- #Which format should i use for mac new hard drive mac os#
- #Which format should i use for mac new hard drive full#
- #Which format should i use for mac new hard drive mac#
Each container has one or more volumes, and each volume (starting in High Sierra) has a “role,” which defines the kind of volume it is. APFS divides a disk into one or more containers (similar to partitions).
#Which format should i use for mac new hard drive mac#
Not only must you use Big Sur to back up to an APFS-formatted Time Machine volume, you can’t even access the backups from a Mac with Catalina or an earlier macOS version installed. This might go without saying, but I know enough people with mixed-system setups who will ask. I would set up any new Time Machine volume formatted with APFS, but not convert an old one from HFS+.īig Sur APFS-based Time Machine backups can’t be used in Catalina or earlier releases. While APFS has advantages for SSD-based storage, there really aren’t any for hard disk drives, the most likely kind of drive used for large-capacity backup drives. Because of the structural differences, you can’t just copy from HFS+ to APFS, either. However, if you want to shift a drive from HFS+ to APFS, you have to reformat the drive, and that erases all the Time Machine backups. You can set up a drive from scratch with HFS+ to create new Time Machine volumes as well. Your old HFS+ based Time Machine volumes remain valid and readable in Big Sur. (Insert thinking face emoji here, for sure.) Apple created an exceedingly wacky way to encompass Time Machine’s snapshot format inside the APFS format, almost as if the company hadn’t developed both APFS and Time Machine. There’s no way to convert an HFS+ Time Machine volume to one that uses APFS without erasing it.
#Which format should i use for mac new hard drive full#
But it took a full three releases from the first APFS appearance until Time Machine backups could be written to drives formatted with APFS: macOS 11.0 Big Sur is the first release to allow that.īut you format a Time Machine drive to APFS, there are a few things to consider. Fusion Drives followed with macOS 10.14 Mojave. In that release, all SSD-based Macs were upgraded to APFS.
#Which format should i use for mac new hard drive mac os#
Steps 4-6 are optional but should be used on a drive that has never been formatted before, if the format type is not Mac OS Extended, if the partition scheme has been changed, or if a different operating system (not OS X) has been installed on the drive.Apple started shifting Macs from its old HFS+ filesystem to its more sophisticated APFS format with macOS 10.13 High Sierra. The format process can take up to several hours depending upon the drive size. Options button, check the button for Zero Data and click onĮrase button. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the
Select the volume you just created (this is the sub-entry under the drive entry) from the left side list.
Partition button and wait until the volume(s) mount on the Desktop.Ĥ. Set the number of partitions from the dropdown menu (use 1 partition unless you wish to make more.) Set the format type to Mac OS Extended.
Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID (only required for Intel Macs) then click on the
SMART info will not be reported on external drives. If it does not say "Verified" then the drive is failing or has failed and will need replacing. Note the SMART status of the drive in DU's status area. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Installer menu (Utilities menu for Tiger or Leopard.)Ģ. After the installer loads select your language and click on theĬontinue button. If you need to reformat your startup volume, then you must boot from your OS X Installer Disc. Open Disk Utility in your Utilities folder.