If you’ve recently upgraded the hard drive in your PS4 and want to use it on your computer – you’ll find that the drive doesn’t appear in Windows Explorer.
![Format Format](https://www.disk-partition.com/articles/images/format-external-hard-drive-for-ps4-0310/format-external-hard-drive-for-ps4.jpg)
This is because the PS4 uses a format not recognised by Windows.
Formatting an External Hard Drive for PS4. The process of formatting the external hard drive for PS4 is very easy and can be done in a very few steps. You’ll only need a computer (desktop or laptop, doesn’t matter) then format it from there. We’ll explain this method using Microsoft Windows 8 operating system. Attach the external hard. I know to get an external drive to work with formatting on a Mac I had to change it from GUID to master boot record. You probably have to use disk utility and the partition tab to do so, but it should work. Master boot record may only work for partition under 2.2TB though-not quite sure-worth a try. This video will walk you through what you must do to properly format a hard drive so it can be installed into a PS4. If you need a USB to SATA plug-in click.
To make it work in Windows you’ll need to remove the existing partitions and create a new partition that is recognised by Windows.
![How to format external hard drive for ps4 on mac drive How to format external hard drive for ps4 on mac drive](/uploads/1/2/4/4/124436077/182275089.jpg)
These steps will show how using Windows 10, but will be similar for Windows 7 and 8. This process DOES NOT require you to install third-party software, a potential source of malware.
How To Format External Hard Drive For Ps4 On Mac Free
- Connect the PS4 hard drive to the computer (e.g. using a USB caddy or internal SATA cable)
- Right-click on the Windows start button and choose ‘Disk Management’
- All the drives connected to the computer will be listed in the lower half of the Disk Management window.
- It’s critically important that you select the right disk – if you do this to another disk you will loose data.
- You can use the size to tell if you have the right drive, as well as it having many partitions (15+)
- The first thing to do is to delete all the existing partitions – this is done by right-clicking on each of the blocks and choosing ‘Delete Volume’
- When prompted, click ‘Yes’ to confirm
- Repeat the process for all partitions until you see one large ‘Unallocated’ block
- Now right-click on the unallocated block and choose ‘New Simple Volume’
- The New Simple Volume Wizard will open. Keep clicking next to progress through, you can also choose a name for the drive under the ‘Volume label’.
- When the wizard is finished you will now have a new drive available in Windows Explorer for the old PS4 hard drive.
- You can now close the Disk Management window.
Internal Hard Drive For Ps4
Wanting to use it as a portable USB drive? Check out how to convert the drive to FAT32 for PS4 compatibility here: Format USB drives beyond FAT32 32GB limit – for PS4 and MAC OS