Can't select external HD in Time Machine

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Hey everyone, need some help with my MacBook. Had it about 6 months now, still new to Macs and fairly clueless!

I'm trying to back up via Time Machine on an external HD. The drive works fine, I was using it to back up photos before.

When I open Time Machine and click to select a backup disk, there's nothing on the list. And no matter where I click, it never gives me the option to select the external HD. Tried clicking to set up a Time Capsule, whatever that is, and it only looks for wireless Apple devices.

Can anyone tell me how to use this drive with Time Machine?
 

chscag

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2017 27" iMac, 10.5" iPad Pro, iPhone 8, iPhone 11, iPhone 12 Mini, Numerous iPods, Monterey
Can anyone tell me how to use this drive with Time Machine?

Time Machine will only back up to a drive formatted to the Mac HFS+ file system. What format is the external drive using? If it isn't HFS+, you'll need to use Disk Utility to erase it and format it correctly for TM usage.
 

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