- Aug 20, 2018 We are happy to Assist you for your any kind of Mac’s problem like My Passport for Mac not showing up on Mac. Just sent me the text via Comment box. Just sent me the text via Comment box. Also Enjoy our next tips and tutorials by Join us on Facebook, Twitter or Google Plus, and YouTube.
- Aug 29, 2015 Now, from the left column select 1 TB WD My Passport (or whatever your hard drive name is), and click on the Erase tab. From here, in Format, select Mac OS Extended (Journaled).
Summary: Let’s figure out how to format your WD Passport on macOS & Windows. In this blog post, we will walk you through the formatting process and share instructions to format an external drive on macOS & Windows.
But before you proceed, understand that formatting carries a risk of hard drive corruption and data loss. So, in case, if you had accidentally lost your data due to drive formatting or corruption, we also recommend a data recovery software that can rescue data from your HDD. Take a free trial to evaluate the software now.
But before you proceed, understand that formatting carries a risk of hard drive corruption and data loss. So, in case, if you had accidentally lost your data due to drive formatting or corruption, we also recommend a data recovery software that can rescue data from your HDD. Take a free trial to evaluate the software now.
May 14, 2020 Incompatibility between macOS Mojave and WD My Passport external hard drive file systems might hinder the OS from detecting (displaying) the files. Therefore, you must: Connect your Western Digital My Passport storage drive to a compatible macOS version such as High Sierra, El Capitan, or other versions to view & manage the files. Every journey needs a passport. The My Passport™ for Mac drive is trusted, portable storage that perfectly complements your on-the-go lifestyle. Compatible with USB-C™ and USB-A, the My Passport for Mac drive comes equipped to connect with today's latest technology. With a new, stylish design that fits in the palm of your hand, there’s space to store, organize, and share all the.
Professional Photographers and videographers have their hands laid upon various digital devices. Usually, their arsenal includes a cutting-edge Windows 10 desktop, the latest and the magnificent MacBook Pro, DSLR & SD-Cards of-course and the trusted & loved external drives such as the WD My Passport. The role of the WD My Passport drive is crucial since the individual will leverage the portable media to safely store their collection of pictures, videos, audio, and docs. But despite the best of the best device specifications; there remains one small glitch to rectify.
We know, Macs and Windows have their native file systems such as the new APFS or HFS and the NTFS. A WD My Passport formatted with Mac file system will be a dud on the Windows and vice-versa. Thankfully, MS-DOS FAT32 and ex-FAT formats have survived to date, and these are the file system to make your WD My Passport work with a Mac and a Windows PC simultaneously. In the next 5 minutes read, you will master yourself in formatting a WD My Passport safely and in a manner best suited for sharing your digital files between a macOS and Windows OS.
To format a Western Digital My Passport external hard drive in ex-FAT or FAT32 format, you can bank on built-in applications of Mac & PC. However, while doing this, there are things you have to keep in mind and follow the correct steps. Here you will get to know about the process to format your “My passport” portable drive in FAT32 and ex-FAT file system in both Windows and Mac platforms.
In Windows Platform:
1. Connect your Western Digital My Passport hard drive to your Windows PC through the USB cable. Wait till the Windows detects the external hard drive and configure it as an expansion drive automatically.
2. Now, click the Start button and select ‘This PC’. A new Windows Explorer window opens, on the left side of the screen; you will see a list of installed drives and their drive letters.
3. Locate the icon assigned to Western Digital My Passport drive and Right-click the connected drive icon and click ‘Format’ in the pop-up menu.
4. Select the ‘File System’ from the drop-down list, which is available in the format expansion and choose either ‘ex-FAT’ or ‘FAT32’.
5. Enter a relevant name in the ‘Volume Label’ field. This name will represent your drive when you connect it with Windows Explorer or Mac and will be mentioned above the drive letter for the My Passport drive. Therefore, enter a descriptive name.
6. Now, again select a ‘Quick Format’ option, then click ‘Start’ option, wait for a few minutes to get your drive reformatted with the FAT32 file system, so that you can use it. After successful formatting, you can directly save or move files to it like any other external hard drive.
In macOS / OS X Platform
- Connect your Western Digital My Passport drive to Mac computer, and let the OS detect and mount the drive for use. Now, a new hard drive icon will appear on the desktop.
- On macOS Dock, select Finder. When the Finder window opens, on the menu bar, select ‘Go’ and then ‘Utilities.’ After that, you will be able to see /Applications/Utilities folder in Finder. From the Utilities folder window, select ‘Disk Utility’ application.
- When the Disk Utility opens, choose the Western Digital hard drive icon from the sidebar.
- Click ‘Erase’ on the Disk Utility file menu. Now, the Erase dialogue window appears, here select the ‘Volume Format’ drop-down list and choose ‘MS-DOS (FAT)’ or ex-FAT File System.’ Note: ex-FAT is a better choice for formatting WD My Passport on Mac.
- Now, click the ‘Erase,’ button and wait a few minutes and let the macOS erase data on the drive and reformat it by FAT32 or ex-FAT format.
- Once formatting is done, you can use the drive in macOS or OS X as a regular hard drive.
Window’s Disk Management and Mac’s Disk Utility applications are secure platforms to erase your WD My Passport easily. You don’t require any third-party software to format your WD My Passport with FAT or ex-FAT.
Caution: Avoid Formatting your WD My Passport without Backup
We can’t rule out the possibilities of human errors resulting in the accidental formatting of the WD My Passport external drive. A silly man-made mistake will permanently remove all of the contained pictures, videos, audio files, and docs instantly from the WD My Passport. Hence, fasten your seat-belts and backup your WD My Passport before erasing. If you have already joined the data loss club unwillingly, then try running D-I-Y applications to recover data from Mac and Windows.
Tips for Effective Formatting
- Format your Western Digital My Passport external hard drive to FAT32 or ex-FAT format so to transfer the data between a Mac and Windows system conveniently.
- There are specific third-party systems, like Digital Camcorders, and Sony PlayStation 3, which need the drives to be formatted in either FAT32 or ex-FAT format to perform read from and write operation. Check it before selecting a file format.
- Due to some limitations FAT32 format is not useful for every type of user, and also affects both Mac’s and PC’s performances. Therefore, it is better to choose ex-FAT instead.
- Ex-FAT supports maximum volume size up to 128 PiB, and its supported maximum file size is 128 PiB.
- Like FAT32, ex-FAT is not a very commonly used file system, due to which its support may vary among third-party devices.
- The corruption chances of the external drive increases, if it is used on both Mac and PC systems regularly. Therefore, it is better to take backup of your important photos and videos before sharing them between both the computers.
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Summary: This blog presents different methods to find and recover missing files from WD My Passport drive on macOS Mojave 10.14.
It also shares helpful tips to repair WD drive file system in case of corruption and outlines the built-in and 3rd party software utilities for data recovery from WD My Passport drive on macOS Mojave.
P.S. The methods will also work with macOS Catalina.
It also shares helpful tips to repair WD drive file system in case of corruption and outlines the built-in and 3rd party software utilities for data recovery from WD My Passport drive on macOS Mojave.
P.S. The methods will also work with macOS Catalina.
Figure 1: Mojave unable to find Files on WD External Drive
Common causes of Missing Files on WD My Passport (plugged into a macOS Mojave device):
1. Incompatible File System Format
2. Files Hidden from Finder
3. File System Corruption on WD My Passport
4. Data Recovery on WD External Drive
2. Files Hidden from Finder
3. File System Corruption on WD My Passport
4. Data Recovery on WD External Drive
1. Incompatible File System Format
Figure 2: ex-FAT not detected on macOS Mojave while detected on High Sierra
Incompatibility between macOS Mojave and WD My Passport external hard drive file systems might hinder the OS from detecting (displaying) the files. Therefore, you must:
Connect your Western Digital My Passport storage drive to a compatible macOS version such as High Sierra, El Capitan, or other versions to view & manage the files.
2. Files Hidden from Finder (Use Command Line to Reveal)
The files may be hidden from the WD external drive in case the Disk Utility shows used space. Use the following command line through Terminal.app to reveal these hidden files:
- Launch Terminal from the Utilities
- Type defaults write com.apple.Finder AppleShowAllFiles YES (as shown in the screenshot.)
Figure 3: Unhide Files on WD External Hard Drive with Terminal
- Press Return.
- Note: To hide the files again, use NO instead of YES in the above command line.
Terminal resolves the problem of hidden files, instantly; however, if you cannot find your missing files, then try out the next troubleshooting method.
3. File System Corruption on WD My Passport (Repair, Restore, or Recover)
The file system of your WD My Passport external storage drive may have turned corrupt due to improper ejection, partition/APFS container/volume error, or otherwise. Do not panic. Try the following troubleshooting methods:
a. File System Repair by Using Disk Utility
- Launch Disk Utility on macOS Mojave, click View, and select Show All Devices.
- Select your WD My Passport drive from the sidebar and click First Aid.
- Click Run. Finally, click Done.
Figure 4: Repair WD with Disk Utility
Disk Utility will verify and repair minor disk issues. Nlite for mac os x. However, if it still does not show the missing files from your WD My Passport drive, then try the next fix:
b. Restore by Using Clone, Image, or Backup of your WD
Restore the files lost from WD My Passport by using its clone, image, or individual files’ backup (if you have any).
In case the above troubleshooting method does not help, then try out the next fix to recover the missing files from WD My Passport.
My Passport For Mac Drivers
4. Recover Files by Using a Mac Data Recovery Software
- Download the data recovery app for free.
- Install and launch Stellar Data Recovery Professional software on your Mac. Connect your WD My Passport external drive on the Mac
- Specify the type of files you are interested to scan, select the location of your WD My Passport external drive, toggle on Deep Scan, and click Scan.
- Preview the recoverable files and select all the essential ones. Click Recover. Specify a storage location where you desire to save your files.
https://farmsintensive929.weebly.com/symantec-endpoint-protection-for-mac-high-sierra.html. Figure 7: Stellar Data Recovery Professional for Mac: Preview the Files before Recovery.
Conclusion
The blog presents different methods to find and recover missing files on WD My Passport Drive that’s being used on a macOS Mojave device. You can troubleshoot by connecting the drive to a compatible operating system, employing Terminal to unhide any hidden files, or using First Aid of Disk Utility to repair the WD. The best way to regain missing files is to use the backup of your WD drive.
Free download the utility to select, scan, and preview. Activate it to save your recoverable files.
In case you don’t have the data backup, then Mac data recovery software should be used to find recover the data. The software supports a wide range of external storage devices of different brands including WD My Passport. It is also compatible with macOS Catalina 10.15, Mojave 10.14.
How To Install Wd Passport
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