While the Mac can use a hard drive formatted for Windows, some features may be limited. So it's a good idea to format a new hard drive specifically for macOS.

To format a hard drive before you start using it in Windows, use the Disk Management utility; on a Mac, use Disk Utility.

How-To How to format a hard drive This article will show how to format a hard drive using Disk Utility, a helpful application that comes with every Mac. It’s easy, and takes a few minutes.

A Mac computer with an available USB port. An external drive or flash drive that you want to format. It can be an external hard disk, SSD, flash drive or USB drive.

You might need to format an external hard drive before you can use it with your computer. We have some tips to help the process go smoothly.

If you need a USB drive that's widely compatible with different devices, you may want to format it to FAT32. Here's how to do so on Mac and PC.

Disk Utility has a new look in El Capitan, but formatting a storage device is still as easy as it was before.

You can wipe a hard drive and data drives through your Windows 10 Settings, the DBAN utility, and the Disk Utility manager in a Mac's Recovery Mode.

If you need a USB drive that's widely compatible with different devices, you may want to format it to FAT32. Here's how to do so on Mac and PC.