The process of formatting a drive to be compatible with Windows PC and Mac OS X requires a different format choice, but is otherwise quite similar. Should you intend to make an Mac OS installer drive (for OS X Mavericks, OS X El Capitan, OS X Yosemite, etc) or create any other bootable Mac OS X volume from a drive, or use a new drive as a fully compatible Time Machine backup drive, you will also need to complete this process.
Similarly, you can perform the same type of process in Mac OS X for making a USB flash drive compatible with Mac OS using the Disk Utility in Mac OS X, as you can see, it’s a quick procedure that is done in short order on any Mac: The videos below demonstrate the complete process of formatting an external hard drive for full Mac OS X compatibility, this uses the new Disk Utility in modern versions of Mac OS X: When completed, the drive will be formatted to the Mac OS X compatible HFS+ filesystem. Click the Start button and type this PC > select This PC app. Wait until Windows automatically detects the external hard drive and configures it as an expansion drive. Connect your WD My Passport hard drive to your Windows PC through the USB cable. Smaller external hard drives, SSD’s, and USB flash keys format quickly, while a larger hard drive may take a while longer. To format WD My Passport for Windows, do this: 1. That’s all there is to it, the drive will now format and erase everything on it.
How to Format an External Drive for Mac Compatibility If you have never formatted a drive before on the Mac, don’t worry, it’s super easy and we’ll walk you through the entire process.