Choose either 'NTFS' or 'exFAT' for your file system. Right-click on the space representing your external hard drive, then select 'Format.'. Disk Management shows a list of all connected drives, including your internal hard drive.
Connect your external drive to Windows and open up the Disk Management tool. Some people find that it is best to format the drive with FAT32 because it allows for more possibilities and compatibility. Only under specific circumstances should you consider formatting an external hard drive with another format. NTFS is the default file format for all modern versions of Windows. What is the best format for an external hard drive? Make sure that it is the correct hard drive! 3. Choose the hard drive that you want to format or reformat. Open Disk Utility by clicking Finder -> Applications -> Utilities and finally click Disk Utility.
