After putting in the memory size, hit Shrink and the command will split the drive into two parts (one being totally unallocated).ĥ. Provided that Shrink Volume is available, tap on the same and put in the amount of memory (in MBs) you want to shrink the drive by.Ĥ. (in case the option isn’t visible, reformat external hard drive and choose the type as NTFS). Follow the process by tapping into the external drive (already connected) and choose Shrink Volume from the list of options. Navigate yourself to the Search option (Windows icon) & type in “ msc”.Ģ.
So without further ado, let’s check how to partition an external drive in Windows 10 PC:ġ. Though the title says “in Windows 10”, a decided part of the external drive would be compatible with macOS as well. Partitioning an External Hard Drive in Windows 10 If you give this thought GREEN light and wish to go ahead, please follow. Yeah!! Doing so will work in a way that a part of the drive will be fully functioning with Windows OS and another one would be compatible with macOS. In order to do so, all you need to do is, partitioning the external hard drive.
Now that you did format an external hard drive on your own, you would want to keep it compatible with both the PC operating systems.
Post completion, tap on OK and doing so will tell you that your external drive has been formatted successfully. Post narrowing down the formatting option for external hard drive, click on Format and let the process get completed. A crystal clean external hard drive formatting!! Yeah!! 5.
By choosing Quick format, the drive will get formatted quickly, however, going otherwise will format the external hard drive completely and thoroughly. Normal formatting option isn’t visible in the formatting drive dialog box so you can just uncheck the Format option.Īlso, sometimes choosing the format option depends on the files or data you have got on the drive. One of the most important things while trying to format the external hard drive is to choose the format options between Quick or normal.
However, if you wish to make the same external hard drive work on mac as well, go with Extensible File Allocation Table (exFAT) instead of NTFS. As the default selection, Windows will always choose New Technology File System (NTFS). Then hit the Start button to begin formatting your hard drive.Not that many of us look at it or find it important, but choosing the File System while formatting external hard drives is extremely important. Quick Format – it’s suggested to leave this unticked if you’re not sure. Volume label – enter a name for your hard drive. Here are the options you need to specify before you can format the drive:ĭrive – choose your external hard drive from this dropdown menu.Īllocation unit size – leave it to the default values.
Head over to the FAT32Format website and download the tool to your computer.
A great thing about this tool is that you don’t even need to install it on your computer – it just works straight out of the box. This method is ideal for those of you who don’t like running commands and prefer tools with a simple user interface. The FAT32Format utility has been around for a long time and it lets you quickly format any of your external hard drives to FAT32. Use FAT32Format To Format Your External Hard Drives In most cases, it should only take a few minutes but it also depends on how large your external hard drive is. It’ll format the drive to FAT32 and let you know when it’s done.