- Jul 30, 2014 Backup Plus Slim for Mac makes it easy to store and access 1TB of content on the go, and yes—it works with Windows computers too! Featuring a minimalist metal enclosure, this portable external hard drive is fast and easy to use. Simply plug in via the included USB 3.0 cable and back up files with a single click or schedule automatic daily.
- Jun 24, 2012 I just bought a new seagate portable drive for pc+mac. But, i set it up to mac only. I want to change it to mac+pc compatible. How to reformat seagate backup plus portable drive from mac only to mac+pc? I just bought a new seagate portable drive for pc+mac. But, i set it up to mac only. You can format as Mac OS Extended, but you will.
- Reformat Seagate Backup Plus Drive
- Format Seagate Backup Plus Slim For Mac And Pc
- Format Seagate Backup Plus For Both Mac And Pc
- Seagate Backup Plus Instructions
Note: Don’t save recovered files onto the same Seagate backup plus drive from where it is retrieved. Now, you have your data safely recovered from the Seagate backup plus drive. So, you can start fixing Seagate backup plus drive that is not detected on Mac. Part 2: Fix Seagate Backup Plus Drive that is Not Detected On Mac.
You’ve looked at buying a Seagate Backup Plus – Ultra Touch, Slim or Portable. But it says that it works with a Windows PC only.
You’re freaking out.
How can you make this portable external drive workwith your Mac?
The answer is yes. You can.
There are two ways:
- Use a software driver. And you can find out about it in my article here.
- Or Format your Seagate Backup Plus on your Mac.
And in this article I tell you all about it.
You can learn more about Seagate Backup Plus on this site by clicking on the picture above
How to Format your Seagate Backup Plus for Mac
Hold on!
Before you jump in and format your Seagate Backup Plus on your Mac or Macbook. Know that formatting deletes all the information on the drive.
If you have documents on the drive either from aWindows PC or from your Mac, copy them off first. Or you will lose them.
![Seagate Seagate](/uploads/1/3/4/0/134052147/316361221.jpg)
1. Turn on your Mac. Log yourself in.
Format a hard drive for mac. Then plug your USB cable into your Seagate Backup Plus first.
Whether you have an Ultra Touch, Slim or Portable your hard drive is powered by its USB cable.
This means that your Backup Plus takes its power from your iMac or MacBook.
And if you’re low on battery power then plug your Macinto external power.
Put the drive on a stable safe surface before you plugit into your Mac and power it up.
These aren’t rugged drives and it’s better not toknock or shake them while they are working.
All the Seagate Backup Plus drives except the Ultra Touch come with USB A plug connections for the end that goes into your Mac.
This is fine if you have 2015 or earlier iMac or MacBook. Later MacBook’s come with USB C (3.1) or Thunderbolt connections.
And if you have a USB C port on your Mac you’ll needan adaptor cable. This adaptor cables changes the USB A end to USB C.
They are easy to get on Amazon. And if you want to stick to the Apple brand then the Apple USB-C to USB Adapter (Commissions Earned) is the one to use. Follow the link to see it on Amazon.
The Seagate Backup Plus Ultra Touch comes with a USB-C adaptor plug. This means that you’ll be able to plug it into an earlier or later Mac and use the adaptor if you need too.
When you’ve connected your Seagate Backup Plus Slim, Ultra Touch or Portable. Its LED light should light and the drive starts up. Ultraviewer for mac.
2. Look for the Backup Plus external hard drive iconon your desktop.
![Seagate backup plus for mac Seagate backup plus for mac](/uploads/1/3/4/0/134052147/260122933.jpg)
Don’t see it?
Check your finder window preferences.
Open a new finder window. And then choose to see yourfinder window preferences.
Click the boxes to show ‘Hard Disks’ and ‘ExternalDisks’ on your desktop.
Then you’re Seagate Backup Plus will show up.
3. Open Disk Utility.
Disk Utility is the software on your Mac that willchange your Seagate Backup Plus’ drive format.
You can find Disk Utility by doing a spotlight search.
The spotlight search magnifying glass is at the top ofyour desktop screen. Click on it there.
Then type in Disk Utility.
Double click on Disk Utility
4. The left side of the Disk Utility window shows you all the drives you have connected to your Mac.
Both the Internal and External drives. Your Seagate Backup Plus drive is listed under the External Drives List.
If for some reason its not there take a look at my FAQquestions at the end of this article.
Reformat Seagate Backup Plus Drive
Click on your Seagate Backup Plus in the External drives list. The little arrow head to the left of your drive name will open up the different levels.
Take care to click at the top level.
The level the yellow arrow in the picture points at.
Format Seagate Backup Plus Slim For Mac And Pc
The formatting won’t work if you click on the drive atthe wrong level.
Your Disk Utility window not showing you the drivelevels?
Look to the top left of your Disk Utility pop upwindow. Click to open up the view options.
Then select to show all devices. That will show the drive and the volume.
5. Then take a look at the top of the Disk Utilitywindow and click on Erase.
Concerned about clicking on Erase?
Don’t worry. Erase is the Mac’s way of reformattingyour Seagate Backup Drive. Nothingactually happens until you fill in some information on the next screen.
6. The next window is where you set up how you wouldlike your Seagate Backup Plus formatted.
The first thing for you to do on this window is giveyour Seagate Backup Plus external drive a name.
It’s best to have a name that makes it easy for you tofind the Backup Plus on your desktop. Or a name that tells you what you’re usingthis hard drive for.
Once you have typed in the name. Next set the format.Click on the up, down arrows to pick a format.
You choose Mac OS Extended (Journaled) if you plan toonly use the Backup Plus on your Mac.
And you want to copy and paste your documents to theSeagate drive.
This is the format you choose when you want yourSeagate Backup Plus for Time Machine backups on your Mac.
If you’re planning to share the Seagate Backup Pluswith a Windows PC choose ExFAT.
ExFAT is the file system format both iMac or Macbookand a Windows PC can understand and use.
But Time Machine can’t use an ExFat formatted Seagate Backup Plus drive for backup.
7. Check the Scheme says GUID Partition Map.
And then Click on Erase to begin your Backup Plusformatting.
Formatting only takes a few minutes. You’ll besurprised how quickly it finishes.
Formatting takes a little longer on a larger SeagateBackup Plus drive.
When your Backup Plus drive formatting finishes youcan get rid of the Disk Utility window.
8. Your Seagate Backup Plus will be on your desktop.
As an external hard drive icon with the name you gave it.
Now you can use the drive. Want some pointers on how?
Have a look at my article all about how to use your Seagate Backup Plus at this link.
When You’re finished Formatting or Using Your SeagateBackup Plus
When you’re done with your Seagate drive be sure toeject the drive. Do this before unplugging your USB cable out from your Mac.
While you’re busy copying and pasting files to yourBackup Plus. Or just using the drive day to day your Mac keeps some informationfor your drive in memory. By ejectingyou tell your Mac to write anything it is holding in memory down to yourSeagate Backup Plus. Closing everything off nicely.
If you forget to do this you risk ruining theinformation on your drive.
You do this by right clicking on your Seagate BackupPlus on your desktop.
And choosing Eject from the Menu.
Wait till the drive icon has disappeared from yourdesktop. And the light stops flashing on your Backup Plus drive.
Then you can plug out your USB cable and put yourSeagate Backup Plus Drive away.
And now you’re done. You have found out how to formatyour Seagate Backup Plus in 8 easy steps.
Frequently Asked Questions
Format Seagate Backup Plus – Why Would You?
Seagate Technology sells a few portable hard drives with the Backup Plus name. The Seagate Backup Plus Slim and the Seagate Backup Plus Portable were sold with a HFS+ option.
HFS+ is the file system a Mac uses.
The Seagate Backup Plus Slim now come in an ExFAT format. You’d reformat if you wanted to use the drive for a Time Machine backup.
You’ll find that the Backup Plus Ultra Touch and Backup Plus Portable are NTFS formatted.
When you’ve an NTFS formatted Seagate Backup Plus. Andyou want to use it on your iMac or Macbook Pro without a special driver.
Or lift the restriction of ‘Read Only’. So you can write to this drive or update the files on there.
You use the format steps above to change a NTFS orExFAT Backup Plus to the format you want.
When do you Format Seagate Backup Plus for a Mac?
When your Seagate Backup Plus has an ExFAT or NTFS file system on it and you want to change to HFS+
When you want to wipe the Backup Plus drive clear ofeverything on it.
When you want to change an NTFS file system to ExFAT so that you can share your Backup Plus between a Mac and a PC. Having an ExFAT file system allows you swap your Backup Plus drive between a Mac and a Windows PC.
I Don’t Understand, What is NTFS Format on a SeagateBackup Plus
NTFS describes the Seagate Backup Plus portable’s layout. This layout is called a file system. And it’s how a Windows PC understands what’s written on and to the Backup Plus drive.
NTFS is a file system your Mac can read. You can copyfiles off your Backup Plus onto your Mac. But you can’t update any of the fileson the drive.
Your Mac sees a Seagate Backup Plus as read only.
And you can’t use a NTFS Backup Plus as a place tostore your Time Machine backups.
Luckily, you’re not stuck with that file systemforever.
You can change it. And formatting it is a way you canput on a file system your Mac can read and write to.
Help! My Seagate Backup Plus Doesn’t Appear on theDesktop or in Disk Utility.
There are a few answers to this. One of these will bethe issue.
1. You may have a problem with the USB software on the USB port you’re using on your Mac. Try plugging into another port.
2. The previous device you had on that USB port may not have ejected properly.
A restart of your Mac will reset the software driveron your Mac’s USB port.
3. You might have a broken USB cable. Try a USB cable you know works.
4. Put your Backup Plus on a Windows PC to see if you can see it there. It may respond to be being formatted on a Windows PC and then your Mac can see the drive.
5. You may be unlucky and have a corrupted Seagate Backup Plus drive.
How Do I Password Protect or Encrypt the Files on MySeagate Backup Plus
When you format your Seagate Backup Plus you canchoose to set up a password. You can do this as well as encrypting yourportable.
You do this by clicking on the Security option. It’s onthe Disk Utility window where you put in the settings for your formatting.
Watch Out!
You’ll find this software feature very secure on aMac.
Even the FBI has problems accessing Mac data that hasbeen secured.
If you lose your password you will have a sad face fora very long time.
Last Words
I hope you enjoyed my article How to Format SeagateBackup Plus for Mac Help! Don’t Freak Out.
And you stopped freaking out and you’refeeling nice and calm about it. So calm you’re going to do it on the SeagateBackup Plus you have. Go on I dare you.
In no time you’ll have your Seagate BackupPlus working on your own Mac.
Other Seagate Documents on the site you’llfind useful
Treat the 2 uses differently.
A) you do not need to use any drivers for the disk. You can format the disk for Mac use with the Applications -> Utilities -> Disk Utility.
B) to backup your Mac for the upgrade, format the drive as a Mac OS Extended (Journaled) disk drive. This will NOT be readable by Windows, but you can reformat for that task after you upgrade.
Use a Mac backup utility to copy your Mac's data to the external disk. Disk Utility -> Restore can be used to copy your entire system to the external disk, just specify the external disk as the destination for the Restore.
Or you can use SuperDuper (free for a full clone, you only pay if you want the incremental and scheduling features). I think there are older versions available for 10.5
Or Carbon Copy Cloner (free 1 month fully enabled demo). I think there are older versions available for 10.5
C) After you have performed your upgrade and your data is safe, you can choose to blow away the contents of the external disk and reformat it as a Windows exFAT drive that can be read by both Mac and Windows. NOTE: Some Mac file attributes may not transfer, but that would only matter if you were trying to use the exFAT formatted drive as a Mac backup device. But as a file transfer device or a device for storing documents, pictures, movies (data, not programs), then exFAT is OK for that.
Format Seagate Backup Plus For Both Mac And Pc
If you want to transfer data to Windows first, then just create the exFAT first, transfer your data, then reformat for Mac backup and upgrade.
Seagate Backup Plus Instructions
Drawing softwares for mac.
NOTE: you should be able to use file sharing between the Mac and the Windows system for transferring files.