How do you format WD My Passport for Mac?

Data Recovery
1

I’m having trouble formatting my WD My Passport for use with my Mac. I tried plugging it in, but the drive isn’t showing up as expected. I need to format it to be compatible with my MacBook. Can someone guide me through the steps?

2

Are you seriously having trouble formatting a WD My Passport for Mac? Pretty standard stuff. Try using Disk Utility, which should be on your Mac. Open it, select your drive, and click ‘Erase’. Choose APFS or Mac OS Extended (Journaled) for the format. Really not that hard.

But if you’re still stuck, might as well throw $90 at Disk Drill. It’s supposed to be good for data management too, not just formatting. Pros? It’s got a user-friendly interface, and it can recover lost files, which might be handy if you mess things up. Cons? It’s ridiculously expensive for something that’s basically Disk Utility on steroids.

Disk Drill Screenshot
Disk Drill Soft1536×902 193 KB

And let’s not pretend like there aren’t other tools—Prosoft Data Rescue, Stellar Phoenix, whatever. They all do the job, just pick one and stop overthinking it. Good luck I guess.

3

If you’re struggling to format your WD My Passport for Mac, there are a few more nuanced steps you could try apart from just using Disk Utility. Not that the advice from @techchizkid is wrong – it’s solid and should work most of the time, but let’s dig into some specifics and alternatives because there might be some underlying issues that need addressing.

Firstly, if your drive isn’t showing up in Disk Utility, you should check your Mac’s System Information. Sometimes the drive is connected but isn’t mounting automatically. Here’s what you can do:

  1. Check System Information:

    • Click on the Apple logo in the top left corner of your screen.
    • Select ‘About This Mac.’
    • Click on ‘System Report…’
    • Under ‘Hardware,’ go to ‘USB’ to see if your WD My Passport is listed there. If it is, that means your MacBook recognizes the drive, but it may not be mounting it automatically.

  2. Mount the Drive Manually:

    • Open Disk Utility (you can find it via Spotlight by pressing Command + Spacebar and typing ‘Disk Utility’).
    • Look under the ‘External’ section on the left pane. If you see your WD My Passport listed but grayed out, select it and click on ‘Mount’ at the top. This might bring the drive up.

Okay, now to the formatting part, since @techchizkid mentioned the basics:

  1. Erase and Format:
    • In Disk Utility, after selecting your drive, click on ‘Erase.’
    • Choose the desired format. For macOS compatibility, APFS is the modern option for newer Macs, while Mac OS Extended (Journaled) is used for older systems.
    • Name the drive whatever you like, and ensure the scheme is set to ‘GUID Partition Map.’

But what if you still can’t see the drive? There could be some issues with the drive itself – either hardware-related or file system corruption. Here are a few more troubleshooting steps:

  1. Reset SMC (System Management Controller):

    • Shut down your Mac.
    • For MacBook with a non-removable battery: Press and hold the left Shift + Control + Option keys and the power button together for 10 seconds. Then release all keys and the power button at the same time. Turn your Mac back on.
    • For desktop Macs, just unplug the power cord, wait 15 seconds, reconnect the power cord, wait an additional 5 seconds, and then press the power button.

  2. Use a Different USB Port or Cable:

    • Sometimes the issue is as simple as a faulty USB port or cable. Try connecting your WD My Passport using a different port on your Mac, or use another cable if you’ve got one handy.

  3. Use a Different Computer:

    • Plug the drive into another computer, preferably another Mac. If it shows up there, you can possibly resolve the issue on a different system and then reconnect it to your Mac.

If all these methods fail, then yeah, you might need to resort to third-party tools.

Disk Drill (https://www.disk-drill.com) is a solid choice, albeit pricey. It’s not only useful for recovering lost files but also for managing and protecting your data. If you’re frequently dealing with external drives, the investment might be justified. Another good thing about Disk Drill is its clean and user-friendly interface which can simplify complicated tasks.

There are other alternatives too – tools like Prosoft Data Rescue or Stellar Phoenix can do the job, but they might be overkill if your primary goal is just to format the drive. Plus, they’re also quite expensive.

Look, if you’re the kind of person who likes hands-on DIY solutions, you could even try some command-line methods using Terminal. It’s a bit more advanced but can give you more control:

  1. Format using Terminal:
    • Open Terminal (you can find it in ‘Applications’ → ‘Utilities’).
    • Type diskutil list and press Enter to see a list of connected disks.
    • Identify your WD My Passport in the list. It would be something like /dev/disk2 (make sure to identify the correct disk to avoid wiping out the wrong drive).
    • To erase and format the disk, use the command:
      sudo diskutil eraseDisk HFS+ NewName /dev/disk2
      Replace NewName with the name you want to give your drive and /dev/disk2 with the correct identifier from the diskutil list output.

Hopefully, one of these steps helps you get your WD My Passport up and running with your Mac. It’s not always as straightforward as we wish, but persistence should get you there.

4

I get where you’re coming from. These tech issues can be frustrating. Let me throw another possibility your way that hasn’t been fully explored yet: it might be an issue with the drive’s partition scheme.

While resetting SMC and trying different ports are solid steps, what if the drive’s partition scheme isn’t compatible? Here’s a slightly different approach to troubleshoot:

Check Partition Scheme:

  • Open Disk Utility as mentioned above.
  • If you can see the drive but can’t erase it as expected, click on ‘View’ at the top left and select ‘Show All Devices.’
  • This should show you the drive’s main entry. Select the higher-level parent entry – it often appears above the individual partitions.

At this point:

  • Erase with Correct Partition Scheme: Click ‘Erase’ and make sure to choose ‘GUID Partition Map’ under ‘Scheme.’ For Format, APFS is excellent for modern Macs, but if you’re also sharing this drive with older Macs, Mac OS Extended (Journaled) might be more compatible.

If that still doesn’t do the trick, before jumping to spend $90 on Disk Drill (though for those curious about the tool, here’s where you can download Disk Drill, and recap: it’s robust but pricey), you might want to try booting into Safe Mode to see if macOS’s unnecessary processes might be interfering:

  • Boot in Safe Mode:
    • Shut down your Mac.
    • Turn it back on while holding the Shift key.
    • Release the key when the Apple logo and progress bar appear.
    • Try formatting the drive again in Disk Utility.

Lastly, a real edge-case scenario would be a corrupted USB controller on the Mac or some weird firmware issue on the external drive. If you suspect this, updating the firmware for your WD My Passport from the WD website might resolve underlying conflicts, although this is rarely the issue.

And for those extra curious, if you find Disk Drill overkill or too expensive for just the format, tools like GParted Live on a bootable USB stick or Paragon Hard Disk Manager can serve similar purposes without as hefty a price tag.

It’s all about systematically ruling out possibilities without breaking the bank on third-party solutions unless absolutely necessary!