Formatting Ssd For Mac

1. Format External Ssd For Mac
2. Formatting Ssd For Mac And Windows

Why Do You Need to Format an SSD

SSD (Solid-State Drive) delivers faster load times for games, applications, and movies. Because of the technology they use, SSDs are lighter and better able to withstand movement and drop page. In addition, SSDs use less energy, allowing computers to run cooler. As a result, most people buy a new SSD to replace the old HDD. Some people also migrate OS to SSD to get better performance. As SSD becomes more and more common, formatting or reformatting becomes important as well.

Formatting a memory card, flash drive or device using a PC; Deleting files on a Cruzer USB flash drive using a Mac; Deleting files on a removable disk using a Mac; How To Initialize SanDisk® SSD On Mac Systems Via USB; How to access Disk Utility on Mac OS. If you want to format a drive that will be used as your Mac's startup disk, the procedure is a little different from formatting it for use as a secondary drive for storing data. By Shirly Chen, 2017-12-01. A Solid State Drive is primarily used on Mac machine. If you want to recycle a SSD, formatting is the best way to remove all history data from the SSD. How to Format or Partition an External Hard Drive for Mac. So, you just bought an external hard drive or a portable SSD and wanted to use it on your Mac. If you need to work with Mac-formatted drives on a regular basis and you want the operating system integration, speed, and write access, Paragon HFS+ is a great choice and will be worth it for you. But, if you just need to get some files off a Mac-formatted drive occasionally, this is overkill and you can save $20 by sticking with HFSExplorer. The 2014 Mac Mini shipped a M.2 blade option for storage. The M.2 is a proprietary drive, which means you can not use a standard NVME drive like the Samsung 970 EVO. The OWC Aura Pro X2 is a compatible SSD, however your Mac Mini must be on macOS Mojave or High Sierra and the SSD formatted as APFS.

1.You have bought a new SSD

When you get a new SSD, you need to format it in most cases. The reason for SSD format that the SSD drive can be used on a variety of platforms. These platforms may employ different file systems (NTFS, HFS+, Ext3, or Ext4). You will need to partition and format the drive so that it can be mounted as a usable storage volume on your system.

2.You want to install Windows 10/8/7 on the SSD

If you want to clean install OS on an SSD, you need to format the SSD. If you want to keep your original OS, programs, and data on your system drive, you can use third-party software to migrate OS to SSD without losing data.

3.You want to sell your SSD

If you want to sell or donate the SSD, you need to erase your personal data. Then, formatting the SSD is a nice choice. Also, you can permanently erase the data on the SSD if you are sure that you don't want to keep the data on the SSD.

What to Do Before You Format SSD for Windows 10/8/7

To format a drive (HDD, HDD, USB flash drive, etc.) means preparing the chosen partition on the drive to be used by an operating system by deleting all of the data and setting up a file system. Before you start formatting an SSD, you should do the following things first:

1.Back up wanted data

Formatting only clears data on the address tables, and data finally disappears once you write new data to the marked space. That is to say, you can recover data with data recovery software if the SSD data is not overwritten. Compared with the recovery method, a regular hard drive backup is easier. Make sure you have backed up wanted files from the drive you are going to format at the very beginning.

2. Enable TRIM to maintain SSD performance

TRIM is an Advanced Technology Attachment command that enables the computer operating system to tell the SSD to erase data blocks when they are no longer in use. If your computer's operating system offers TRIM support, when enabled, your computer will automatically ensure that data saved to your SSD is managed correctly.

Also read:How to Enable/Disable TRIM on SSD in Windows 10

Part 1. How to Format SSD in Windows 10/8/7 (3 Ways)

It is easy to format an SSD. If your SSD is a new one you need to initialize the SSD and create a new partition on it before you can format it. Here are three effective methods to help you format an SSD.

Method 1. Format SSD in Windows 10/8/7 with EaseUS Partition software (Easiest)

Users have to partition SSD drive in Windows 10 in different situations. And this job can be difficult or easy, depending on whether you have a reliable partition software. So what program you can trust? Here we recommend you EaseUS Partition Master.

The program is a professional SSD format tool that is designed to format, resize, copy, convert disk partition. It allows you to format SSD into various formats including NTFS quickly and safely. And then you can successfully install Windows 10 on the NTFS formatted SSD drive. You can watch the video to format your SSD easily and quickly.

You can also learn the detailed guide for how to format SSD with Windows on it:

Step 1: Run EaseUS Partition Master, right-click the hard drive partition you intend to format and choose 'Format'.

Step 2: In the new window, set the Partition label, File system (NTFS/FAT32/EXT2/EXT3), and Cluster size for the partition to be formatted, then click 'OK'.

Step 3: Then you will see a warning window, click 'OK' in it to continue.

Step 4: Click the 'Execute Operation' button in the top-left corner to review the changes, then click 'Apply' to start formatting the partition on your hard drive.

Method 2. Format SSD with Disk Management

In Windows, formatting a partition is usually done from the Disk Management tool. It can perform some simple disk and partition operations like creating a partition, deleting a partition, formatting, extending or shrinking a partition. You can format SSD with this built-in tool with simple steps:

Step 1. At the start, search for 'Disk Management' and press 'Enter'.

Step 2. Choose the SSD partition you want to format. Right-click it and select 'Format'.

Step 3. Select the file system and set the cluster size. Place a checkmark next to 'Perform a quick format'. Click 'OK' to format the drive.

Formatting an SSD is slightly different from formatting an HDD. SSDs use different technology, so the formatting function is different. That's why it is important to make sure that Quick Format is checked before formatting an SSD. If unchecked, your computer will carry out a Full Format, which would cause your computer to perform a full read/write cycle, which can shorten the life of an SSD.

Method 3. Format SSD Using CMD in Windows 10

If you would rather use a command line to format the drive, Command Prompt would be the first choice. It is an amazing tool that can manage disks by typing relative command lines. You can solve all kinds of Windows issues through this tool like creating, deleting or formatting a partition. you can Perform CHKDSK to check and repair hard drive issues. And here, you can see how to format SSD using CMD step by step.

Step 1. Type cmd in the search box. Right-click on Command Prompt and choose 'Run as administrator'.

Step 2. On the Command Prompt black window, type diskpart and press 'Enter'. Then, type the following command lines in order. Press 'enter' every time you enter the command:

list disk select disk X clean create partition primary format fs=ntfs quick assign

• X is the partition number of your SSD drive
• Typing assign to assign a drive letter to the newly created partition.

Further reading: How to format SSD from BIOS

Many users may ask how to format SSD from BIOS, the clear answer is you can't format SSD from BIOS. If you can't perform formatting SSD in Windows, you can use EaseUS Partition Master to create a bootable USB flash drive, CD or DVD, change the BIOS setting, then run a third-party SSD format tool.

Here is a depth guide to create winpe bootable disk.

Part 2. How to Format SSD on a Mac Device

What if you are using a Mac and you want to format your SSD? How to make it? It's also a piece of cake to format SSD on Mac. The only difference is the file system. Mac drives usually come formatted in FAT32, which will work on both Macs and PCs. Mac can't write files to volumes with NTFS format. The easiest way is to format the SSD using Mac Disk utility. Before you start formatting the SSD on a Mac device, back up important files. Save any important files on your computer to a USB flash drive or external storage drive. Then, you can read on and format your SSD:

Step 1. Verify the SSD or connect your SSD to the Mac with a USB cable.

Step 2. Open 'Go > Utilities > Applications > Utilities'. Locate and click on your SSD in Disk Utility and then click on 'Erase'. Change the 'Volume Format' drop menu to the 'Mac OS Extended (Journaled)' option.

Step 3. Reset the drive name and click 'Erase', confirm the operation on the next pop-up window.

Wait for the process to complete and then you'll get a compatible file system.

Conclusion

According to the solutions above, you can format your SSD easily. If you are a Windows user, you can directly go to Part 1 to format your SSD with easy steps. If you are a Mac user, you can also format your SSD with detailed steps in Part 2. If you have other problems about how to format SSD, you can always ask us for help.

(Note: while some portions of this user tip can be used when installing a new hard drive in your MacBook Pro, it is intended only for those upgrading to a SSD.)

There are, with most MacBook Pros (exclusive of the Retina display models) only two modifications that you can make without voiding your Apple warranty or AppleCare extended warranty – upgrading the RAM and upgrading the drive in the hard drive bay. If you've already upgraded your RAM and simply want more speed, you may want to consider upgrading your old hard drive with a SSD (Solid State Drive). Many people come to the MacBook Pro forum asking about SSD upgrades, so this user tip is applicable to those, primarily, who have already made the decision to upgrade. Note that I only recommend using a SSD in 2009 and later MacBook Pros with a 3.0Gbps to 6.0Gbps interface speed – and I recommend buying a 6.0Gbps SSD regardless of the fact that models with a SATA II interface won't be able to use the full-negotiated speed of 6.0Gbps. Why? Because you may want to upgrade your Mac sometime in the future… although you'd likely be upgrading to a Retina model these days. But you may still want to use the SSD in an enclosure or in another machine.

Before you buy…

Before you purchase a SSD, there are a few questions that you need to ask:

What capacity do you need?

It's just my opinion, but the bigger the better. Now you may want to install a 120-128GB SSD and simply use it as a boot device and as a place to store your most frequently used applications. This is certainly the least expensive approach. But most people will want to store much more than that on an internal drive save, perhaps, for large iTunes libraries and large photo/movie libraries. There are numerous advantages to a larger drive, however. If you do photo or video editing, the SSD makes a super-fast scratch/working drive for individual projects. You can always store your hefty data on an external drive, of course, but for working projects I recommend using your fast internal SSD. Currently, SSDs come in basically three usable sizes: 120-128GB, 240-256GB and 480-512GB. But Crucial is now shipping a 960GB M500 drive that sells for under $600. So decide, first, how much storage you can actually utilize before making any buying decisions. And Samsung now has a 1 Terabyte EVO drive - priced at about $800+ but which can be found for under $650. Decisions, decisions! See here for an excellent review of the Samsung 840 EVO 1TB drive. Crucial also has two high-capacity SSDs - the older 960GB M500 and the recently released 1 Terabyte M550, which sports faster speeds than the M500 series but is still available at a reasonable price. I would recommend any of these three drives, now, for those wanting the higher capacity. See a review of the M550 series here.

Which drive should I buy?

Unfortunately, there are no Consumer Reports articles out for SSDs on MacBook Pros. There is, however, a very good 'information and buyers guide' website - Sean's SSD Buyer's Guide and Information Thread. It's chock-full of information about how SSDs work, what technology individual manufacturers employ, and includes not only a ‘buyer's guide' but an almost endless thread containing users experiences. Beware, though, as it is primarily geared towards Windows users. Still, that shouldn't stop you from reading much of the information there. One thing that I always look for in an SSD, too, is the 'Mac-friendliness' of the drive – e.g., can the firmware be upgraded using a Mac or must it be upgraded on a Windows machine? Unfortunately, the majority of SSDs fall in the latter category. That, alone, may not be a showstopper for you in determining which brand of SSD to purchase, but it should at least give you pause.

Getting everything in place…

Before you begin your MacBook Pro surgery, here is a checklist of things you should have on hand:

• SSD of choice
• Enclosure for external drive (can be found at Amazon or OWC, prices range from $8-20, usually, for a USB 2.0 kit will all cables)
• Toolkit that includes a Phillips #00 screwdriver, a Torx T6 screwdriver, and, possibly, a spudger – I recommend this kit - http://eshop.macsales.com/item/NewerTech/TOOLKIT11/ - from OWC
• Carbon Copy Cloner (we'll get into how to use this in a moment)

Start the process…

There are two ways to go about getting the data from your old drive to your SSD. The first is to install the SSD into your enclosure and make your clone before installing the SSD. The second is simply to install the SSD into your hard drive bay and your old hard drive into your enclosure and boot from the enclosure. No one way is better than the other. We'll examine both ways here:

Install the SSD into your USB enclosure and plug it up. Use Disk Utility (Applications>Utilities folder) to format the SSD, erasing it and formatting as 'Mac OS Extended (Journaled)' with a single GUID partition. Then use Carbon Copy Cloner to clone your hard drive to the SSD. If you are running Lion or Mountain Lion, choose the option to copy the Recovery Partition to the SSD. After the clone is complete, restart your computer whilst holding down the option key and select the SSD as the boot drive. You'll know in a few seconds if your clone was successful.

Alternately, you can just go ahead and install your SSD into your MacBook Pro (endless number of DIY videos online – see OWC's Installation Videos - http://eshop.macsales.com/installvideos/) and put your hard drive into the USB enclosure and boot from it. Then just boot from the enclosed drive and use Disk Utility to format the SSD and clone the contents of your hard drive onto your SSD as noted above.

Either method should work just fine. Be sure to visit the OWC video installation page, or the numerous videos on YouTube, about installing the drive into your MacBook Pro.

You're almost finished…

Now that you have your cloned SSD in your hard drive bay, you should be able to hold down the option key and boot from the SSD. The first thing you'll want to do is to go to System Preferences>Startup Disk and select your new SSD as your startup drive.

I would also recommend using Trim Enabler to enable TRIM on your new SSD. Not sure what TRIM does? See this Wikipedia article - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRIM. Note that with every .1 upgrade to OS X you will have to enable TRIM once again. I just make it a habit when I update my system. Some may ask of TRIM is necessary these days since most SSDs use proprietary garbage collection. I can only say that I still enable TRIM just in case... and Apple's SSDs utilize TRIM as well.

Format External Ssd For Mac

Up and running…

You should be up and running now, enjoying the many benefits of a SSD – particularly speed. You shouldn't have any problems if you've followed these instructions.

The only problem that some people have run into, in my experience, has been with a faulty SATA cable (affecting 2009 models more than any other). If you're having problems such a ‘beachballing,' slow speeds, etc., look at replacing your SATA cable first – it's the most likely culprit. You'll also want to make certain that you stay up to date with SSD firmware updates – these cannot only eliminate ‘bugs' in the firmware, but may also make your SSD operate more efficiently.

Retina model?

Formatting Ssd For Mac And Windows

The newest MacBook Pros, of course - the Retina models - already come with a SSD installed. Until recently, though, you really couldn't upgrade your flash storage. Now, on certain models, you can upgrade the flash storage (although you'll void your warranty if you crack the case, so buyer beware). Both Other World Computing and Transcend produce flash storage modules so that you can upgrade your storage to up to 1 terabyte. Note that both the OWC and the Transcend modules will only work with 'older' Retina models or MacBook Pro Airs - not the newer models that have a PCIe interface. Still, having these options available is more than you could have hoped for previously. Will there ever be PCIe based flash storage available? Only time will tell. Not much else to say about Retina models.

Final note…

I do not recommend placing your SSD into the optical bay of your MacBook Pro – your start-up drive is meant to be in the hard drive bay and that's where you want to install your SSD. Installing another SSD or a hard drive into your optical bay is beyond the scope of this user tip. And also note that this tip covers only one method – my preferred method – for getting your data to your SSD.