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How to Erase Seagate External Hard Drive on Mac?

Whenever you are concerned about disposing of or selling a Seagate external hard drive, erasing a hard drive is essential. This is to eliminate any unauthorized recovery. The ordinary deletion of files or formatting during subsequent disposal does not promise data security, for there are adept recovery tools that can still retrieve deleted information. In addition, this is especially relevant in shielding sensitive data like personal photos, financial records, or company documents. This step ensures compliance with privacy regulations and reduces risks of identity theft and data breaches. Before beginning, make sure that backups are taken for important data, for this method will erase everything permanently. This step is important, to avoid the risk of data loss, as secure erasing is something truly irreversible.

How to Erase Seagate External Hard Drive on Mac via Disk Utility?

Disk Utility, which comes with all Macs is an in-built tool that can be used for the deletion of external drives easily. The steps include:

1. Connect and Open: At first, connect a Seagate external hard drive to the Mac using the correct cable, which is usually USB or Thunderbolt. After that, open Disk Utility from Applications > Utilities, using the Finder, or searching by Spotlight.
2. Select Drive: Next, in the Disk Utility window, find your Seagate drive on the left-hand sidebar. Here, make sure you are selecting the right drive. Otherwise, any data erased cannot be recovered.
3. Erase Options: Click on the “Erase” tab.
   Name your drive if you wish, and select the format:
   “APFS” for macOS High Sierra and newer Mac versions
   “Mac OS Extended (Journaled)” for older systems.
   For cross-platform compatibility with Windows system, choose “ExFAT.”
   The partition scheme usually will be “GUID Partition Map” for external drives.
4. Security Options: Click this button to select how thoroughly you want the drive erased:
   Fastest: The file system is deleted, but data can still be retrieved (not recommended for sensitive information).
   Quick: Data is overwritten by writing zeroes once to the drive and hence provides basic security.
   Secure: Data is rendered unrecoverable by executing a three-pass erase where patterns are written to overwrite data, which serves most security purposes.
   Most Secure: Adopts a seven-pass erase complying with DoD 5220.22-M standards for extremely sensitive information but takes a long time.
   Choose according to your security needs; “Secure” will be enough in most cases.
5. Erase: Click on “Erase” to commence. Timing of the process depends mostly on drive size (for instance, the two-pass erase of a 2TB drive can take about 4-5 hours) and the level of security. It is important not to interrupt the procedure to ensure erasure is accomplished.

This method is effective for users who feels comfortable working on graphical interfaces can have various options for security level. Know, how to remove all files from hard drive also.

Erase Seagate External Hard Drive on Mac Using the Terminal

For terminal users if you prefer using command line, there is an alternative using the command diskutil:

1. To identify the drive: Open Terminal from Applications > Utilities. Type diskutil list to see all the drives currently connected and identify your Seagate drive with its device identifier (for example, /dev/disk2). Make sure you spell out the identification correctly, as erasing the wrong disk concretely results in losses.
2. Secure Erase levels from level 0 to 2:
   Level 0 – Fast erase. Not secure.
   Level 1 – Write zeros once. Basic security.
   Level 2 – Three-pass erase (0xAA, 0x55, 0xAA). Medium security.
   Level 3 – Seven-pass erase. Highest security. Compliant with DoD standards.
3. The command: Run diskutil secureErase [level] [device], e.g., diskutil secureErase 2 /dev/disk2 for a 3-pass erase. After you run the command, confirm the action when prompted and monitor the progress in Terminal. Here, the process time varies similarly to Disk Utility depending on the size and level.

How to Wipe Seagate External Hard Drive on Mac through Software?

PCVITA file eraser software is for all users and will truly help them to erase data in an automated manner. With support for secure data wipe-out on Mac and Windows, this program is especially valuable for being compliant with international regulations.

This effective tool provides military-grade disk erasure capabilities via algorithms like GOST-R-50739-95 and Peter Gutmann and complies with such standards as DoD 5220-22-M, NIST 800-88, and GDPR. The program is flexible for use with Seagate external drives, as it can wipe a large variety of storage devices consisting of HDDs, SSDs, NVMe, and USB drives. Significant features are:

• It overwrites and destroys all data, including boot records and file-system structures, rendering the data unrecoverable.
• Interestingly, it generates detailed reports that can be used for audit trails, which are very useful to companies and legal compliance.
• An easy approach for fast selection of those files and folders cleanup from caches, logs, and temporary files.

Final Thoughts

Erase Seagate external hard drive on Mac comes in two ways: using Disk Utility or by installing the advanced software. For casual users, Disk Utility will do the work. For those who need guaranteed data removal, the specialized tool will provide unmatched security. Follow the steps explained here, and confidently erase your Seagate external hard drive and leave no data behind. Whether preparing the drive for sale, recycling, or personal reuse, a full physical erase will ensure that all your personal files are irretrievable and all sensitive personal data is fully wiped away.