Use Disk Utility to erase (format) a hard disk, SSD, flash drive, or other storage device. Erasing your disk: For most reasons to erase, including when reformatting a disk or selling, giving away, or trading in your Mac, you should erase your entire disk. Method 1: Use Disk Utility to Partition A Hard Drive on Mac. The first way to do the disk partition on Mac is to use Disk Utility, which can repair and partition disk drive spaces from your Mac. Next, let's follow the procedure of Mac disk utility partition: Open Disk Utility application on your Mac. Next, you need to choose Mac's internal hard. You’ll be using a piece of software called Disk Utility. Software that is part of your Mac’s operating. In the Disk Utility app on your Mac, select a volume in the sidebar, then click the Partition button. In the pie chart, select the partition you want to delete, then click the Delete button. The partition is removed, reformatted, and all free space is assigned to the previous partition. Partitioning involves splitting a hard drive into individually usable chunks. The capacity of the hard drive is split between the partitions, not shared. So a 100GB hard drive can make two 50GB partitions. But the split doesn't have to be even. You can specify any amount you need. One partition can be 22Gb while the other is 78GB.
Mac computers, whether you have an iMac, MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, or another Mac device, all have a finite amount of space. How you use it depends how quickly, or not, that space fills up and whether you need to add more space — either internally (such as upgrading to an SSD), or connecting to one or more external hard drives.
Mac Disk Partition
One thing you may not know is that the Mac boot drive is already partitioned. In all fairly recent models, the boot drive contains a secret partition that includes the macOS Recovery System, some essential Mac first aid tools and an installer, should, for any reason, your macOS fail to install or reboot.
Before we go into how to partition a Mac hard drive or SSD, let’s consider the benefits, and what you would need to do before partitioning a hard drive.
Benefits of making a partition in a Mac hard drive
One of the main reasons for implementing a partition is to run more than one operating system, such as macOS on one and Windows on the other. Or you can run two versions of the same OS in both sides of the partition, all from a single disk. Each disk drive, with its own volume, is found and treat separately in the Finder.
Once you know how to partition a hard drive on Mac, or how to partition an external hard drive on Mac, you can format and manage them separately, effectively giving you two computers within one. Although, if you want to use the other volume to run an earlier version of your Mac — which you can, using Time Machine, the volume for that side has to be twice as large as the space it requires.
What to do before partitioning a hard drive
Before going ahead with a partition, it’s always useful to tidy your Mac up. Most users find they have way more clutter and junk than they think. Between old folders and documents, images and videos, apps taking up space, hundreds of email attachment downloads and local iOS backups, many people find they have at least 62GB of junk they simply don't need. We recommend downloading CleanMyMac X, a powerful Mac cleaner, ideal for decluttering your Mac before creating a partition.
How to partition a hard drive or SSD on Mac
There are several ways this can be done.
1. Use Boot Camp
Boot Camp is especially useful if you want to run Windows on your Mac. With Boot Camp comes Boot Camp Assistant, a handy app for partitioning your hard drive space so that one disk drive can run and operate macOS, and the other, Windows.
Following the on-screen instructions of this Mac app, you can partition your hard drive or SSD space to ensure that Windows will run smoothly on your Mac, almost as if it was operating on a native Windows PC or other device. What is the best free mac antivirus.
However, for those who don't want to partition Mac for that purpose, you can use Disk Utility.
2. Use Disk Utility
Disk Utility is another Mac application that will repair and, as needed, partition disk drive spaces.
As a Mac partition manager, it is a useful app that sits within your Utilities folder, inside your Applications folder.
Before starting a Mac partition exercise, it’s worth fully backing-up the folder you want to copy using Carbon Copy Cloner. Another useful tool that gives you an instantly bootable copy of the drive you are going to partition, working on the assumption that if anything goes wrong during this process, you are going to lose everything that is on that hard drive. So with a backup, nothing can go wrong, and if it does, you can easily fix it.
Before partitioning:
Clone the drive.
Make sure the clone has worked and with your cloned drive you can boot this up from the startup menu.
Plug the clone in and go to System Preferences > Startup Disk.
Check the cloned drive works, and then you can partition without any worries.
Now you are ready to partition hard drive on Mac, starting with the following:
Press Command-Shift-U or go to Utilities in the Applications folder.
Double-click the Disk Utility application.
In Disk Utility, select your Mac’s internal drive (or an internal SSD).
You should see two options: First Aid or Partition.
Click Partition.
Click the ‘+’ below Partition Layout.
Now a new Partition will appear, and you can change the size according to what you need.
Give this new drive a name.
If it hasn't worked exactly as you want, you can always click Revert to unpartition hard drive on Mac.
Or, once you are happy with the size, click Apply. You may also be asked to click a lock symbol in the bottom left-hand corner to confirm everything.
But don't worry if you want to make changes down the road. Everything you have done is reversible, so you can change the size or repartition hard drive on Mac.
Once the partition is done (which doesn't take as long as you might imagine) you will have a completely new hard drive or internal SSD, identical to your original, except without anything in it. Upload anything you need, or use the cloned version to store everything that was in the original hard drive - which still exists - in this partitioned version.
Within Disk Utility, you have the option of increasing or decreasing the size, erasing altogether (just remember to backup anything you need first), which will restore the space lost in the partition to your primary hard drive. Always backup before making any changes to a partition.
And remember, before making a partition, clean up your Mac from all the junk it contains. The fastest and the safest way to do that is to use CleanMyMac X. Try it today to rid your system of unwanted files and enjoy improved performance.
These might also interest you:
/Mac Tips /How to Delete A Hard Drive Partition on Mac?
A lot of people would want to learn how to partition a hard drive on their Mac computers or Windows PCs. However, how about the opposite? Some people might also wish to know how to unpartition a hard drive on Mac or Windows.
In this article, we will be focusing on how to remove partitions on your drive on Mac computers. Before we start into the entire guide, you have to take note that manipulating any drive, including that of unpartitioning them, is a type of process that involves removing data included on the drive.
Thus, it is best for you to check out what you’re doing on each step of this guide. Ensure that important data are backed up before you remove the partitions on your drive on Mac. In this way, you don’t lose important data such as work documents and other sensitive information.
Article GuidePart 1: Steps on How to Unpartition A Hard Drive on MacPart 2: To Wrap It All Up
People Also Read:How to Fix External Hard Drive Not Showing Up on Mac?Guide on How to Clone Mac Hard Drive to SSD
Part 1: Steps on How to Unpartition A Hard Drive on Mac
Below are the steps you should follow in order to remove partitions on your disk drive on Mac. We will be using the Disk Utility tool for this guide.
Step 1: Open Disk Utility
You can launch Disk Utility on your Mac computer by visiting /Application/Utilities. Or, you can also use the Spotlight in order to do so. Once it is opened, you can go to the left sidebar in order to view all connected drives including their subpartitions. The major pane located at the right side shows a variety of info regarding the drive you have currently selected.
Step 2: Locate the Disk You Wish to Edit
How To Partition Mac
In order to find the drive you want to edit, you must look in the sidebar located on the left-hand side. If your drive is not located there, make sure it is working properly. Also, ensure that it is connected to a particular power source.
Also, you have to make sure that the drive is actually plugged into a port that is compatible. If you can, you can disconnect the drive and then reconnect it when necessary. If a particular drive doesn’t appear within the sidebar of Disk Utility, the tool won’t be able to edit it. If the drive you wish to edit is colored grey, you should select this drive and then press the button for “Mount”. The said button is located within the top bar.
Step 3: Select the Disk You Wish to Format
Now, select the particular disk you wish to format within the tool’s sidebar. Do not select any of its sub partitions. Ensure that the information regarding the drive is shown in the pane on the right side. Any particular change you make within the main pane will then be applied to the selected disk within the sidebar. Thus, ensure that you have selected the right disk before you start the next steps.
Step 4: Press The “Partition” Button
The “Partition” button is located within the top menu bar. Now, a lot of options will be displayed. It will also display your drive’s current partition map. The partitions of the selected disk will be shown in the form of a pie chart. It goes within that of a clockwise position with regards to physical position within the disk.
Step 5: Remove A Partition
In order to remove a particular partition, you have to select it first. You can do this by pressing its part within the pie chart. Then, press the minus (-) icon that will appear under the pie. You can remove multiple partitions simultaneously if you wish. Now, you’re one step closer to finishing the process on how to unpartition a hard drive (Mac).
It is important to remember that you can remove a lot of partitions if you wish. However, there are some rules for doing this process. For instance, the first partition within a particular disk always “cannot” be removed. This first partition can only be reformatted or resized.
In addition, the first and foremost partition cannot be removed or deleted as well. This is because it has the Partition Scheme. However, it must be noted that this first partition won’t be visible or editable using Disk Utility. Thus, you need not worry about deleting this partition.
If you wish to change the very first disk partition, it is necessary for you to reformat the entire disk to that of a new Partition Scheme. This will delete all partitions contained within the reformatted disk. When you delete a partition located at the end part of the disk, it will usually cause the partition found before it to automatically grow in order to fit the deleted partition’s previous space.
This is true, unless, you have added an alternative partition to be located in the previously-deleted one. Obviously, partitions that have been removed or even reformatted will lose all the data contained within it.
Step 6: Press the Apply Button
When you have finished removing all the partitions that you like, then you can simply press the “Apply” icon in order to save your changes. A confirmation window will be displayed. This will show you the removals, resizes, and additions you have done to your disk.
Make sure that you have read the confirmation window carefully. In this way, you can make sure you’re not deleting another partition by mistake. After this, press the Partition button again in order to confirm that you want to make the changes.
Step 7: Finish Every Single Thing Up
Now, you have finished the process on how to unpartition a hard drive (Mac). You should unmount and then remount the drive in order for the new partitions to appear. Adding and removing partitions can actually be tricky. This is true if you’re working with a different format of files and logical volumes.
Part 2: To Wrap It All Up
In this article, we’ve taught you how to unpartition a hard drive (Mac). Removing partitions on your Mac can be very easy especially if you’ve followed our guide above. The steps are very clear and easy to understand.
How about you? Do you use a tool other than the Disk Utility to unpartition a hard drive on Mac? If so, what tool do you use and how do you do it? We’d love to hear your thoughts below. Simply type into our comments section to be heard.
ExcellentThanks for your rating.
Partition Hard Drive Mac With Windows 10
Rating: 4.6 / 5 (based on 89 ratings)
People Also Read:
Partition Hard Drive Mac And Windows
PowerMyMac
A powerful all-in-one App for Mac
Free Download
Comment ()
The most powerful and useful 16-in-1 Mac Software in 2019 Upgrade mac air flash storage.