

If the Security Options button is not available, Disk Utility cannot perform a secure erase on the storage device. EDIT: I have already had a couple of comments from old school Mac fans that mention Firewire drives, which require a. Now the drive doesnt have partitions anymore, its just an unallocated space. Yes you can reformat it to work on Windows. Although in principle, formatting means to erase existing data and free up space for utilization, the procedures are not the same for Mac and Windows. 1 Answer Sorted by: 4 Here are the steps I did to get it done : Launch a new Command Prompt (cmd) Type the command diskpart type list disk and note the number of the APFS formatted disk type select disk X where X is the number noted in step 3 type clean. Secure erase options are available only for some types of storage devices. How to Format a New or Second Hard Drive in Windows 10 Formatting a drive may vary in terms of different operating systems, like Windows and Mac. (Optional) If available, click Security Options, use the slider to choose how many times to write over the erased data, then click OK. Under Allocation unit size, choose Default. If the Scheme pop-up menu isn’t available, make sure you selected the storage device you want to erase-it’s at the top of the hierarchy.Ĭlick the Format pop-up menu, then choose a file system format. Ĭlick the Scheme pop-up menu, then choose GUID Partition Map. In the sidebar, select the storage device you want to erase, then click the Erase button. If you want to erase any other type of storage device: Double-click Disk Utility in the /Applications/Utilities folder. Note: If you want to get your Mac ready to trade in, sell, or give away, and your computer is a Mac with Apple silicon or an Intel-based Mac with an Apple T2 Security Chip, use Erase Assistant.
