How to Format External Hard Drive and USB Drive under macOS 10.12 Sierra?

Do you know how to format or reformat an external hard drive / USB flash drive under macOS 10.12 Sierra? Actually, it is pretty simple. In this article, you will see two solutions to format external hard drive and USB drive under macOS 10.12 Sierra. But, please back up your important data before you format your external hard drive/USB flash drive under macOS 10.12 Sierra. The easiest way to back up your data is copy-pasting it to your Mac or a secondary hard disk drive.

Two Solutions to Format External Hard Drive and USB Drive under macOS 10.12 Sierra

There are two easy solutions to format your external hard drive or USB flash drive under macOS 10.12 Sierra. Both of the two solutions can easily format your external hard drive or USB drive under macOS 10.12 Sierra. However, they are not the same format solution and will bring different effects. So please read the following guide carefully before you choose one of them to help you format your external hard drive or USB drive under macOS 10.12 Sierra.

Solution 1: format external hard drive or USB drive with Disk Utility under macOS 10.12 Sierra.

Disk Utility is a built-in application in your macOS to help you manage your Mac disks and external hard disks on your Mac. When you connect your external hard drive or USB flash drive, it allows you to erase the external hard drive or USB flash drive and it will format your device when it is erasing your device. This solution is very easy. You just need to launch the Disk Utility and let it to erase your external hard drive or USB flash drive.

It will clean up your device and format it. But the formatted data can still be recovered by data recovery software even you use Disk Utility to erase/format your external hard drive or USB flash drive. If you only want to format your external hard drive/USB drive to regain full storage or remove virus-infected files, this is a good choice.

Solution 2: format external hard drive or USB drive with Mac data erasure software under macOS 10.12 Sierra.

Someday when we are going to resell, donate or throw away our external hard drive, USB drive, memory card, we should not only format the external hard drive/USB but also destroy and wipe all personal data on our device. Is there a solution to easily format and wipe external hard drive or USB flash drive under macOS 10.12 Sierra?

Yes! Mac data erasure software can help you achieve this goal. DoYourData Super Eraser for Mac is one of the most powerful data erasure software for Mac. It will help you easily format external hard drive and USB flash drive under macOS 10.12 Sierra meanwhile permanently destroy and wipe all data on your device. With certified technology, it can securely wipe all existing data and history data on your external hard drive, USB flash drive or other media.

And DoYourData Super Eraser for Mac is very easy to use. When you need to format external hard drive or USB drive under macOS 10.12 Sierra, you just need to install it on your Mac and connect your device with your Mac.

Select mode "Wipe Hard Drive" -> select the external hard drive or USB drive you want to format -> click on "Wipe Now" button.

Both of the solutions above can help you easily format external hard drive or USB flash drive under macOS 10.12 Sierra. Please choose the right one for you.