How to Format an External Hard Drive for Windows

Lee Stanton May 22, 2023

External hard drives are crucial keepers of precious data, especially if you travel frequently, need flexible storage for work, or like to keep important stuff away from your PC’s guts. But there are times when these digital treasure chests need some sprucing up for optimal usage with Windows.

How to Format an External Hard Drive for Windows

Here’s a comprehensive guide to help you format an external HDD (hard disk drive) for Windows.

Formatting an External Hard Drive for Windows

Formatting helps the drive work seamlessly with Windows and provides a clean slate, wiping away old data and settings. A brand new hard drive will ship unformatted and require formatting.

Formatting a drive that’s already been formatted can help fix bugs or make it compatible with your system. However, remember that this process erases all existing data, so ensure you’ve backed up all your important files before starting this venture.

Let’s look into the nuts and bolts of how to format your external hard drive for Windows. Follow these instructions:

Connect the external hard drive and navigate to “This PC” (“My Computer” on Windows 7 and earlier), and find your external hard drive.
Right-click on the drive and select “Format.”
Pick a format, and check the “Quick Format” box. You can also do a full format if you want to make any old data unrecoverable, but this can take a very long time.
Click “Start” and let Windows work its magic.

In the formatting window, you will have several file system options, such as:

NTFS – This is the default system for Windows NT systems, ideal for drives only used with Windows.
exFAT – As the jack-of-all-trades, this format is compatible with Windows (XP SP3 and later), Linux, and Mac (10.6.5 or later), making it great if you need to use the drive interchangeably between systems.
FAT32 – An old but highly compatible format that almost every device in the last couple of decades could recognize.

Once formatting is complete, a pop-up saying “Format Complete” will appear, signifying your hard drive is ready for action. With that, you’ve successfully formatted your external hard drive for Windows.

Partitioning the Drive for Use With Different Systems

But what if you need to use the drive with multiple operating systems, such as Windows and Mac? No problem; You can easily split the drive into two or more partitions, each with its own format. It’s like having multiple drives in one physical device. Here’s how to do it:

In the search box, type “diskmgmt.msc” and press “Enter.”
Right-click on the external hard drive.
Select “Shrink Volume.”
Enter how much space you want to shrink from the partition. The rest will become unallocated.
Right-click the unallocated space and click “New Simple Volume” to create a new volume.
Specify the size of the new partition and give it a drive letter. Select a file system (NTFS for Windows, exFAT for Windows and Mac, etc.) and check “Quick Format.”
Click “Next” and then “Finish.” If a pop-up appears asking to format the disk.
Click “Format Disk.”

It’s a great idea to partition your external hard drive when you need to do different things with it. That way, any changes you make in one section won’t affect the others. You’ll have the flexibility to use it with all operating systems without worrying about messing something up.

Formatting a New Drive on Windows

For a brand-new drive, you need to initialize it before you can format it. Here are the steps:

Press and hold the “Windows key + R” to open Disk Management.
In the run box, type “diskmgmt.msc”, then click “OK.”
Right-click on the disk, then select “Initialize Disk.” Select the partition style, MBR for drives under 2 TB, and GPT for drives over 2 TB.
Right-click the “Unallocated” box, and select “New Simple Volume.”
Follow the prompts (Welcome Wizard, Specify Volume Size, Assign Drive Letter or Path).
Choose a File system (NTFS for Windows only, exFAT for multi-OS).
Set a name for your drive in the Volume Label field.
Click “Next,” then “Finish.”

Reformatting an Existing Drive on Windows

You might have an existing drive that you’d like to format for a fresh start. The process is similar to formatting a new one, with a slight difference. Here’s how:

Plug in the drive and open Windows Explorer.
Right-click the drive, choose “Format,” and then select the file system.
Rename your drive in the Volume Label field. Check “Quick Format” and click “Start.”

This will erase all data on the disk, but Quick Format will make it recoverable for a time with recovery software in case there’s any data you need to return.

A Peek Into File Systems

File systems are essentially ways your computer’s operating system organizes and manages data on the drive. Each file format has different pros and cons, with varying compatibility, so think them over and choose wisely.

NTFS (New Technology File System)

The “native tongue” of Windows (mainly Windows 2000 and later), NTFS is a high-performance file system that supports file-level security, transactions, encryption, compression, and much more. It’s perfect for Windows-exclusive drives (although operating systems like Linux can still read this format but cannot install it).

exFAT (Extended File Allocation Table)

This is the linguist of file systems – it speaks both Mac and Windows fluently. Thanks to its broad compatibility, it’s ideal if you anticipate needing to transfer files between Mac and Windows systems. However, there’s one caveat – exFAT doesn’t support Windows’ File History or macOS’s Time Machine.

FAT32 (File Allocation Table 32)

This is the venerable elder of file systems. It’s supported by Windows, Linux, Mac, and even BSD. It’s great for smaller drives and files and compatible with almost any device (such as game consoles, smart TVs, older computers, etc.). But FAT32 has a significant limitation – it can’t handle individual files larger than 4GB.

HFS+ (Hierarchical File System Plus) and APFS (Apple File System)

These two are the brainchildren of Apple. HFS+ is meant for traditional spinning hard disk drives (HDDs), while APFS is the newer, more efficient system for solid-state drives (SSDs). They’re both primarily for macOS systems.

ext4 (Fourth Extended Filesystem)

This is currently the default file system for many Linux distributions. It’s robust, reliable, and efficient and supports file sizes up to 16 terabytes and volumes up to 1 exabyte. The ext4 system also incorporates many improvements over its predecessors, such as support for delayed allocation, persistent preallocation, and journal checksumming.

Btrfs (B-tree File System)

Often pronounced as “Butter FS,” Btrfs is a modern copy-on-write (CoW) file system for Linux that implements advanced features while focusing on fault tolerance, repair, and easy administration. Btrfs is notable for its support for snapshots, data pooling, and the ability to back up and restore data incrementally.

Secure Erasure of a Drive

Before passing on a drive to someone else, you might want to erase everything securely. This requires steps beyond simple formatting to prevent data recovery. You can use the Microsoft Diskpart Erase utility. However, be cautious with this process, and disconnect other drives so you don’t accidentally erase them instead.

Find the Disk Number in Disk Management (type “diskmgmt.msc” in the Run box).
Note the disk number of the drive you want to erase.
Open the Command Prompt using “cmd” in the Run box.
Type “diskpart” then press “Enter.”
Enter the command “list disk” and press “Enter.”
Type select “disk X” (replace X with the disk number assigned to your drive).
Use the command “clean” and press “Enter” and close the Command Prompt after receiving the success message.

The recipient can now initialize, partition, and format it as they please.

The Right Format

Whether it’s formatting a new drive, reformatting an existing one, or partitioning a drive for multiple OS use, following these steps lets you go through the formatting voyage without hassle.

What is your preferred format for your external hard drives? Tell us about your formatting experiences in the comment section below.