Cannot Format 2TB Drive - Partition Option Not Available OSX El Capitan

[Brendan_Rowlands]

I have new My Book 2TB drive formatted for PC but I have a Mac running OSX El Capitan. I have followed the instructions in the WD webpage on how to format for Mac but in Disc Utilities the partition option is greyed out (not available)

What to I need to do?

Thanks

[klamation]

@Brendan_Rowlands, a screenshot might help point out what you’re seeing. I’m guessing Disk Utility sees the drive as attached, and probably sees the existing Windows partition on it. If you click on the partition under the drive, you should be able to Erase it to change the format. You probably won’t have to partition it.

However, if you click on the drive, instead of the partition, I would expect you to have the option to choose Partition.

I guess seeing what you see would be most helpful.

[Richard_James]

I am having the same problem with my WD My 1 TB Passport external hard drive. I am following instructions as per ID 3865 and when I select the drive the partition button is not available to use!!!

[Brendan_Rowlands]

Richard

Based on the post from Klamation, try clicking on the “My Passport” just below the drive you are showing on the screen shot. Then click “erase”. You can change the name here and it will erase any files you already had. I tried this on my drive and it seems to have worked using the default options but erasing info was not an issue for me as the drive was new.

Klamation, thanks for the tip. I will be using the drive during the rest of the weekend, I’ll see how it goes.

Brendan

[klamation]

Hey @Brendan_Rowlands, I’m glad that helped.

[lodijoe]

My Passport for Mac no longer disconnects after I downloaded the drive utilities for Mac which will work on Mac El Capitan here:

WD Software