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Time Machine can't unmount new external HD to initiate backups

Just got a WD My Book to replace my old external HD for Time Machine backups. However, after the drive was erased and formatted, I get an error message that the disk couldn't be unmounted.


What do I do now so that I can use the HD?

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 10.15

Posted on Jul 8, 2020 12:34 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Jul 8, 2020 12:58 PM

How is the disk currently formatted? Is it NTFS? Is it APFS? You may need to try formatting it again like so:


Drive Preparation - El Capitan or Later


  1. Open Disk Utility in the Utilities' folder.
  2. After Disk Utility loads select the drive (out-dented entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the side list. 
  3. Click on the Erase button in the Disk Utility toolbar. A panel should drop down.
  4. In the drop down panel set the partition scheme to GUID. Set the Format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.)
  5. Click on the Apply button and click on the Done button when it is activated.
  6. Quit Disk Utility.


6 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jul 8, 2020 12:58 PM in response to x COZY x

How is the disk currently formatted? Is it NTFS? Is it APFS? You may need to try formatting it again like so:


Drive Preparation - El Capitan or Later


  1. Open Disk Utility in the Utilities' folder.
  2. After Disk Utility loads select the drive (out-dented entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the side list. 
  3. Click on the Erase button in the Disk Utility toolbar. A panel should drop down.
  4. In the drop down panel set the partition scheme to GUID. Set the Format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.)
  5. Click on the Apply button and click on the Done button when it is activated.
  6. Quit Disk Utility.


Time Machine can't unmount new external HD to initiate backups

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