3 Ways to Format Seagate External Hard Drive for Windows 11/Mac

Part 1. What File Systems Can You Choose for Seagate External Hard Drive Format?

Seagate external hard drives can be formatted with several file systems, each with different compatibility, file size limits and ideal use cases. Here's a comparison table of the most common file system formats:

Each file system serves different needs, so choose the best one for your OS and use case.

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Part 2. How to Backup Seagate Hard Drive Before Formatting to Avoid Data Loss

When working with a Seagate hard drive, you need to understand the difference between formatting and reformatting to avoid data loss.

• Formatting is the process of preparing a storage device for use by creating a new file system (e.g., NTFS, FAT32 or exFAT). It erases all data on the drive and structures it for future use.
• Reformatting means formatting a drive that has already been formatted. It's often used to fix disk errors, change file systems or refresh the drive for new use. Unlike a simple format, reformatting a drive can make data recovery harder if no backup is made beforehand.

Whether you're formatting or reformatting your Seagate hard drive, backing up your data is crucial to avoid permanent data loss. Cloning the disk is a way to back up your Seagate hard drive before formatting it.

Tip:

4DDiG Partition Manager has a disk clone feature that allows you to clone the entire disk and create a full backup of your Seagate hard drive before formatting. This way, you can restore your data if something goes wrong during the formatting process. With an intuitive interface and advanced cloning capabilities, this software ensures your data is safe throughout the process. To learn more details, please read: How to Backup Data Before Formatting External Hard Drive.

Part 3. How to Format Seagate External Hard Drive for Windows 11

Looking for a simple and easy way to format your Seagate external hard drive for Windows 11? Surprisingly, 4DDiG Partition Manager is the solution still. This powerful tool provides an intuitive interface to manage partitions, resize disk space, and format drives with ease. Whether your Seagate hard drive has file system issues or you need to set it up for Windows compatibility, 4DDiG Partition Manager makes it smooth with just a few clicks.

Key Features of 4DDiG Partition Manager

4DDiG Partition Manager has a robust set of features for disk and partition management:

• One-Click Formatting: Format external and internal drives.
• Multiple File System Support: Supports NTFS, FAT32, exFAT, and more.
• Disk Cloning: Clone disks or partitions for backup and migration.
• Partition Resizing & Merging: No data loss.
• Advanced Partition Management: Resize, merge, split or clone partitions.
• User-Friendly Interface: Simple and intuitive for both beginners and experts.

How to Format a Seagate External Hard Drive with 4DDiG Partition Manager

Follow these steps to format your Seagate external hard drive with 4DDiG Partition Manager:

• Download and install 4DDiG Partition Manager. Open the program and select "Partition Management" from the left-hand menu. Choose the Seagate external hard drive partition you want to format and click the "Format" option.

  

• Reset the volume label, file system, and cluster size, then click "OK". Then click "Yes" to proceed with formatting the partition.

  

• After formatting, preview the result. If satisfied, click "Execute 1 Task(s)" and then "OK" to begin.

  

• Let the program finish the formatting. Once formatting is complete, click "Done" to finish the process.

  

4DDiG Partition Manager makes formatting a Seagate external hard drive for Windows 11 easy.

Tip:

If you insert the Seagate External Hard Drive into the computer but failed to find it, please find solutions from this guide: [2025 Solved] Seagate External Hard Drive Light On But Not Detected.

Part 4. How to Format Seagate Hard Drive for Mac

If you're using a Seagate external hard drive with a Mac, you need to format it to ensure full compatibility. Macs use APFS or Mac OS Extended (Journaled) file system, while most Seagate drives come pre-formatted in NTFS which is for Windows. Here are two ways to format your Seagate hard drive for Mac:

Way 1: Format Seagate Hard Drive with Disk Utility

Disk Utility is a built-in macOS application that allows you to manage internal and external drives. It can format and partition drives, create disk images, repair errors and even set up a RAID for multiple drives. If you want to format your Seagate hard drive for Mac, follow these steps.

• Plug your Seagate external hard drive into your Mac.

• Go to Finder, then Applications, followed by Utilities, and open Disk Utility to launch the tool.

• In the top-left corner, click "View" and select "Show All Devices."

  

• Find and choose your Seagate external hard drive from the left sidebar, then click the "Erase" option.

• Set a name for the drive and select your preferred file format.

• Click the "Erase" button to start the formatting process.

  

• Wait for Disk Utility to finish formatting the drive. Once a checkmark appears, the process is complete.

Before you choose a format, decide if the drive will be used only with your Mac or with other devices. If it's only for your Mac, choose APFS (Apple File System). If you plan to use it across different platforms, choose exFAT or FAT32.

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Way 2: Format Seagate Hard Drive via Terminal

If you want to format your Seagate hard drive on a Mac, you can use Disk Utility, but another way is via Terminal. If you're comfortable with Terminal, this method is very convenient. If you're new to Mac or never used Terminal before, here's a quick explanation: Terminal is like the Command Prompt on Windows. You can type commands to control your computer, change settings, reset configurations and even format your hard drive.

Now, let's go through the steps to format your Seagate hard drive via Terminal:

• You can search for "Terminal" in Spotlight or Find it in Finder under Applications, then select Utilities.

• In the Terminal, enter the command and press Enter: diskutil list. This will show you a list of all connected drives.

• Identify your Seagate hard drive from the list. [Use the following command to format the drive: diskutil eraseDisk NTFS [YourDriveName] /dev/disk[X].

  • Replace "YourDriveName" with the name you want to give your drive.
  • Replace /dev/diskX with the correct disk identifier from the list.

• Once the process is complete, your Seagate hard drive will be formatted and ready to use.

  

You have now formatted your Seagate hard drive for Mac.

Part 5. How to Reformat Seagate External Hard Drive with Disk Management

If your Seagate external hard drive isn't working or you need to change the file system, reformatting it through Disk Management in Windows is an easy option. This method is useful if your drive isn't showing up properly, has an incompatible file system or is corrupted. Before formatting, backup your data, as this will erase all files on the drive.

• Right-click on the Start button and choose Disk Management from the menu.

• Find your Seagate external hard drive in the list of available disks.

• Right-click the drive and select Format.

  

• Choose a file system (NTFS, exFAT, etc.), rename the drive if desired and click OK.

  

Part 6. FAQ about Formatting Seagate External Hard Drive

If your external hard drive is not visible, check Disk Management (Windows) or Disk Utility (Mac). If detected, assign a drive letter (Windows) or erase and reformat it (Mac). Ensure drivers are updated and try different ports or cables if necessary.

Connect the drive to your Mac, open Disk Utility, select Seagate drive, click Erase and choose APFS (for macOS 10.13 or later) or Mac OS Extended (Journaled). Click Erase, then set it up in Time Machine Preferences.

If you can't format a Seagate external hard drive, try using Disk Management (Windows) or Disk Utility (Mac) to erase and reformat the drive. Make sure the drive is not write-protected, check for bad sectors using CHKDSK (Windows) or First Aid (Mac), and try formatting in a different file system.

Use APFS if your Mac runs macOS 10.13 or later. Use Mac OS Extended (Journaled) for older versions, as Time Machine requires a Mac-compatible format.

Connect the drive to the Xbox console, navigate to Settings, then System, then Storage. Select the Seagate drive and choose Format for Games & Apps. This will make the drive compatible with Xbox but will erase all existing data.

If your Seagate drive is formatted as NTFS (Windows format), install NTFS for Mac software (such as Paragon NTFS or Tuxera NTFS) to enable read and write access without reformatting. Alternatively, copy data elsewhere, then reformat to exFAT for cross-platform use.

Conclusion

Here are the 3 ways to Format a Seagate external hard drive for Windows 11 and Mac, which ensures smooth performance and compatibility after formatting. Whether using 4DDiG Partition Manager, Disk Utility, or Disk Management, the process is straightforward. We highly recommend using 4DDiG Partition Manager to simplify formatting, which offers powerful disk management tools and an easy-to-use interface with a hassle-free experience.