So, you lose access to all your files from the drive. The Erase operation replaces the old file system of the storage drive with a new one. Master Boot Record: Prefer this scheme for compatibility with Windows-based PC.Īpple Partition Map: Use this scheme for compatibility with old PowerPC-based Mac. Even, some latest Windows PCs use this scheme. GUID Partition Map: Select this scheme for all Macs that are based on Intel and Apple Silicon. Disk Utility provides the following three schemes: You need to enter a few details such as name, format, and scheme before you erase the storage medium. The Erase feature of Disk Utility allows you to format your Mac hard drive with a new file system. Note: See this article from Apple Support to learn how to reformat a storage drive on macOS.Disk Utility is a native macOS application that offers multiple storage disk management features, such as First Aid, Partition, Erase, Restore, Unmount, and Info. On macOS 10.13 High Sierra and later, the Apple File System (APFS) format is recommended.On macOS 10.12 Sierra (and earlier versions of OS X), the standard HFS+ / Mac OS Extended (Journaled) format is recommended.Make sure to only use hard drives that are not formatted case-sensitive for installing and using NI products on Mac computers.įor best results, your external drive should be formatted the same as your operating system's native format.

The description shows if the selected hard drive's format is Case-sensitive:.Choose the hard drive volume that you want to verify from the list on the left hand side of the window.

Open Disk Utility from Mac HD > Applications > Utilities.

To find out if you are using a case-sensitive hard drive, follow these steps: Important Note: Native Instruments products are not compatible with Case-sensitive hard drives.

If a hard drive is formatted 'case-sensitive', the system distinguishes between uppercase and lowercase letters that are used for volume and folder names. On Mac systems, hard drives can be formatted in a variety of ways.

Windows and mac format mac disk utility