Formatting Airport Extreme Disk: A Step-By-Step Guide

If you want to format an Airport Extreme disk, you'll need to attach it directly to a Mac or PC. Once it's connected, you can format the drive to HFS+ (Mac OS X Extended Journaled) and set the partition scheme to GUID. It's also possible to format the drive as APFS, but this requires a Mac with Big Sur. If you want to use the drive with Windows and Mac, you can format it as ExFat, but this isn't supported by Airport Extreme.

How to format a drive as APFS

You can only format the Airport Extreme disk by attaching it directly to a Mac. You cannot format a drive connected to the Airport Extreme.

To format a drive as APFS, connect the drive to your Mac via USB. You can then use Time Machine to format the drive as APFS.

Note that the disk plugged into the Airport Extreme must be in a format that the Airport Extreme can read. This includes HFS+ and FAT32.

If your hard drive is formatted to factory default and the box doesn't say "Mac" on it, it will need to be formatted by a Mac. You can do this by connecting the drive to a Mac and formatting it to HFS+ (Mac OS X Extended Journaled). Be sure to set the partition scheme to GUID and format the partition to HFS+. These are set separately, and it is possible to have a drive partitioned as Master Boot Record (likely the factory default) with the partition formatted to HFS+ (or FAT32, the likely factory default format).

Formatting a storage device as Mac OS Extended with journaling is recommended, as it may provide some more resilience if the device is removed or powered down while in use.

How to format a drive as HFS+

To format a drive as HFS+, you must first attach it directly to a Mac (or a PC). It is not possible to format a drive connected to the Airport Extreme. Once the drive is connected to the Mac, you can format it to HFS+ (Mac OS X Extended Journaled). Be sure to set the partition scheme to GUID, as well as format the partition to HFS+. These are set separately, and it is possible to have a drive partitioned as Master Boot Record (likely the factory default) and the partition formatted to HFS+ (or FAT32, the likely factory default format). Formatting a storage device as Mac OS Extended with journaling is recommended, as it may provide some more resilience if the device is removed or powered down while in use. If the hard drive is formatted as factory default and the box doesn't say "Mac" somewhere on it, then it probably will not work with the Airport Extreme without being formatted by a Mac.

How to format a drive as FAT32

To format a drive as FAT32, you must first connect the drive to a Mac or PC. It is not possible to format a drive connected to the Airport Extreme. Once connected to a Mac or PC, you can format the drive to HFS+ (Mac OS X Extended Journaled). Be sure to set the partition scheme to GUID and format the partition to HFS+. These are set separately, and it is possible to have a drive partitioned as Master Boot Record (likely the factory default) with the partition formatted to FAT32.

Formatting a storage device as Mac OS Extended with journaling is recommended as it may provide some more resilience if the device is removed or powered down while in use. However, if you wish to use the drive across both Windows and Mac, you should format it as FAT (not exFAT). Even if you format the drive as Mac OS Extended (Journaled), once it's plugged into your Airport Extreme, Windows machines on your network will be able to read/write to it.

How to format a drive as ExFat

To format a drive as ExFat, you must first connect it directly to a Mac or PC. It is not possible to format a drive connected to the Airport Extreme. Once the drive is connected to your Mac or PC, you can format it to HFS+ (Mac OS X Extended Journaled). Be sure to set the partition scheme to GUID and format the partition to HFS+. These settings are separate, and it is possible to have a drive partitioned as Master Boot Record (likely the factory default) with the partition formatted to HFS+ or FAT32 (the likely factory default format).

Formatting a storage device as Mac OS Extended with journaling is recommended as it may provide some resilience if the device is removed or powered down while in use. However, note that ExFAT and NTFS formats are not supported by the AirPort Extreme.

If you are using the drive across both Windows and Mac, you may want to format it as ExFat as it does not have a low maximum file size limit. However, this will not work with the AirPort Extreme, which only supports Mac OS Extended (Journaled), FAT16, or FAT32.

If the hard drive is formatted to the factory default and the box does not say "Mac" on it, it will likely not work with the Airport Extreme without being formatted by a Mac.

How to format a drive as FAT16

To format a drive as FAT16, you must first insert your USB drive into a Windows system and launch MiniTool Partition Wizard. Then, select the USB partition from the disk map and click on 'Format Partition' from the left action panel. Next, select FAT16 from the File System drop-down menu and click OK to save the change. You can also change the Cluster Size or Partition Label from here if you need to.

Alternatively, you can use Disk Management or Windows Command Prompt to format your USB drive to FAT16. Disk Management is feasible for USB flash sticks with small storage capacities between 1GB and 4GB, while using Windows Command Prompt can format a USB larger than 4GB to FAT16.

Note that you can only format the Airport Extreme disk by attaching it directly to a Mac (or PC). It is not possible to format a drive connected to the Airport Extreme. The disk must be formatted as either HFS+ or FAT32. However, one source mentions that the Airport Extreme (802.11n) and Time Capsule support USB storage devices that are formatted as FAT16.

Frequently asked questions