mac does not show portable external hard drive time machine

MAC DOES NOT SHOW PORTABLE EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE TIME MACHINE HOW TO
MAC DOES NOT SHOW PORTABLE EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE TIME MACHINE PC
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MAC DOES NOT SHOW PORTABLE EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE TIME MACHINE MAC

SSDs are often smaller and lighter than spinning external drives, as well, which is also thanks to the lack of moving parts. Each has its advantages and disadvantages, and-unlike the file system-the type you buy is the type you're stuck with for the life of the drive.Ī solid-state drive (SSD) offers quick access to your data because it stores your bits in a type of flash memory rather than on spinning platters. Once you've settled on a file system, you then have to determine which storage medium you want: solid-state or spinning disk. Some highly specialized external drives might not work with Macs even if they're formatted correctly, but consumers looking for extra space simply to store backups or large video collections aren't likely to encounter them.Įxternal Drives: SSDs vs. If you really fancy a consumer-oriented drive formatted for Windows (which will usually come pre-formatted in the NTFS format), you can use the Disk Utility in macOS to reformat it after you bring it home from the store. Of course, you can easily wipe and reformat most external drives, so you're not limited to buying only those intended for use with Macs.

MAC DOES NOT SHOW PORTABLE EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE TIME MACHINE HOW TO

We'll start with a breakdown of our favorite external drives for Macs, followed by a guide to how to shop for the best one for you.

MAC DOES NOT SHOW PORTABLE EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE TIME MACHINE MAC

Read on as we solve this and all of your other Mac external-storage quandaries. In fact, in many cases it makes sense to choose an inexpensive non-Thunderbolt drive that isn't targeted toward Mac use. So what's a Mac user to do who just wants to back up his or her files using Time Machine, or stash a large video collection? Spoiler: A Thunderbolt drive isn't your only option far from it. As a result, they are typically external SSDs, or even multidrive RAID arrays, which means they also tend to be expensive. The main difference is that many drives made specifically for Macs use the upgraded Thunderbolt data transfer protocol, which promises super-fast data transfers for photographers and video editors who need to store mountains of footage and access it very quickly. Most laptops with either operating system now come with at least one oval-shaped USB-C port, and it's the one you'll want to use for connecting your external drive.

How to Set Up Two-Factor Authenticationīuying an external hard drive or SSD for your Mac is not all that different from buying one for your Windows PC.

MAC DOES NOT SHOW PORTABLE EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE TIME MACHINE PC

How to Record the Screen on Your Windows PC or Mac.How to Convert YouTube Videos to MP3 Files.How to Save Money on Your Cell Phone Bill.

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How to Free Up Space on Your iPhone or iPad.

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All the more reason to keep your files on HFS+ drives and resort to the mediocre FAT format only as necessary. Again, keep in mind that your Windows-compatible partition cannot be backed up using Time Machine. You should also be able to partition your external drive as HFS+ and FAT, and back up the HFS+ partition. Your choice is to either reformat your FAT drives as HFS+ (using Disk Utility) or simply use another back up utility. That means FAT-formatted drives usable with Windows cannot be backed up.

The key to remember, though, is that the drives you want to back up MUST be formatted for the Mac. Then click the - button at the bottom of the window so those drives will be removed from the list of excluded locations (i.e. and select the drive(s) you want to back up. To repeat, here is the process: Go to System Preferences -> Time Machine -> Options. I want to do the exact same thing (back up both my internal HDD and a portable HDD to my external HDD), so the previous information was very helpful.

Mac does not show portable external hard drive time machine