Format Mac hard drive

You can format your Mac hard drive with Apple's own "hard drive utility". However, this only applies to hard drives and partitions on which the operating system is not installed. We'll show you how to do it.

Format hard drive on Mac and MacBook

You can delete a hard drive on your Mac in just a few steps. The best way to do this is to use Apple's hard disk utility, where you can see all hard drives and partitions. Please note, however, that all data will be deleted by formatting.

1. Open the Spotlight search in the menu bar at the top right by clicking on the magnifying glass or using the shortcut "cmd" + spacebar. Enter the keyword "hard disk utility" here. Select the first result.
2. In the window that opens, you will see all hard drives listed on the left (see image). Now select the hard drive to be deleted.
3. Then click on the "Delete" tab in the right area of ​​the window.
4. Now you can decide on a format ("Mac OS Extended (Journaled)" is recommended under OS X) and assign a name for the hard disk or partition. Click the "Delete ..." button to start formatting. This may take some time depending on the size of the hard drive.

Erase Mac system hard drive

If you want to install a new operating system or just delete the hard drive on which the operating system is located, you have to restart your computer and note the following. Please note that all data will be lost and that you should have the OS X operating system on DVD or USB stick ready for a new installation.

1. Hold down the "alt" key during the boot process. Do this early enough to prevent the system from starting normally.
2. In the program that opens, you can choose a start volume. Select the partition labeled "Recovery" here.
3. After a while you will see a list of different applications. Select the "Disk Utility" item here.
4. Now select your hard drive on the left and click on the "Delete" option in the tab.
5. Just give the hard disk a name and choose a format. If you click delete again, the system hard disk will be formatted.