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How to Set Up a Seagate External Hard Drive on macOS Monterey

iBoysoft author Connie Yang
Written by Connie Yang
Professional tech editor
Approved by Jessica Shee

The video demonstrates how to set up an external hard drive on a Mac using Disk Utility to ensure compatibility and proper functionality for backing up files. It advises avoiding pre-installed software and illustrates configuring the drive to appear on the desktop for easy access.

 

Set Up a Seagate External Hard Drive on macOS Monterey Timestamped

1. 00:00 ๐Ÿ”Œ Install external hard drive to Mac, avoid pre-installed software, open Finder preferences to adjust sidebar, and see Seagate external drive icons.

1.1 Install your external hard drive or SSD to your Mac using the utility and avoid pre-installed software to back up your files, as all external hard drives and SSDs are compatible with Mac and can be made to work easily.

1.2 Open Finder, select preferences, and adjust the sidebar to see Seagate external hard drive icons on Mac.

2. 01:37 ๐Ÿ” Set up Seagate external hard drive on Mac by enabling "external disks" in Finder preferences and using Disk Utility to erase and set it up for Mac and PC compatibility.

 Note: If your Seagate external hard drive is NTFS-formatted and you want to use it on Mac without formatting, try to use an NTFS driver like iBoysoft NTFS for Mac to automatically mount the disk in full read-write mode on Mac.

2.1 Make sure to have a checkmark next to "external disks" in Finder preferences to ensure the Seagate external hard drive shows up on the desktop as an icon.

2.2 Search for Disk Utility on your Mac, erase and delete everything from the external hard drive, and set it up to work properly with your Mac and PC.

3. 03:32 ๐Ÿ” Select "Show All Devices", rename and erase the Seagate external hard drive, and choose APFS, partition map, and security option before setting up on Mac.

3.1 Select "Show All Devices" to see everything, avoid touching anything labeled "internal", and focus on the external devices.

3.2 Rename the Seagate external hard drive and erase everything from it before setting it up on a Mac.

3.3 Choose APFS for the external SSD, rename it, select a simple partition map, and choose a security option based on your needs before erasing the drive.

4. 06:10 ๐Ÿ“ Set up and use Seagate external hard drive on Mac by dragging and dropping files to free up space, transfer files from Mac to external hard drive, and remember to empty trash before ejecting.

4.1 You can read the Seagate external hard drive on Windows with programs, but it's best to use it for Mac, and it should show up in Finder as "backup".

4.2 The video demonstrates how to set up and use a Seagate external hard drive on a Mac by simply dragging and dropping files to free up space on the computer.

4.3 Transfer files from Mac to external hard drive, remember to empty trash before ejecting, and for an external hard drive, go to erase and choose the format option.

5. 09:23 ๐Ÿ”Œ Choose Mac OS Extended (Journaled) for Time Machine or copy/paste files for Mac, or exFAT for Mac/PC compatibility, consider partitioning for Time Machine backups.

5.1 Choose Mac OS Extended (Journaled) for Time Machine, or just copy and paste files for use on Mac, without worrying about compatibility with PCs.

5.2 Choose the exFAT option if you want the external hard drive to work with both Mac and PC and consider partitioning the drive if you want to use Time Machine for backups.

6. 11:17 ๐Ÿ”Œ Erase and partition Seagate external hard drive on Mac, format into three parts for specific uses, and use APFS for SSD and journaled for external hard drives.

6.1 Erase and partition the Seagate external hard drive on Mac, ensuring it is journaled to avoid errors.

6.2 Partitioning an external hard drive allows you to divide it into parts for specific uses, and you can adjust the size of each part by moving the circles around.

6.3 Set up the Seagate external hard drive on Mac by formatting it into three parts - one for Time Machine, one for Windows compatibility, and one for Mac backup, with the recommendation to use APFS for SSD and journaled for external hard drives.

7. 14:20 ๐Ÿ”Œ Partition Seagate external hard drive on Mac for time machine, Mac backup, and Windows file transfer, and enable time machine in system preferences for setup.

7.1 Set up Seagate external hard drive on Mac by partitioning it into three parts for Time Machine, Mac backup, and Windows file transfer, allowing for efficient storage and organization.

7.2 Set up the Seagate external hard drive on your Mac by accessing system preferences and enabling Time Machine.

8. 16:45 ๐Ÿ”’ Set up Seagate external hard drive on Mac by adding it and accessing the Time Machine menu bar to perform automatic backups.

8.1 Select a new disk, choose from available disks, click on "use disk", prepare time machine, and enable "Show time machine in menu bar" and "make backups automatically".

8.2 Set up Time Machine on your external hard drive to automatically back up all your files and have a constant backup of your Mac in case it crashes.

8.3 Set up the Seagate external hard drive on Mac by adding it and accessing the Time Machine menu bar to perform backups.

8.4 Click on the external hard drive and let it run throughout the night to back up files, and think of it as a big USB drive to avoid problems with pre-built software.

Set Up a Seagate External Hard Drive on macOS Monterey Video Summary

๐Ÿ’พ "All XR hard drives and SSD are actually compatible with Mac and we can make them work really easy."

๐Ÿ–ฅ๏ธ The Disk Utility is where the magic takes place in setting up the Seagate external hard drive on a Mac.

๐Ÿ’ป The most simple way to use an external hard drive on a Mac is to drag and drop your files, making it easy to free up space on your computer.

๐Ÿ”ฎ Mac OS extended journaled is really good if you want Time Machine Plus, but if you just want to use it the way we just used it, you can just copy and paste stuff to it.

๐Ÿ“ The ability to divide an 18-terabyte external hard drive into multiple parts provides flexibility in allocating space for different purposes.

๐Ÿ’ป The decision to allocate different sizes to the partitions reflects the specific purposes of each, such as using one for time machine backups and another for transferring files between Mac and PC.

๐Ÿ”„ It's important to have the "Show Time Machine in the menu bar" and "Make backups automatically" options checked for a seamless and efficient backup process.

๐Ÿ–ฅ๏ธ Setting up Time Machine ensures a constant backup of your Mac, including software, background, layout, and file organization.

A

First, you need to ensure that the Seagate external drive is connected to your Mac well. You can reconnect it to another port on your Mac or the USB hub, change a USB cable, disconnect other accessories from your Mac or the USB hub. Then, go to Disk Utility to check if the external disk shows up there, if not, it probably has hardware issues that need to be sent to a repair center.

A

If the file system of your Seagate external hard drive is exFAT, FAT32, APFS, or HFS+, you don't need to formatting it as macOS supports these file systems. If it is NTFS formatted, you can use a NTFS driver like iBoysoft NTFS for Mac to enable the NTFS Seagate external hard drive to be writable on Mac without formatting.

A

Ensure your Seagate external hard drive is connected to and mounted on your Mac.
Go to Disk Utility, select the Seagate external disk and click Erase.
Enter a name for the drive, choose a format, and select a partition scheme.
Click Erase.