5 Ways to Copy Files From Mac to External Hard Drive

Too many files on your Mac but limited hard drive space might slow down your computer. You don’t need to upgrade the hardware or delete essential documents. Instead, consider copying them to an external hard drive. This simple process can help lighten up your device and free up storage so you can start enjoying computing again.

In this blog post, we’ll explore 5 ways to copy files from Mac to an external hard drive—you’re sure to find one that works for you. Please keep reading for more info about how easy it is to transfer data between devices.

Copy Files From Mac to External Hard Drive

1. Connect the External Hard Drive to Your Mac

First, connect the external hard drive to your Mac computer via USB or Thunderbolt. Ensure that your Mac and the external hard drive are turned on before attempting this connection and unlock a hard drive.

Once connected, if your external hard drive is formatted correctly, it should appear as an option in Finder under “Devices” in the sidebar.

Open a Finder window and navigate to the source folder containing the files you want to transfer, then select them and drag them over to the “Devices” section of Finder, where you can see your external hard drive listed. Then drop them into the desired location on your external hard drive.

2. Use an External Hard Drive Manager App

Suppose you want more control over how you copy files from Mac to an external hard drive. In that case, you may want to consider downloading a third-party app like ChronoSync or Disk Drill for Mac which will give you access to more advanced transfer options, such as scheduling file transfers and synchronizing folders between multiple computers or drives.

3. Use Command Line Tools in the Terminal

If using apps isn’t your thing, you may also consider using command line tools directly from Terminal on your Mac, which allows even more customization when transferring files between machines or drives.

Using command line tools can be quite technical and require some knowledge of terminal commands, so make sure that’s something that appeals to you before attempting this file transfer method with your Mac and external hard drives.

4. Utilize Multi-Format File Transfer Software

As a final option for copying files from Mac to an external hard drive, there are several multi-format file transfer software available.

Such software allows users to quickly move data between multiple devices such as PCs, laptops, tablets, and smartphones, as well as other storage media such as flash drives, SD cards, and more —all in one convenient location.

This makes it easy for users with multiple devices who need a quick way of moving data around quickly without worrying about compatibility issues or specialized software needed for each specific device or platform they are working with at any given time.

5. Using Disk Utility to Transfer Files to External Hard Drive

Using Disk Utility to transfer files to an external hard drive on a Mac is easy. To begin, have the required external hard drive plugged into your computer with the appropriate cable.

• Open up Finder and launch Disk Utility from the application utility folder. In Disk Utility, all your connected hard drives are listed in the left column.
• Select the hard drive you want to transfer your files from the list of drives and partitions in the window.
• Once selected, click “Erase” at the top of Disk Utility’s window and wait until this process has finished before proceeding further.
• Next, select your main Mac internal drive on the left-hand side, which contains all of the files and documents you’d like to transfer to your external hard drive.
• You’ll need to unlock it on macOS Mojave or later versions by clicking on “Unlock” at the bottom right corner. Then enter your administrator password when asked by macOS Security & Privacy settings before being allowed full access.
• Now open up Finder again and click on “Go” at the top menu bar, followed by selecting “Go To Folder…” from the next drop-down menu.
• In this folder, type /Volumes/ + (the name you gave your new external hard drive). This will take you directly inside your new external hard drive’s file structure. You can start dragging or copying different folders or single documents over one-by-one onto it for transferring purposes as needed for backup storage or other uses across multiple Macs or other devices, even if they’re running different operating systems entirely.

Final Thoughts

Following the tips above, you can successfully copy files from your Mac to an external hard drive. You should also make sure to keep regular backups of your data in case of any unforeseen events.