Since this relies on a connection, a functional USB cable is a prerequisite. The cable can get hot if there is a problem with the connection. If the connection is unreliable, moving the computer around won't let you mount the external hard drive. Verify that the hard drive is securely connected.ĭue to the dependence on cables for communication between your Mac and external hard drives, a loose connection may be to blame if your Mac does not recognize your external hard drive. Apple provides detailed instructions for wiping hard drives. If unsure which drive you want to erase, unplug all other drives and rejoin only the target drive. Make sure you're formatting the right drive in Disk Utility. It is common practice to completely reformat a hard drive to delete all its previous contents. To make a hard disk usable for reading and writing, it must first be formatted, which involves erasing all data and setting it up again from scratch. The Finder application on a Mac computer can be used to navigate and manage files across internal and external storage devices. Disk formatting for an external drive:Įxternal hard drives may employ spinning disks or solid memory when storing data.

Apple provides information about wiping Mac hard drives. If unsure, unplug all drives and rejoin only the one you want to erase. Select the right drive while formatting with Disk Utility. Reformatting a hard drive erases its contents. Before reading or writing data, a hard drive must be formatted. Mac users can view and manage files using Finder.

When you upgrade to macOS Ventura, you also can use it to erase an external hard drive. Disk Utility is an application found on macOS and used to manage and format physical and virtual hard disks.

Disk Utility is a tool on Mac computers that allows you to perform all of these tasks. Often, external hard drives come with installation software already installed. Sometimes, a new hard drive already has a Windows or Mac OS X installation.

How to erase a mac hard drive