How To Format A Hard Drive in Windows or Macbook?

The main motive of this article is to help you know how to format a hard drive. But firstly, you should know a few things about what a hard drive is and why we need it. The hard drive is a hardware component that stores all of our digital content such as pictures, videos, music, documents, applications, programs, and operating systems. There are two types of hard drives, external and internal.

The hard drive is a chief component of a computer. Without the hard drive, the computer is not capable of saving any files, boot up the operating system (OS), and download games, files, videos, and so on.

Why There Is A Need To Format A Hard Drive?

So the question which arises now is that why anyone would need to format a hard drive? There may be ample reasons say, if you want to sell your computer or maybe give it away to someone, you will make sure that you remove your personal information. You might also be facing some issues with your device, and thus you would want to clean your device thoroughly.

Whatever may be the reasons, we will help you to learn how to format a hard drive in no time. Before we move forward, there are a few things that you should know. First, hard drives and hard disks both have the same meaning. Second, people use the terms format and delete interchangeably, which are different:

1. Delete

Deleting the data just moves it out of sight, into a folder, like recycle bin (on Microsoft) or Trash (on Mac). These files can be recovered if they exist still in that folder. These files will be permanently gone if we empty the Recycle Bin or the Trash.

2. Format

Based on our OS (operating system), we may have a few options available for formatting. Generally, a quick format will delete all the data stored on the hard drive, whereas a normal format will lead to the erasing of everything for good.

How To Format A Hard Drive on Windows?

Formatting a hard drive is pretty the same for Windows 10, 7, or 8. But it is a bit different if you are formatting the primary drive or a secondary drive or an external drive.

1. Formatting A Primary Drive On Windows

The primary drive or C drive consists of the OS (operating system). It means that you cannot format the primary drive while it is still running. Thus, for this, you will need to use a USB drive or an installation DVD. By doing it, the primary drive won’t be in use, and you will be able to work upon it.

(Note: Doing this will only delete all files and the Operating System, but it won’t erase them permanently).

*You can skip the next steps if you have your Windows 7 or Windows 10 startup DVD*

If you don’t have the Startup DVD then also it’s okay. You will now have to create a bootable USB drive for Windows. Also just make sure that you own an external USB. Now just download the software that you require.

Windows 7: Firstly, download the Windows 7 OS. After that, download the Windows 7 Download tool for USB/DVD.

Windows 10: Now, you have to download the Media Creation Tool for Windows 10.

You can follow these instructions to create the bootable drive, for both Windows 7 and Windows 10.

After you have one of the two things, i.e. Startup DVD or the USB drive, we can proceed with the following steps:

• Firstly, we have to insert the Windows 7 or Windows 10 startup DVD or make sure that the bootable USB gets plugged into your computer.
• Secondly, we have to reboot our PC.
• The startup app for Windows will launch automatically. If it doesn’t, then we will see a message saying press any key to boot. After this, a message will appear on the screen saying Windows is loading files.
• Now, the launch of the Windows setup wizard will take place. Now you have to select the language and the time which you want and after that click Next.

• Tap on Install Now and wait till the setup gets completed by Windows.
• Choose the version of windows which you desire and accept all the terms and conditions. When you come across the selection of Types of Installation, for Windows 10, please pick Custom: Install Windows only (advanced). For Windows 7, you have to select Custom (advanced) and then tap Drive options (advanced) for Windows 7.
• Once you move forward to the next screen, select Format. Now, you will get asked to choose the location for installing the Windows. Now select the primary drive (or C drive) and click Next.

• Once you move forward to the next screen, select Format. Now, you will get asked to choose the location for installing the Windows. Now select the primary drive (or C drive) and click Next.
• When you click Format, a warning will appear which will warn you about losing your data if you format that particular drive. Make sure that you select the primary drive (or C drive) and that you are okay with deleting the data completely. Click OK.
• There will appear a busy sign on the pointer during the formatting process, which will turn back into the arrow once this process is complete. 
• The formatting is complete, and your computer is devoid of an OS.
• Now you have to reboot your computer and download Windows OS from the USB drive or DVD.

2. Format Another External Or Internal Drives On Windows

The hard drive in Windows comprises of other drives such as drive E, D, F, etc. Apart from C drive (the primary drive). Hardware like USB drives and other storage devices comes under the category of external drives. It is far easier to format these drives as they don’t have an operating system. These are a few steps to follow on how to format internal and external hard drives:

• Open up your computer and press the Windows key and R key together to open the Run dialogue box. Now type diskmgmt.msc and then click OK.

• Now the window for Disk Management window will open up. Select the drive (internal or external) you want to format. You can rename the drives here if required.

• A box named Format will open up. Now a file system has to be chosen for your drive. You will now face a choice between a quick format or a normal format. A quick format does not wipe or erase the files from the drive completely. So if you are ready to delete all the files on your hard drive, then uncheck perform a quick format box and perform a normal format. It may take a few hours, but it will wipe away all the files for good. It will also scan and remove bad sectors and prevent any corrupted files in the future. Click OK when you are done.

How to Format A Hard Drive On A Mac?

It’s quite simple to format a hard drive on Mac. You just have to follow these steps:

• Firstly, open your computer and log in. Now open the Finder and then click on the Go drop-down menu and click on Utilities.

• Once Utilities opens, select Disk Utility. Now you have to choose the hard drive on which you want to perform the process of formatting.

• Now you just have to click on Erase to format the drive. A window asking you the number of times you want to overwrite the drive will open up. It will also allow you to select the file system. The more times you overwrite the hard drive, the more time it will take for the same, but it will wipe off your files more precisely.

(Note- The same steps get used to formatting other external drives and flash drives.)

Final Words

Congratulations! You have successfully formatted your hard drive. We have learned to format hard drives on Windows and Mac. We also learned a few facts about hard drives, our need to format them, and the difference between internal and external drives. So, in the end, we can say that it is quite easy to format these drives. 

Thank you so much for reading this article. You can let us know about your queries in the comment section. Stay tuned for more helpful articles.