by Shirly Chen, updated on 2016-10-09 to Mac Data Wipe
Aug 10, 2020 macOS Recovery makes it easy to reinstall the Mac operating system, even if you need to erase your startup disk first. All you need is a connection to the Internet. If a wireless network is available, you can choose it from the Wi-Fi menu, which is also available in macOS Recovery. Sep 06, 2019 Use a Mac OS X installation Disc. If you’re unable to use Internet Recovery Mode or create a bootable USB installer, you can still use a Mac OS X installation disc. These discs are available for OS X Snow Leopard, OS X Lion, and OS X Mountain Lion. If your Mac is from 2012 or earlier, there was an installation disc in the original box.
Dec 30, 2015 These will format the drive in OS X's HFS+ filetype so it will be compatible with Time Machine. Click Erase and OS X will format the drive. With the drive selected in Disk Utility, click. OS X can default read NTFS disks, but not write to them. Possible solutions/options: NTFS for Mac OS X (10 Days Trial): I use this one, and it does the job very well. When the driver is installed, you format your NTFS disks with Disk Utility where you select Windows NT Filesystem as the format.
When your external hard drive is full of junk files, or you will resell your device, you may need to format it to regain the full storage or wipe sensitive data to avoid data leakage. Unlike Windows 10 or Windows 8, there is no direct option to format the device when you right-click the device under Mac OS X 10.10 Yosemite. However, there are still some easy solutions to format external hard drive under Mac OS X 10.10 Yosemite. Just follow the guide bellow, you can easily format the external hard drive under Mac OS X 10.10 Yosemite and wipe data.Solution 1: Format External Hard Drive with Disk Utility under 10.10 Yosemite
Mac disk utility is a built-in application in all Mac OS versions including OS X 10.10 Yosemite. It can help users to format external hard drive under Mac OS X 10.10 Yosemite and erase all data. This solution is very simple. Here, you can follow these steps.
1. Connect your external hard drive with your Mac computer.
2. Open disk utility (click Launchpad – find disk utility).
3. Select the external hard drive and click 'Erase'.
Then disk utility will format the external hard drive.
This is a fast way to clean up all data on your external hard drive and format it. However, the formatted data can be recovered by data recovery software or other data recovery method because the data is not permanently lost. If you only want to format your external hard drive under Mac OS X 10.10 Yosemite or clean up all existing files, this solution is a good option. However, if you are going to sell/donate or throw away your external hard drive, this solution is not safe because it can’t permanently erase the data. Other people can easily recover your data from the formatted external hard drive. In order to permanently destroy all the data, the following solution will help you.Solution 2: Format External Hard Drive with Super Eraser and Permanently Wipe Data
In some cases, people format an external hard drive before selling, donating or throwing away to avoid data leakage. In such cases, the data should be permanently destroyed. DoYourData Super Eraser for Mac is a powerful Mac data erasure application. It will help you format external hard drive under Mac OS X 10.10 Yosemite and permanently wipe data.
Just download and install DoYourData Super Eraser for Mac on your Mac computer. Then connect your external hard drive with your Mac. Now you can launch DoYourData Super Eraser for Mac to format external hard drive under Mac OS X 10.10 Yosemite.
Here are the steps: select Wipe Hard Drive mode.
Sselect the external hard drive and click on 'Wipe Now' button.
Once the process gets started, all the existing/deleted/lost data on the external hard drive will be permanently destroyed and wiped. Nobody can recover it even with the best data recovery software. If you are planning to sell your external hard drive or just throw it to trash, you’d better use this solution to format your external hard drive under Mac OS X 10.10 Yosemite and permanently erase your data.
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Erasing your disk: For most reasons to erase, including when reformatting a disk or selling, giving away, or trading in your Mac, you should erase your entire disk.
Erasing a volume on your disk: In other cases, such as when your disk contains multiple volumes (or partitions) and you don't want to erase them all, you can erase specific volumes on the disk.
Erasing a disk or volume permanently deletes all of its files. Before continuing, make sure that you have a backup of any files that you want to keep.How to erase your disk
*Start up from macOS Recovery. Then select Disk Utility from the Utilities window and click Continue.If you're not erasing the disk your Mac started up from, you don't need to start up from macOS Recovery: just open Disk Utility from the Utilities folder of your Applications folder.
*Choose View > Show All Devices from the menu bar in Disk Utility. The sidebar now shows your disks (devices) and any containers and volumes within them. The disk your Mac started up from is at the top of the list. In this example, Apple SSD is the startup disk:
*Select the disk that you want to erase. Don't see your disk?
*Click Erase, then complete these items:
*Name: Type the name that you want the disk to have after you erase it.
*Format: Choose APFS or Mac OS Extended (Journaled). Disk Utility shows a compatible format by default.
*Scheme: Choose GUID Partition Map.
*Click Erase to begin erasing your disk and every container and volume within it. You might be asked to enter your Apple ID. Forgot your Apple ID?
*When done, quit Disk Utility.
*If you want your Mac to be able to start up from the disk you erased, reinstall macOS on the disk.How to erase a volume on your diskHow To Format Hdd For Os X Hackintosh Windows
*Start up from macOS Recovery. Then select Disk Utility from the Utilities window and click Continue.If you're not erasing the volume your Mac started up from, you don't need to start up from macOS Recovery: just open Disk Utility from the Utilities folder of your Applications folder.
*In the sidebar of Disk Utility, select the volume that you want to erase. The volume your Mac started up from is named Macintosh HD, unless you changed its name. Don't see your volume?
*Click Erase, then complete these items:
*Name: Type the name that you want the volume to have after you erase it.
*Format: Choose APFS or Mac OS Extended (Journaled). Disk Utility shows a compatible format by default.
*If you see an Erase Volume Group button, the volume you selected is part of a volume group. In that case, you should erase the volume group. Otherwise, click Erase to erase just the selected volume. You might be asked to enter your Apple ID. Forgot your Apple ID?
*When done, quit Disk Utility.
*If you want your Mac to be able to start up from the volume you erased, reinstall macOS on that volume.Reasons to erase
You can erase at any time, including in circumstances such as these:
*You want to permanently erase all content from your Mac and restore it to factory settings. This is one of the final steps before selling, giving away, or trading in your Mac.
*You're changing the format of a disk, such as from a PC format (FAT, ExFAT, or NTFS) to a Mac format (APFS or Mac OS Extended).
*You received a message that your disk isn't readable by this computer.
*You're trying to resolve a disk issue that Disk Utility can't repair.
*The macOS installer doesn't see your disk or can't install on it. For example, the installer might say that your disk isn't formatted correctly, isn't using a GUID partition scheme, contains a newer version of the operating system, or can't be used to start up your computer.
*The macOS installer says that you may not install to this volume because it is part of an Apple RAID.About APFS and Mac OS Extended
Disk Utility in macOS High Sierra or later can erase using either the newer APFS (Apple File System) format or the older Mac OS Extended format, and it automatically chooses a compatible format for you.How To Format Hdd For Os X Hackintosh DownloadHow to choose between APFS and Mac OS Extended
Disk Utility tries to detect the type of storage and show the appropriate format in the Format menu. If it can't, it chooses Mac OS Extended, which works with all versions of macOS. If you want to change the format, answer these questions:
*Are you formatting the disk that came built into your Mac?If the built-in disk came APFS-formatted, Disk Utility suggests APFS. Don't change it to Mac OS Extended.
*Are you about to install macOS High Sierra or later for the first time on the disk?If you need to erase your disk before installing High Sierra or later for the first time on that disk, choose Mac OS Extended (Journaled). During installation, the macOS installer decides whether to automatically convert to APFS—without erasing your files.
*Are you preparing a Time Machine backup disk or bootable installer?Choose Mac OS Extended (Journaled) for any disk that you plan to use as a Time Machine backup disk or as a bootable installer.
*Will you be using the disk with another Mac?If the other Mac isn't using macOS High Sierra or later, choose Mac OS Extended (Journaled). Earlier versions of macOS don't work with APFS-formatted volumes.How to identify the format currently in use
If you want to know which format is currently in use, use any of these methods:
*Select the volume in the Disk Utility sidebar, then check the information shown on the right. For more detail, choose File > Get Info from the Disk Utility menu bar.
*Open System Information and select Storage in the sidebar. The File System column on the right shows the format of each volume.
*Select the volume in the Finder, then choose File > Get Info from the menu bar. The Get Info window shows the Format of that volume.If your disk or volume doesn't appear, or the erase failsHow To Format Hdd For Os X Hackintosh Software
*Shut down your Mac, then unplug all nonessential devices from your Mac.
*If you're erasing an external drive, make sure that it's connected directly to your Mac using a cable that you know is good. Then turn the drive off and back on.
*If your disk or volume still doesn't appear in Disk Utility, or Disk Utility reports that the erase process failed, your disk or Mac might need service. If you need help, please contact Apple Support.Learn moreHow To Format Hdd For Os X Hackintosh Pro
*If you can't start up from macOS Recovery, you can use a different startup disk instead.
*If Disk Utility shows a Security Options button in the Erase window, you can click that button to choose between a faster (but less secure) erase and a slower (but more secure) erase. Some older versions of Disk Utility offer the option to zero all data instead. These secure-erase options aren't offered or needed for solid-state drives (SSDs) and flash storage.
