First, open one window by double-clicking on (My) Computer/This PC.This exercise can be repeated with one file, many files, one folder or many folders. Here we will discuss dragging a piece of data from the (My) Documents folder to the external drive.

How to manually move your data to the drive in Windows: If you are looking for an automatic backup then you will want to use the utility built-in to Windows, see links below: If you are looking to move the data manually, then you can use an option below: Simply plug in the power, plug in the USB cable, and the drive should appear in (My) Computer/This PC and Windows Explorer/File Explorer.įor Mac, you will need to reformat the drive prior to using it because it will be read-only on a Mac, which means you will be unable to copy or move data to the drive. In a Windows-based computer, there is no need to do anything special or additional to make the drive work. Unless your drive says 'for Mac' on the front of the box then the drive will be formatted for Windows.

This article covers ways to use your drive without having to install any additional software. Your Seagate External Drive may come with software, so there may be additional ways to use your drive not listed in this article.

How to open mac external drives