It is possible that on occasion we have to format a storage unit. The usual thing in these cases is that we are going to do this with some drive that is in the computer itself. Although we can also format an external hard drive. A process that for many users is new, but that does not present too many complications, as we show you below.
In this way, when you need it, you can format an external hard drive without any problem. There are several methods for this, although there are some that are especially simple and will be useful in these situations. What options do we have available?
From file explorer
The most comfortable and direct option in these cases, if we use a Windows computer, is to connect this external hard drive to the computer. In this way, we will be able to carry out this formatting directly in file explorer. An option that takes little time and is the best known to most users.
Therefore, once we have connected the external hard drive to our computer, we open the file explorer. We then enter the My PC or This Equipment section, depending on the version you have installed. The storage units that are there will come out, in addition to this unit that we have connected now. We just have to right click with the mouse on it, to bring up a contextual menu on the screen. From the options that are in it, we select Format.
Windows will ask us to confirm if we are sure we want to do this. When we accept, a new window will appear, in which to configure this formatting. We can choose a quick format for example, so that it takes less time. Once everything has been chosen, the formatting process of this storage unit will begin. It is only a matter of waiting for it to complete and all the data on this external hard drive will be erased.
Download applications to format external hard drive
As there are programs with which to format a computer storage unit, we can also use applications to help us in this specific case. They are responsible for partitioning or formatting any storage unit, including an external hard drive in this case. Therefore, they are presented as a good option with which to complete this process in our case.
There are applications like CCleaner, Eraser or applications that the manufacturers themselves offer. So it is not a problem to be able to delete all the files that are on that external storage unit. If for some users it is more comfortable, because they do not feel safe when doing this formatting manually, it is a good option to consider. Best of all, almost all of these programs are free to download.
Format external hard drive on Mac
If you are a Mac user, the steps to format said external hard drive are somewhat different from those we have to follow in Windows. Although it is not complicated. First of all we are going to have to connect this unit to the computer first. Then we have to open the applications folder and then we enter utilities.
Here we meet with the tool called Disk Utility, which is what will allow us to start the process. In the next step you have to choose the external hard drive that you want to format. When it has been selected, click on the delete tab and then display the menu on the right side. Here you can choose the file system with which to carry out said formatting on this unit.
You are asked to enter a name for the unit in that field and then you just have to click delete. Depending on the number of files on that external hard drive, the process will take more or less time. But in general it is something that in a matter of minutes will be completely finished.
Format in Linux
Flickr: Susan Podra
If on the other hand you are a Linux user, the steps to be followed in this case are different. Long-time Linux users have probably formatted an external hard drive at some point, but if you've just started using this system, it's probably new to you. The steps are not complicated.
You have to open the Terminal and then you have to execute sudo apt-get install gparted ntfsprogs. This is done in order to install the GParted utility on it, in case you don't already have it. So, we connect this external hard drive to the computer via USB. On the desktop, we right-click on the icon of this hard drive and select the option to Dismount volume.
Next we enter Dash, where we have to write gparted. We click on the GParted partition editor and a new window will appear on the screen. There we right click on this disk drive and click on format. We will be asked to choose the system to use. In this case, we will have to use FAT32, which is compatible with Linux, so it is important to keep this in mind. And we only have to give it to apply to start the process.