (SSD) or Hard Disk Drive (HDD)