To do so, start up your Mac from another disk or boot it in Recovery Mode. Keep in mind that you cannot erase the device that contains your startup volume. Erasing a volume deletes all the files on that volume, but does not affect other volumes.ģ) Click the Erase button in the toolbar at the top of the Disk Utility window. Erasing a disk deletes all its volumes and files. Is there any important difference between erasing a disk and erasing a volume that you should be aware of? Yes, there is. If you want to erase the entire disk along with any partitions on it, be sure to select your storage device in Disk Utility’s sidebar, not one of its partitions. How to erase and format external disks on Macġ) Open Disk Utility from the Dock, Launchpad, Spotlight or the Applications/Utilities folder.Ģ) In the sidebar, select the disk or volume you wish to erase.ĭisk Utility lets you erase disks or volumes. We’ll educate you about the partition maps that macOS supports and detail other important options that are at your disposal within Disk Utility. In this step-by-step tutorial, you’ll learn how to erase and reformat external disks connected to your Mac using macOS’s Disk Utility. You can also adjust the partition format if you intend to share the disk with your Windows-toting friends, access it as an external disk on a Windows computer or use the disk with Windows on your Mac through Boot Camp. MacOS’s built-in app called Disk Utility lets you erase and reformat internal and externals disks with just a few clicks. Do you use one or more external disks with your Mac for storing videos, backups, installers, archived projects and other large files, which helps conserve storage space on your startup disk? If so, chances are you’ll need to erase your external disk at some point to wipe it clean, change its format and so forth.

Ios disk formatting utility