SSD won't format APFS

I've just tried posting this question but it isn't appearing under "my subscriptions" so perhaps I didn't post it correctly. So here again....

I'm trying to follow the Utility instructions to format a SSD drive as APFS. I get as far as completing its number 4 - erasing the disk. Number 5 says "Click the Scheme pop-up menu, then choose GUID Partition Map". I've not been able to find any way to get this pop-up menu to appear. Can anyone help me here?

I'm running OS 11.7.4

John

iMac 21.5″

Posted on Mar 16, 2023 5:08 PM

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HWTech

Community+ 2026

Level 9

70,442 points

Posted on Mar 17, 2023 6:01 PM

Is this an internal SSD? If so, then you can only do this while booted to the macOS installer (Recovery Mode or USB).

If it is an external SSD, then select the physical drive to erase. Within Disk Utility you may need to click "View" and select "Show All Devices" so that the physical drives appear on the left pane of Disk Utility. Are you using any third party software to manage the external drive? Or running any anti-virus software, or cleaning/optimizer apps, or third party security software?

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SSD won't format APFS

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