If youve recently upgraded to a new imac or macbook pro, youre probably going to need an optical drive if you want to continue importing your movies and music to itunes, or just access the content on your discs. If you have a usb flash drive inserted in your mac, you can see it under the external in the disk utility. How to copy and paste files from macbook air to an. Transfer your data to your new macbook air apple support.
When you try to plug in the drive again, your mac no longer sees it. Experience the true speed of your mac with an owc ssd flash storage upgrade. How to open a flash drive on a macbook air computer quora. It plugs directly into pcs and macs with either a newer usbc port or usba, is roughly the size of a matchbox and being a flash storage device. How to check a macs free hard drive space macworld. This situation often occurs after you initially eject the external drive and unplug it from your computer. How to revitalize your old macbook air with a new ssd. Your flash drive should be listed in the left menu. Again, formatting a drive will erase it completely, so make sure you have everything backed up that you want to keep. Mar 19, 2020 if youre not sure which port to use with your external display, hard drive, camera, printer, iphone, ipad, or other device, the port shapes and symbols in this guide should help. Jun 20, 2019 hello friend, following is the method the finder application on macs which enables you to transfer files on and off your computer. If you want to create multiple partitions on your external hard drive in fact, you should for better file organization, heres a stepbystep guide.
How to transfer files from macbook air on apple community. How to boot a mac from an external drive or alternate. Luckily sandisk offers 256gb ultra dual usbc drive, which contains plenty of storage while allowing you to use a newer macbook without dongles. How to cope with just 128gb of ssd storage on your mac. Backup your mac with a portable or desktop hard drive.
It can be done so save you money and dont buy a dvd drive. How to troubleshoot issues with usb flash drives not showing up on a mac. How to start up your mac from a bootable cddvd, usb thumb. The simplest method of backing up files is simply to copy the files and folders to an external hard drive, a usb flash drive, a cd, or a dvd. Not with a flash drive, but with an external drive. This guide provides 2 ways to boot a mac from a usb flash drive. To format a drive on a mac, youll need the builtin disk utility application. Starting up your mac from an external disk requires the following. I do not want to erase my external hard drive as it has many many files on it from computers past.
Best external hard drives for macs in 2020 techradar. I had no issues taking files from my external hard drive and transferring them to my new macbook air. Typec flash drive iphone usb flash drive 128 gb high speed memory stick 3 in 1 thumb drive jump drive for android, samsung, iphone, macbook, pc and more devices gold 4. If you think youll need an external drive mostly for bluray discs, most of them will also play dvds and cds but are not readablewritable. Locate large hidden files on your mac with cleanmymac x. Lacie 2tb mobile drive external hard drive usbc usb 3. Format a usb drive as exfat for mac and windows compatibility. Gaming from an external drive on a macbook air macrumors forums. Usb drive 128gb memory stick thumb drive for iphone photo stick ios flash drive external drive sunswan compatible iphone ipad ios macbook and computer silver128gxy 4.
Macrumors attracts a broad audience of both consumers and professionals interested in the latest technologies and products. Apr 02, 2011 ive found the gaming performance of my new macbook air surprisingly strong, however, i dont have much hard drive space to waste on installing loads of games on the builtin flash drive, but i get the impression that the flash drive is a factor in the good performance of the games. Information about these and other types of mac ports is in the specifications for your mac. To format a flash drive on a mac, plug in the drive and open the applications folder, the utilities folder and then disk utility. How to move a mac photos library to external storage. Disk utility can be used to format external drives as well. How to connect your existing accessories to usbc on the. How to format or partition an external hard drive for mac. How to cope with just 128gb of ssd storage on your mac mini or macbook. Installing windows 7 with usb flash drive on macbook air. We will go over how to use a usb drive, thumb drive, flash drive. At first, it was strange because i assumed the transcend drive would be seen like my normal hard drive, but if you are waking from sleep there is a slight. Feb 02, 2015 recommend external enclosure for pcie flash storage from nmp.
This reduced power draw helps preserve the battery life of the mac you plug the drive into. Eject a storage device usb drive, flash drive, or other device on your mac, do one of the following. Open the disk utility app and highlight your external hard drive. A memory stick also known as flash drive or thumb drive is used to store data in a convenient, portable way. How to copy and paste files from macbook air to an external. How to install macos on an external drive macworld uk. Feb 08, 2020 now your external drive has been formatted to be fully compatible with apple macos, and you can edit, read, and write files to it as you want. Meanwhile, imacs, mac pros, mac minis, and the entrylevel macbook air all still. Jul 29, 2019 it helps if you know how to set your finder preferences. Feb 21, 2020 if your external hard drive, flash drive, or sd card, etc.
I just got a new mac and i cant see my external hard drive on my desktop like im used to seeing. How to open an external drive thats not showing on mac. Booting from an external storage allows you to start up your mac in another version or copy of os x, troubleshoot certain issues and more. If you are able to fix the hard drive or ssd in your mac or an external drive using. Its easy to move your files and settings from another mac or pc to your macbook air. If you want to use a different file system on your usb drive, youll need to format it.
Today we get to talk about starting your mac up from external storage like optical media or an external usbbased hard drive or flash storage. As we race ahead into the era of cloud storage, its worth keeping an eye on our friend the usb flash drive, which has by no means expired. Upgrade the ram and storage of nearly any apple computer at. How to transfer files from a mac desktop to an external. Hello friend, following is the method the finder application on macs which enables you to transfer files on and off your computer. Best external hard drive for macs, plus 256gb flash drives. Plus find out how to back up your entire icloud photos library. Heres what you need to know, along with our toprated applefriendly drives.
If your external hard drive, flash drive, or sd card, etc. Extra tips before buying external drive for macbook pro. Try using terminal to eject the disk, then shut down your mac, wait 2030 seconds and unplug the external drive from the mac, and power your mac back on. If you plan to use a flash drive with an iphone or ipad regularly, its worth buying a new mfi lightning flash drive that you can plug in directly. Reply to ungodly slow usb stick speeds i have a macbook pro early 2011 running high sierra version 10. In the finder sidebar, click the eject button next to the items name. Solving read only external drive problems on your mac. But if i attempt to copy a file to the drive on my mac, i get an icon telling me that i. And likewise, if you aim at a cheap and capacious drive, it cant possibly be small in size you get the idea. I have a usb drive that i purchased and use with various pcs at work and school. Otherwise, you can skip this step and do it from the utilities page during the macos or os x installation.
Most modern mac laptops except for the macbook air have a dvdr drive, which makes it easy to send up to 8. The best external hard drives for mac in 2020 pcmag. How to access an external drive thats not recognized on a mac. Jul 31, 2018 for example, if you install macos or microsoft windows on a usb drive, your mac can recognize that drive as a startup disk. Jan 14, 2019 want your drive to be very small and very capacious.
Save valuable space by moving your mac photos library to an external hard drive. Sep 14, 2015 today we get to talk about starting your mac up from external storage like optical media or an external usbbased hard drive or flash storage. If you have an old flash drive or one that was formatted to work with windows or another operating system, you can still format your flash drive to work on a mac. Back up to an external hard drive or usb flash drive if you use an external hard drive with your macbook, you can easily drag backup files to it from your internal hard drive. When you connect an external hard drive to your mac, it appears on the devices menu in finder. Lacie mobile drive 4tb external hard drive usbc usb 3. Mar 08, 2020 sometimes our macbooks, macbook pros, or macs dont recognize our external drives or external thumb drives. Choose apple menu about this mac, click support, then click specifications. Recommend external enclosure for pcie flash storage from nmp. External hard drives, thumb drives, usb drives, flash memory cards, and devices like ipod are examples of storage devices that you can connect to your mac. How to use seagate external hard drive on mac, 16 ways. Transferring data to or from these devices is quick and easy. Its a little large, but theres nothing like getting a free flash drive.
Volume format most manufacturers use the fat 32 or msdos fat volume format. Transfer the files from your mac to an external drive. Go to open disk utility, which is located under applications in the finder menu. If youre looking for as much space as you can get at a great value and reliability, the pny turbo 256gb usb 3. Storing my itunes library on an external flash drive in a. Best external hard drive for macs, plus 256gb usb flash drives because apple is so stingy with storage you get just 128gb in the entrylevel macbook air and macbook pro having a good external hard drive for macs is important for offloading your large video and photo files. If you use an external hard drive with your macbook, you can easily drag backup files to it from your internal hard drive. Semantically, the situation is identical to storing it on the flash drive. Find low everyday prices and buy online for delivery or instore pickup.
Connect your external drive to your mac and wait for the icon of the pluggedin drive. May 31, 2019 we will go over how to use a usb drive, thumb drive, flash drive, pendrive, etc, on a mac computer aka apple macintosh like a macbook pro, imac, mac mini, or mac pro. Why cant i see my external hard drive icon on my desktop. If your macbook is not mounting an external hard drive or flash drive, try plugging in the power cable to the macbook and reconnecting the drive. Drive speed is measured in revolutions per minute rpm, based on how fast the drive can spin. However, i cannot download the photos i just added from the macbook air to my external hard drive. You can transfer information to your macbook air from an old computeror from a time machine backup on a usb storage deviceeither wirelessly, or with an ethernet cable and adapters. Jan 31, 2020 luckily sandisk offers 256gb ultra dual usbc drive, which contains plenty of storage while allowing you to use a newer macbook without dongles. Lite storage expansion card for inch macbook air ts256gjdl. Jan 17, 2018 mac or macbook cant detect my external drive.
Use external storage devices with mac apple support. On the desktop, drag the item that you want to eject to the trash. The 8 best external hard drives and ssds for mac and pc users in. Follow through this page to get rid of this issue on your device without losing any data now. Modern macbooks, like the newer macbook air and the macbook pro. How to connect your existing accessories to usbc on the macbook pro and macbook air imore. The process of transferring files from your mac to an external drive is simple, but if you are not sure how to do it, then following these steps will get you through it. We also provide refurbished macs, external storage, docks, accessories, and more. In my case, once the macbook air project was finished and the system was running fine, i took the old ssd and slid it into. How to install macos or os x on a new hard drive for your mac. You can then double click any external drive that shows up on your desktop, in order to open it. Newer mac models with thunderbolt 3 usbc ports support these speeds.
Aug 24, 2019 its a little large, but theres nothing like getting a free flash drive. Because apple is so stingy with storage you get just 128gb in the entrylevel macbook air and macbook pro having a good external hard drive for macs is. Highlight your drive and click partition in disk utility. Apple mac upgrades ram, ssd flash, external drives and more.
Mac or macbook doesnt recognize external drives, troubleshooting tips sometimes our macbooks, macbook pros, or macs dont recognize our external drives or external thumb drives. If your mac doesnt work, you can do this using a second mac and an external hard drive caddy. For example, if you install macos or microsoft windows on a usb drive, your mac can recognize that drive as a startup disk. How to cope with just 128gb of ssd storage on your mac mini. Installing windows 10 on an external usb drive on a macbook. Which macbook pros can still be used to boot up an old os i.
Mac tips using a usb drive on a mac diy in 5 ep 99 youtube. This page covers two parts of effective solutions to resolve usb flash drive not showing up on mac issue. No one wants to box up an expensive external hard drive or even a usb flash drive to transport 4gb worth of photos to aunt martha. If youre formatting a drive for sharing with a pc, we recommend exfat. How to access an external drive on iphone or ipad simply mac. Lacie mobile drive 5tb external hard drive usbc usb 3. The macbook lineup only has thunderbolt 3 ports, meaning youll need usbc connectors in order to plug anything into your macbook pro. I am able to open the drive and can even copy files from the drive. Most flash media come preformatted as fat32 these days. Back up to an external hard drive or usb flash drive.
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