WD my Passport external hard drive Set Up Guide for Mac 2022

[@QiYogaWithLuChin]

Hi. Thanks so much for this! I got my WD 5TB a few weeks ago. Tired to use the included software to install it and it didn't work. It is very frustrating. I didn't"t touch it until just now watching your video. Your simple instructions is very easy to understand. It works now, I am able to transfer videos out my Mac to WD HD.

[@TechandDesign]

Glad I could help!

[@michelynecallan8154]

Thanks. Yours is the best explanation out there. Mine too came with no instructions. I tried to do things by myself and ended up downloading the stuff I didn't need. Erasing and renaming was so simple, than Time Machine found the drive. Thanks again.

[@TechandDesign]

Glad it helped

[@charlesjordan5428]

Great presentation for us novices! Love the calm manner and the simple instructions. It helps tremendously to show closeups of the screen. Thank you.

[@TechandDesign]

Glad it was helpful!

[@pshaskins1]

OMG!!! Exactly what I wanted my drive to do. Thank you so much. Why didn't Passport make it just this easy. I tried to download their stuff and it was ABSOLUTELY USELESS Thank you

[@TechandDesign]

Glad I could help!

[@nakiabrantley1907]

Thank you for posting. You instructions were very detailed and I didn’t have to listen to a whole lot of other distractions before you got to the point. Great video 😊

[@TechandDesign]

Glad it was helpful!

[@cynthiagray1313]

Ok I was so frustrated with my harddrive and you totally solved my problem. Thank you for your clear instructions. I am now a subscriber. You rock!

[@TechandDesign]

Glad I could help!

[@JavonteAnderson]

Thank you! This is one of the most helpful KZbin tutorials I've ever watched.

[@TechandDesign]

glad to help out 😃

[@STE7ENFOSTER]

Wow, man. You are fanTASTIC. No bullshit, best tutorial I've ever watched. Clear, concise, detailed, personable. Brilliant. Thank you so much.

[@TechandDesign]

Glad to help out

[@shelbytriick3363]

Thank you! My WD External Drive didn't come with any instructions and I'm still relatively new to Apple Computers. This video was very well done and while some of the things on my computer had different naming conventions (ie: Finder - Settings instead of Finder - Preferences) it was easy to figure out and move forward. Much appreciated!! Setting up Time Machine for the first time and will be coming back to some items - as I didn't see a way, at this point, to add Time Machine to menu bar. I'm sure I'll figure that out!

[@muffythemonster]

Thanks so much for this! I just got a MacBook Air M2 and bought a WD My Passport Ultra 2TB. Your video really helped me. Thanks again.!

[@jilly7306]

I wanted to have my photo library stored in my passport, and now I can see it there, thank you

[@TechandDesign]

to avoid issues like that , you need to watch and follow this video

[@financiallynavigated141]

Now I was so frustrated. But this video put me right where i needed to be. Excellent!!!!!! Downloading has begun.

[@dianakornetti4422]

Excellent tutorial; clear explanations and visual demonstration of steps to set up back up drive, partition it, and activate Time Machine for Mac. Thanks!

[@TechandDesign]

Glad it helped

[@hannaabraham1524]

Thank you so much. The most clear video on setting up my WD External Drive!

[@TechandDesign]

Glad it helped!

[@twirlybird5212]

Thank you for this video! You are an excellent teacher. Simply said, step by step, closeups, and in a tempo easy to follow. You are the best!

[@TechandDesign]

Glad it was helpful!

[@valeriestovall2824]

Thank you for this video! It is the most detailed one that has helped me set up my external hard drive

[@TechandDesign]

Glad it helped!

[@zapatosrotoss]

I second STE7EN FOSTER. NO BS. Thank you for this video. 100 stars for you

[@jeanie500]

Thank you for helping me with this. I had tried other videos unsuccessfully but yours was clear and I was able to get everything set up just like I wanted it.

[@TechandDesign]

Glad it helped!

[@DivamarinkaChannel]

Thank you so much for this video! I just bought a hard drive and literally didn't know what to do with and how to use it))) so yeah it has been really helpful! thank youuuu!!!

[@richards989]

Great Tutorial. I have WD 2022 Passport 4TB and deleting the pre-installed files took over 6 hours at a setting of 40% where it made 2 passes to wipe it clean

[@creativityworkoutsforartan6951]

Thank you so much! As a fairly new Mac user I'm glad I found your video before I installed some of that proprietary nonsense!

[@BarbaraStrong]

Thank you so much for this great video! You are very clear and answered all my questions!!!

[@TechandDesign]

Glad it was helpful!

[@IvaLetice]

This was an amazing tutorial. Thank you so much. You helped me a lot.

[@TechandDesign]

Glad it helped!

[@mrs.growdaddy4937]

AWESOME! Thank you so much - and I couldn't agree with you more about all that proprietary software - yuck. I bought my drive and when I got it home, I was soooo dismayed to see that it wouldn't work simply as a storage drive without either using their (unwanted) WD software OR formatting (erasing) it first. Great video - I liked and subscribed! 😀

[@yashwanthmahakala4454]

Excellent Detailed explanation, "Thank-You Very Much" :)

[@TechandDesign]

Glad it was helpful!

[@canturkcivelek4896]

Thanks for video. Do you have another video, where you explain how to "Password Protect" the external drive using the same Disk Utility on Mac?

[@angjenvicarv2421]

Very helpful. Im glad i saw your video.

[@TechandDesign]

Glad it was helpful!

[@CoolVanVideos]

Great! Thank You! Now it works.

[@DocWR86]

Extremely helpful!!! Thank you!

[@TechandDesign]

Glad it was helpful!

[@melbutler78]

This helped me so much. It was so clear and easy. Thank you so much!

[@Anne-of2yg]

You’re the BEST of the best. I’m much obliged to you.

[@dinaroll9992]

Thank you SO MUCH! This video helped a not and Saved me so much time and energy.

[@TechandDesign]

Glad it helped!

[@NickandKatieMTB]

Fantastic video! I really appreciate all the detail! 11/10 👍

[@angeh.5679]

So much great information-thank you for sharing!😃

[@TechandDesign]

Glad it was helpful!

[@montserrata.i.637]

Excellent tutorial! Before finding it I installed other software and although I could erased some I cannot get rid of the WD Unlocker. Is it a good idea to use this security feature? Or should I get rid of it? If so , how can I do it? It 's not erased when I erased the disk.

[@TechandDesign]

I would recommend to uninstall the useless software. because it will just create problems later on. than follow my video

[@montserrata.i.637]

Thanks for your prompt reply. Today I finally was able to get rid of the Unlocker using the WD security software and when I rebooted the Unlocker VDC partition also dissapeared from the drive and was able to reformat and partition following your instructions. Is there any other way to apply a password to protect the backup disk? I think Time Machine gives an option to encrypt the content, right? but what about the manual back up part?@@TechandDesign

[@hollywithers7595]

omg thank you so much - was getting so stressed haha

[@oceansea6594]

Excellent! Really helpful tutorial, Thanks!!!

[@TechandDesign]

Glad it was helpful!

[@StockholmNightlife]

I just LOVE you!!!! 🤩 Thanks for the help!! Thanks From Sweden!!=)

[@nik-keishamoodie7847]

thank you this video helped me a ton❤

[@TechandDesign]

Glad it helped!

[@hilltopviewer8204]

Hi, great video and explanation. Just want to ask, when I pressed erase on the WD My Passport section of your video, it says that it can't be erased as Finder is currently in use.

[@TechandDesign]

if you installed the software that comes with it, you will have that problem

[@LC.101]

Thanks for the video! I have an iMac and am thinking to get a WD external hard drive. As suggested to avoid the software that comes with the drive, I wonder if it's better to get "My Passport Ultra" over "My Passport Ultra for Mac"?

[@livefree_tv]

Best Tutorial, Life Saver !

[@daankayser]

thank you very much for this :)

[@dustinhoward208]

So u can’t format it to windows??

[@barbaraashdown4673]

You are an excellent teacher! Thank you for this info!

[@PatrinaBailey-c7b]

this video is awesome! quick question : I didn't watch the second half of the video before following the first half and I heard you mentioned APFS for SSDs. I did those steps for my HDD, i.e. setting APFS for my HDD. is this alright? what are the implications?

[@TechandDesign]

you are fine. nothing bad will happen

[@XtremeMobileGames]

So the first half was for the ssd and the second is for hdd?

[@AbdulMax021]

Thank you that was very helpful ❤

[@holdenmartinn]

such a clutch tutorial

[@rbrockma11]

In the tutorial your advice is to erase the preloaded software to avoid problems down the line. Please elaborate on this advice. What problems can occur if I don't erase the preloaded software and use the WD My Passport Ultra for Mac straight out of the box as intended?

[@TechandDesign]

just as an example : when you update your macOS - the program you installed from the external hdd might not be compatible and you won’t be able to use your external hdd to backup files or get files from. that will never happen if you follow this tutorial. that’s just 1 example.

[@coloradobornimages2158]

I love your teaching style and this is my 1st video with you. However I just made an error and am nervous I deleted something I shouldn't have. Reaching out via your website

[@TechandDesign]

well , if you followed my tutorial than just use Time Machine to get it back

[@JaeMythMajorFlow]

Thank you for the video! Life saver!

[@laurenrowley2695]

Thank you for this tutorial! What should I do if I downloaded the software that came with my WD Passport but actually want to format it like you did in this tutorial?

[@TechandDesign]

if you downloaded the useless software, just uninstall it. You dont need problems. And follow my video

[@laurenrowley2695]

@@TechandDesign Thank you so much for your time making this video... so informative and helpful!

[@jpedini8968]

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

[@TechandDesign]

glad to help out

[@NicholasDennis-g1n]

I partitioned my WD My Passport for Time Machine and general Mac backup, and selected Mac OS Extended (Journaled) for both, but when I started a Time Machine backup it created an APFS container disk and Time Machine nested within in APFS format. Did time machine switch to APFS? Using Monterey 12.3

[@newinsights5496]

You are excellent. Thank you!

[@sophienguyen2589]

Hii, I have already used my hard drive for a window laptop, but now I want to use it for my mac. Mac does not allow me to drag and drop files, and am I afraid of loosing all my files if I follow the “erase” step from the Disk Utility. Is there anyway that I can fix this, could you help me, please? Thank you very much in advance 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

[@TechandDesign]

I would backup everything on your windows laptop. Than properly format it on your mac and transfer your files back

[@lizm3249]

What happens if I accidentally installed the software that comes with the WD for mac ? But then I erased & reformatted it to ExFat? Is it okay ? For me to use ?

[@haleydropthemike]

How do I know if I have an SSD or external hard drive? I followed the directions for the SSD because I didn't realized there were separate instructions for external hard drive. What do I do if I followed instructions for the wrong thing?

[@TechandDesign]

you can see if you have an Ssd - if the box of the external says : Ssd , but if it says external hard drive and that’s it - than it’s not an Ssd. even if you have an external hdd and you formatted as you would an Ssd - it won’t be “wrong” , just not the best- that’s all

[@ekphotography]

I never knew it was better to format external SSD like the Samsung T7's as APFS. I imagine only SSD's drives correct? I had some plugin issues with FCPX while eating off the SSD drive and some one suggested reformatting it to APFS like you mentioned. IS there any theory as to why it is better to format it this way? Is it faster read/write speeds? Thanks for the information. I only use Mac's, so the drive being able to be read by a PC does not mater to me..

[@VishakhaVDavey]

How do I setup an external hard drive without formitting it? I have data in it which I dont wanna loose.

[@ironicgambino8987]

Why do I have to erase it? What if I have important stuff in it from the days I had Lenovo but I wanna use it on my new MacBook now?

[@PaulSuttle-oj5ug]

Want to use an external hard drive to connect to LG TV for videos/music. I’ve got it all in the hard drive from my MacBook, but the TV doesn’t recognise anything on the drive, any help appreciated

[@kimberlyjanepalon5134]

what if my wd passport has files already coming from my prev laptop(windows) how can i connect it through Mac?

[@crochetingwithDonna]

I lost my cord. Is there a place to get another cord?

[@cheanjas9566]

Isn't it better format as Exfat so it can used on both mac & Windows?

[@TechandDesign]

I recommend watching the video

[@dustinhoward208]

Did you figure out if this can be used for windows?

[@JGC_TV]

I can not erase my new the WD Passport external hard drive. I have an old iMac 2013 trying to erase ->Journaled - GUID Partion Map

[@TechandDesign]

what happens when you try? did you accidentally install the software that came with the wd passport?

[@avilav2317]

Hi , i cant import or copy anything into my WD my passport on Macbook . What could be the reason . How can i solve it ? I tried to seach a lot but i couldnt find any reason for it .

[@TechandDesign]

the reason is that you didnt follow this video , follow it and it will be fixed

[@SparkingLife111]

My ssd nvme says window 10 or higher but i have windows 7 computer. Got the drive to transfer files from my phone samsung s21 to the external ssd and after i somehow transfered the files without formatting the drive. I didnt see that option until i was trying to safely eject and in the drop down box saw format. What should i do? I still have all my photos on my phone but i see them on the drive too. Kind of hard to find tho seem buried deep.

[@aaronmartinez2439]

I have a question I just bought a brand new “My Passport” by WD and when I followed the first steps I got an error. My laptop said it failed. “Erasing ‘WD My Passport 2626 Media’ (disk2) and creating ‘untitled’ Unmounted disk The volume of disk2 couldn’t be unmounted because it is in use by process 420 (finder) Couldn’t unmount disk. : (-69888) Operation fail… “

[@TechandDesign]

if you installed any programs that came with your external, they are getting in the way so you need to uninstall them. Than just try to format as journaled first

[@aaronmartinez2439]

@@TechandDesign thank you now it worked

[@krish4246]

Is the WD P10 game drive compatible with MAC

[@meliscinar1546]

Hi for some reason I can’t drag and drop pictures or files from my Mac into my WD drive. I don’t know what the problem is exactly or how to fix it so I would greatly appreciate any help! Thank you!

[@TechandDesign]

the problem is that you didn’t follow this video . if you follow it - you won’t have those problems

[@meliscinar1546]

@@TechandDesign I already have a few pictures and videos that I had put onto the external drive a few years back. If I erase the drive I’m guessing it will delete these as well? How would i go about this without erasing the pictures already on there. Or is this a step that I do not have to do? I really appreciate the help by the way!

[@TechandDesign]

you would need to get the info out into your computer and than properly format it by following this video to avoid even more problems that will come later on

[@eliasstahl2926]

For the partitioning section - what if I dont typically transfer any files to/from Windows? Would you suggest just partitioning it into 2 sections, one for Mac Backup and the other for Time Machine?

[@TechandDesign]

yes

[@alyssacoley8712]

I HAVE A QUESTION if I put mods for sims 4 that I’m USING ACTIVELY will they still work in my game like if I put my whole electronic arts folder in the backup thing?

[@davidbaker4838]

THANK YOU!!!!!!!!

[@nosananolife1449]

Hi! I have a hard drive and it says erasing “WD My Passport 2626 Media” (disk3) and creating “Untitled” operation failed. Please help!

[@TechandDesign]

just try journaled first

[@nosananolife1449]

@@TechandDesign i tried journaled too and it still doesn’t work :( im using the latest macOS.

[@jesteramogus2186]

Hey tech, have a question, since my iPhone is on update 15.4.1 it basically mean i cant play geometry dash, but does the new iPhone update 15.7 fixes that? Cause im worried if I update my iphone, most of my games will be unplayable and it will keep crashing, so im afraid of doing it

[@katsshibainus3258]

After it is installed where do I go to access it and do a backup? I don't see that icon on my pc.

[@TechandDesign]

watch the video to find out

[@rajeshsingh24]

Hi, i followed all your steps till around 4 mins. My WD "My Passport" 2TB external HDD still does not show up. HELP!! Thanks!

[@TechandDesign]

how did you follow the steps if your external hdd doesnt show up ?

[@rajeshsingh24]

@@TechandDesign yup! U r right! I stand corrected. Anyway I managed to get it up and running. The issue was the connection... I connected it to a (powered) USB Hub. It started working and showed up after i connected it directly to my Mac Studio. Thanks for your reply 👍

[@ConnorRebelo-w8v]

What happens if it doesnt show in disk utility

[@willynilly2545]

Didn't work for me it says: The volume on disk11 couldn’t be unmounted because it is in use by process 6160 (diskimagesiod) Couldn’t unmount disk. : (-69888) Operation failed…

[@iamSho]

thanks for the help

[@nickhuggins8660]

My new WD Passport external hard drive won't let me erase anything!! Please help ASAP

[@TechandDesign]

yes that can happen if you dont follow this tutorial. Just one of the many many problems you can have

[@stylishranchgirl]

Can you use this to run your Mac?

[@TechandDesign]

you mean like load the macOS

[@stylishranchgirl]

@@TechandDesign yes

[@stylishranchgirl]

I've got an older WD Passport that has over 500gb on it. I looked it up on Amazon to see what people were saying in the reivews. Maybe the new ones aren't as good. Mine is from 2016 or 17. Will it work for this? My 2017 Mac is so slow even though there's plenty of memory left.

[@michaelbenson2954]

Brilliant works great 👍👍

[@quesainbolt]

Erase process failed ?

[@perry801]

Okay, I guess my MAC is too old for this tutorial. 🤣 Thanks anyway. Nice video, but I need to find instructions for a MAC OS X El Capitan. Wish me luck!

[@TechandDesign]

it’s pretty much the same thing

[@perry801]

@@TechandDesign Yeah, I figured it out. Thaks!

[@husammaaya7878]

Please help me, I have deleted all the data I have had on my drive. Please help me

[@LiliesAndPopcornReactions]

Thank you.

[@ogfalaq_izu3434]

Its nice to know how to do work in ipad 👀

[@morrisseyfabric9941]

Thanks!

[@TechandDesign]

No problem!

[@TechandDesign]

glad to help out 😃

[@anisahkhan4905]

It’s saying that erasing failed, how do I fix this?

[@TechandDesign]

format as journaled first

[@emilyelizabethlol]

@@TechandDesign it still says failed

[@kaelandavis9811]

Mines keeps saying failed also?

[@sandysanchez4752]

Hi I accidentally downloaded BOTH software that was pre installed on my Mac! It was my first time and now idk what to do if anyone had any suggestions please share!

[@TechandDesign]

easy, follow this video and uninstall those programs

[@abitofsavvy]

Thank you!!

[@valeriamaza54]

gracias me salvaste la vida!!!!!!!!!!!

[@MileHighMinute]

Wouldn’t let me erase

[@TechandDesign]

select the corrrect disk and make sure you are admin user

[@louvvve]

THANKS

[@jayrockhammer]

I saved hundreds of writing documents, movies, pictures, everything on this thing. I just lost all of it tonight because it won't read in my computer. I've tried everything. I'm gonna have a meltdown.

[@TechandDesign]

I guess you unplugged your external hard drive without ejecting it first ?

[@jayrockhammer]

@@TechandDesign i think it was yanked out by accident,. do you know if that means my stuff is gone forever?

[@TechandDesign]

hopefully not completely gone. depends

[@jayrockhammer]

@@TechandDesign What do suggest I do? Does it need to be sent out? Or is there something I can do from home? It's strange, now it's not even reading it at all. The "disk is not readable" alert doesn't even pop up now

[@jayrockhammer]

@@TechandDesign What do suggest I do? Does it need to be sent out? Or is there something I can do from home? It's strange, now it's not even reading it at all. The "disk is not readable" alert doesn't even pop up now

[@liseclavi844]

Grazie mille signore

[@mickymikado1887]

🌀 thank you 🌀

[@user-yq9sj6hu3i]

I can’t find mine on the desktop😭

[@TechandDesign]

not a problem. just follow my video

[@user-yq9sj6hu3i]

@@TechandDesign I did but I can’t find it even though there’s a light in the drive which show it’s working

[@TechandDesign]

so which of the options that I showed did you choose ?