FAT32 was introduced in Windows 95 in 1997, but it remains useful because nearly every system can work with it.
Non-Linux computers can use five main file systems: NTFS, HFS+, APFS, exFAT, and FAT32. If you use a Mac, the likelihood that you’ll have to reformat the drive is higher. But if you buy a drive secondhand or if you plan to switch between operating systems, you may still need to reformat it for use on Windows.
If it has not appeared, your Macs USB port could be malfunctioning.If you buy an external drive-such as one of our recommended portable or desktop hard drives, portable solid-state drives, or USB 3.0 flash drives-you may need to reformat it to work with your operating system of choice, since different operating systems use different file systems to process data.Īlthough it’s true that any drive is compatible with both Windows and macOS once it’s formatted properly, most drives come preformatted for Windows out of the box. Make sure you tick the checkboxes Hard Disks and External Disks. Your WD My Passport drive will appear as a rectangular, yellow icon on your desktop (it looks just like the image below). The information youll find here touches on formatting and reformatting WDs My Passport for your Mac. Maybe the drive fell or a malfunctioning system corrupted it.Įither of these issues could lead to the drive malfunctioning or not showing up when you plug it into your Mac. So, your drive, even if its functioning properly, might not even be recognized.
So, if your Macs motherboard suffers software or hardware damage, almost nothing will work properly, and that includes your USB ports. So even if you plug it into your My Passport into your Mac, you wont see it.
So, you might have to update the WD My Passports drivers to at least meet the minimum requirements of the newly-installed macOS.Ĭomputers are susceptible to unexpected or unforeseen glitches and errors, so never rule this out as a possible cause.įor example, most anti-virus is notorious for identifying laptop games as a virus, even though they arent.
Their auto backup, password protection, and high reliability are second to none.īut the following factors may also contribute to WD not showing up. So always remember to check if the drive is formatted or not. That being said, situations arise when youll need to format or reformat the drive.Īnd to connect your NTFS-formatted My Passport to macOS, youll need to utilize a formatting tool. Formatting Western Digital My Passport Password Protection FeatureĬoupled with the WD Backup TM app and password protection feature, My Passport helps to keep your data safe. Were always using our phones and computers to send messages, host meetings, shop online, etc.
Windows users dont need to do much other than plug in the WD Passport to use it, but for Mac, its not as straightforward as that.īut dont fret, because this article will show you simple ways to go about formatting your WD Passport so you can easily use it on both Mac and Windows. Formatting Western Digital My Passport Password Protection Feature.