You can make a difference in the Apple Support Community!

When you sign up with your Apple Account, you can provide valuable feedback to other community members by upvoting helpful replies and User Tips.

Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

User profile for user: EmilieBaker
EmilieBaker Author
User level: Level 1
4 points

External Hard Drive

I bought an external hard drive in the hopes of just storing certain large files on it. I work with big data and want to be able to keep only certain files on said hard drive. However the only option I have is to use TimeMachine on it and I DO NOT WANT TO USE TIME MACHINE. I just want to have certain files stored not my whole hard drive. Whats the point of having extra storage if I have to back up the whole computer. Is this case for all external hard drives? Can I reformat the one that I have? (WD easy store)


Please do not suggest a USB. These files are incredibly large.


Thank you in advance.

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 11.1

Posted on Mar 1, 2021 3:59 PM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply
User profile for user: HWTech
HWTech
User level: Level 9
60,506 points

Posted on Mar 1, 2021 6:10 PM

You can use Disk Utility to erase the whole physical external drive. If you are using it as a data drive, then erase it as GUID partition and MacOS Extended (Journaled). Unfortunately later versions of macOS (10.13+) has Disk Utility hiding the physical drives from view by default so you need to click on "View" within Disk Utility and select "Show All Devices" so that the physical drives appears on the left pane of Disk Utility. You also need use physically different drives for storing data and backups.


If the data you store on this external data drive is unique and important, then make sure you have a backup of your external media as well as your main computer.

View in context

Similar questions

1 reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply
User profile for user: HWTech
HWTech
User level: Level 9
60,506 points

Mar 1, 2021 6:10 PM in response to EmilieBaker

You can use Disk Utility to erase the whole physical external drive. If you are using it as a data drive, then erase it as GUID partition and MacOS Extended (Journaled). Unfortunately later versions of macOS (10.13+) has Disk Utility hiding the physical drives from view by default so you need to click on "View" within Disk Utility and select "Show All Devices" so that the physical drives appears on the left pane of Disk Utility. You also need use physically different drives for storing data and backups.


If the data you store on this external data drive is unique and important, then make sure you have a backup of your external media as well as your main computer.

Reply

External Hard Drive

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.
Learn more Sign up