why partition an external hard drive for mac

#Why partition an external hard drive for mac how to#
#Why partition an external hard drive for mac software#

If you set it up correctly, you can safely store files on the same drive that houses your Time Machine backups. Now you can enjoy the use of some of that expansive storage found on your external drive. Once the partition is created, you’ll now have two disks show up in Finder-your original disk, which contains the Time Machine backups folder, and your new file storage disk for storing data on your external drive. Step 7: Click Apply to create the partition. Step 6: Give the partition a name to make it obvious that it’s for general purpose file storage. It’s usually recommended that you have 2-4 times the size of your Mac installation and all of its data. Ensure that you leave enough room for your Time Machine backups to grow. At last, hit the Partition button and that is done.

Next, confirm the size of the partition for running Windows OS. Then select a hard drive on your Mac for disk partition.

#Why partition an external hard drive for mac how to#

Click on Create or remove a Windows partition option and hit Continue button. How to partition an external hard drive for Mac and Windows For years, trying to partition hard drives was something that only the most technical Mac users could do. Step 5: Use the drag handle in between the partitions to resize them. Open Application > Utilities > Boot Camp Assistant. Step 4: Click the ‘+’ sign to add a partition. Choosing A File System For Your Partition 5. To Partition The External Hard Drive For Mac And Windows PC 4. Pick The External Hard Drive You're Going To Partition For Mac And Windows 3.

#Why partition an external hard drive for mac software#

You'll Be Using A Piece Of Software Called Disk Utility 2. Step 2: Open Disk Utility and select your external disk. Creating The Partition for Mac And Windows 1. This is the folder that contains your Time Machine backups. Step 1: Open Finder and verify the location of your Backups.backupdb folder. In Disk Management, right-click the partition on your hard drive, choose Shrink Volume. Press Windows + R key, input diskmgmt.msc and press Enter key.

Usually, you can partition your hard drive within Disk Management via these steps: Step 1. In this fourth entry into our Time Machine tutorial series, I’ll show you how simple it is to create a second partition on your Time Machine external drive. The first way: partition a hard drive with Disk Management. By doing this, you have a dedicated partition for file storage, and a dedicated partition for your Time Machine backups.Īlthough it’s possible to store files on your Time Machine partition, in my opinion, it’s a better practice to keep them separated. There are many ways to go about this, but one of the best ways is to simply create a separate partition on your external drive. But with external drives being as large as they are, you may wish to use some of the space on your Time Machine drive for basic file storage. Time Machine is extremely easy to use, and its flexibility makes it a great solution for keeping your Mac backed up safely.