What will formatting my computer do

Method 3. Formatting your Mac will erase all of your data, so make sure you've backed up everything you want to keep.

If your Mac is already turned on, reboot it and press this key combination as soon as it turns back on. This boots your Mac into Recovery Mode. Select Disk Utility. It's the last option on the "macOS Utilities" window. Click Continue. It's at the bottom-right corner. Click the View menu.

It's in the menu bar at the top of the screen. Click Show All Devices. This displays all disks connected to your Mac in the left panel. Select the disk you want to format. For example, if you want to format your primary drive on which macOS is installed, you'll select the first disk at the top of the list under "Internal". Click the Erase button.

It's near the top-center part of the window. Select your formatting details. Name: Enter a name to identify the hard drive. Format: Unless you have a specific reason not to do so, leave the default format of your internal hard drive as APFS. Click Erase to format the disk. You may be asked to verify your Apple ID or password.

Once the disk is erased and formatted, you'll return to the Disk Utility list. If you have additional hard drives, you can format them now using Disk Utility. Close Disk Utility. You can do this by clicking the red circle at the top-left corner of the window.

Formatting is a process which cleans all your previous data. If you wanted your computer to be wiped clean for example, to sell , you would want to format it. Not Helpful 0 Helpful 9. Use a password reset disk to edit and clear all passwords. Restart the system and log in with other users. The password isn't required - just your username. Not Helpful 9 Helpful You can use the "forgot password" option to reset your password.

Then you will be able to log in, and format your computer. Not Helpful 4 Helpful 6. Thank you! Any more feedback? The more you tell us the more we can help.

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To format a drive hard disk , floppy disk, flash drive , etc. In Windows, formatting a partition is usually done from the Disk Management tool. You can also format a drive using the format command in a command line interface like Command Prompt , or with a free disk partition software tool.

A partition usually encompasses an entire physical hard drive. That's why we often say "format a drive" when in reality, you're formatting a partition on the drive—it just so happens that the partition may be the whole size of the drive.

Formatting can't usually be done by accident, so you shouldn't worry that you'll delete all your files by mistake. However, you should be cautious when formatting anything and be sure you know what you're doing. Here are some common things you might do related to formatting:. Some devices like cameras will let you format the storage through the device itself.

It's similar to how you can format a hard drive using a computer—the same thing is possible with some digital cameras and maybe even gaming consoles or other devices that might need their hard drive formatted. Formatting the C: drive, or whatever letter happens to identify the partition that Windows is installed on, must be done from outside of Windows because you can't erase locked files the files you're currently using.

Doing so from outside the OS means the files aren't actively running and can, therefore, be deleted. Formatting a hard drive is part of the "clean install" method of installing Windows. Viruses mostly come from files that are corrupted and they can be transferred by going to attack prone sites. Downloading cryptic files over the internet, using flash drives that they have not been virus checked, or connecting to a public network, can all land you in trouble.

These viruses corrupt the data and make it difficult for the user to open the files or use the system properly. They also reduce the system efficiency because they take a lot of work from the CPU which could make the other applications a lot tougher to work. Formatting is the only option which is seen to work in these circumstances as it wipes out all the data on the computer which includes the viruses and the files that have been corrupted due to it. Sometimes it is easier to format your computer then try and find a solution.

Fixing an error can sometimes take an entire day, when formatting can take an hour or so. Upgrading the operating system is a great reason to format your computer. You might want to buy an upgrade version for your Windows operating system, or maybe buy a full new and improved operating system such as the latest Windows 7. It is amazing what computers can do now days, however if you want to keep up with the times, you will need to format your computer to upgrade. It is much better to start with a brand-new clean slate and have nothing on your hard drive when you start using your new operating system.

If the system is running slow, there might not be any obvious errors showing, but you just feel like your computer is sluggish.