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SergeantMac Author

Level 1

53 points

Partioning an external SSD Mac OS

Need to format (erase) current external 2TB external SSD drive and partition drive. My intention is to allocate three partitions: 1 - Allocate one large sector for backup of my iMac 2 - Allocate another sector for backup of my MacBook Pro and, here's the question: 3 - Is it advisable (or NOT advisable) to also allocate a sector specifically for installing a full Mac OS (El Capitan) on a third sector? Is my plan advisable or not advisable? Thanks in advance for advice (please keep answers "specific" to my "specific" question.

Posted on May 30, 2021 3:39 PM

Top-ranking reply

Eau Rouge

Level 8

42,596 points

Posted on May 30, 2021 5:10 PM

To be specific yes you can do that.

With the SSD plugged in to your mac open Disk Utility from the Applications> Utilities folder.

Highlight the Disk in the left hand panel, not any of the indented Volumes.

Click on Partition.

From the next dialogue click the plus button to create a new partition, using the toggle on the circumference

move it to create the size of Partition required or use the box under Partition Information and enter the size you want,

give the new Partition a name make sure Format is Mac OS Extended (Journaled), click Apply.

Now click on the unallocated/ unnamed section click the plus button again and set that new Partition up as you want,

click Apply, click on the third Partition and give it a name. Click Apply

You now have three partitions on your SSD Disk. Now up to you what do do with them.

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Partioning an external SSD Mac OS

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