tutorials

How to format disk in APFS macOS Sierra format

  Date Of Publication: July/2025
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Having the hard drive of our Mac in perfect condition is very important for the proper functioning of the computer. It is interesting that we have it encrypted to have all our information safe. It is also important to know how to repair the disk so that in case of failure we can fix this problem in the best possible way.

When we have to manage the formatting of a hard disk, internal or external, in Mac OS many questions may arise related to what type of files is better, etc. With the launch of the new version of macOS Sierra operating system we will find a new alternative for this type of questions since from macOS Sierra we will find the new Apple file system called APFS (Apple File System).

What is APFS

APFS is replacing the already known HFS + that we have known since the 90s and its official launch, with all the improvements and updates will be in 2017, so we can perform tests on Mac OS Sierra to see its behavior.

In macOS Sierra we will find some limitations when using the new APFS file system. However, we will also find advantages.

APFS file system limitations

  • We cannot make backup copies of the APFS unit with Time Machine.
  • We cannot encrypt the APFS unit using TimeVault.
  • Mac OS boot disks cannot be formatted with this new file system.
  • We can create a disk image with APFS but we cannot add or remove items from it.

APFS file system advantages

  • Better security
  • Best backup copies
  • Precision in nanoseconds
  • Better space distribution
  • Optimized for Flash drives.

We have seen that, although there are restrictions, APFS will be a great help when it comes to file system.

In 2017, when APFS is officially launched, Apple will provide us with the possibility of converting our HFS + file system to APFS without data loss or damage. We can select any external drive such as a USB memory, Flash drive or hard drive to perform APFS analysis. This process will be done from the terminal in macOS Sierra

Step 1
The first thing we should do is open the Mac Terminal. To open the terminal in macOS Sierra we can use one of the following methods:

  • Through Spotlight entering the word terminal and selecting the option displayed
  • From the route Go / Utilities / Terminal

Step 2
Once we have the terminal open we will use the diskutil list command to list all the disks and drives connected in the equipment

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We can see that the USB memory where we will do the task is like disk3s1 in the IDENTIFIER column

Step 3
Once defined the disk where we will make the format we will enter the following command: 

 diskutil apfs createContainer Disk_path
In this case: 
 diskutil apfs createContainer / dev / disk3s1

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We can see that the APFS partition in the USB memory has been created correctly.

Step 4
Once the formatting process is done, we will assign a name to the unit using the following command: 

 diskutil apfs addVolume disk3s1 APFS SolveticAPFS

Note

The disk3s1 field is replaced by the identifier of the drive we have and the SolveticAPFS field is replaced by the name we want.

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Step 5
Once this process is finished we can see the unit that we have created mounted in the Finder:

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We can right click on the unit and select the option Get information

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If we do not want to continue using this type of file system, we can enter the disk utility and format the drive again with the desired file system. In this way we can test APFS before its official launch in 2017.

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