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- #How to delete partition on mac external drives how to
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Before You Delete the Partitionĭeleting a partition is a straightforward process that cannot be undone. Because of this, they are unable to reclaim the storage allocated to the deleted partition. Some Mac users reported that their partition is still showing even after deleting via Disk Utility. All you need to do is erase the drive using Disk Utility, and the space taken up by the purged partition can be reallocated for other purposes.įor some reason, though, some partitions don’t go away completely even after they have been deleted. What happens when you don’t need a partition anymore? The practical thing to do is to delete it in order to claim back the storage space originally allocated for that partition. You can also use it to create bootable backups of your hard drive or to repair disk problems. Partitioning allows you to run two different operating systems on one computer, or two versions of the same operating system for comparison. Image Credit: Piotr Adamowicz/Shutterstock.There are many good reasons why you should partition your Macintosh hard drive.
#How to delete partition on mac external drives download
You can always just download them again if your drive fails. On the other hand, if they’re just videos and other types of data you could download again from the Internet, there’s no need to have multiple redundant copies. If the files are important, you’ll want to have redundant backups. Bear in mind that the drive may be slow if you’re reading and writing files while Time Machine is backing up to it.įiles you store on the external drive won’t be backed up by Time Machine, so bear that in mind. You can save files to the files partition, leaving the backups partition for Time Machine alone. These are the two partitions on the drive. Choose the Backups partition in Time Machine’s settings and Time Machine will back up to that specific partition only, not the entire drive.Įvery time you connect your drive to your computer, you’ll see two different volumes. If you wiped your drive or you’re setting up Time Machine from scratch, you’ll need to point it at that specific partition. If you resized an existing Time Machine partition, Time Machine should automatically keep using it for backups.
#How to delete partition on mac external drives how to
RELATED: How to Back Up Your Mac and Restore Files With Time Machine Warning: This process will wipe all the files on the drive! You’ll have to start using Time Machine from scratch, so you’ll lose any old backups and personal files that may be stored anywhere on the drive.
#How to delete partition on mac external drives mac os
Create two clearly labeled partitions, choosing Mac OS Extended (Case-sensitive) for the Time Machine partition and ExFAT for the file storage partition. Open the Partition tool for the drive, then delete any partitions that exist. If you’re setting up the drive from scratch, or don’t mind wiping your Time Machine backups and starting over from scratch, you can also do that. Press Command+Space, type Disk Utility, and press Enter to open it. You’ll need to use the Disk Utility built into your Mac to work with partitions.
#How to delete partition on mac external drives windows
You can also make the files partition an ExFAT partition, which means you can use it with Windows PCs and practically any other device you can connect an external drive to. This will ensure your Time Machine backups don’t grow too large, so you’ll always have room for your personal files. Use one for Time Machine backups and another for your personal files. The ideal way to do this is to create separate partitions on the external drive. RELATED: What's the Difference Between APFS, Mac OS Extended (HFS+), and ExFAT? A Better Option: Create Separate Partitions for Backups and Files Time Machine will also work toward filling up the entire drive, not leaving extra room for your files.
#How to delete partition on mac external drives free
Don’t place anything inside the Backups.backupdb folder-Time Machine automatically deletes files and folders inside there to free up space, so you may find your personal files deleted if put them there.īear in mind that Time Machine requires the drive be formatted with the Mac’s HFS+ file system, which means you won’t be able to easily access these files on Windows PCs or anything else that isn’t a Mac. Place personal files and folders outside the Backups.backupdb folder.