How to format a new drive using Windows

1. Press the Windows Symbol + R keys to open the Run box.
2. Type diskmgmt.msc and press Enter. The Disk Management window will open.
3. You may receive an Initialize Disk prompt. If so, choose GUID and click OK.
4. In the lower-half of the window, locate the disk from the list.
5. Right-click on the Unallocated box and select New Simple Volume.
6. Continue to click Next to accept the default settings. (Change the file system to exFAT if you will be using the drive with both Windows and Mac) . Click Finish.
7. When the process is completed, the drive is identified with a drive letter and Healthy.You can now use the new drive.

The above instructions are for formatting an unformatted drive. If you instead need to erase an existing drive and then format, visit here.

How to format a drive using Mac OS

1. Connect the drive to your computer.
2. Open Disk Utility. (Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility). Click View > Show All Devices.
3. From the list on the left, click on the external drive (not the indented item underneath).
4. Click the 'Erase' tab at the top of the Disk Utility window.
5. Enter a name for the drive and select 'Mac OS Extended (Journaled)' or 'APFS' from the Format drop down menu.*
6. Select 'GUID' from the Scheme drop down menu.
7. Click the 'Erase' button. You will be presented with an 'Are you Sure' dialog. Confirm to complete the action.

* Notes:
(1) Choose 'exFAT' if you will be using the drive with both Windows & Mac.
(2) We do not recommend APFS if formatting a Mobius 5-Bay RAID as it will result in slower performance.