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Timothy1525's avatar
Timothy1525
Iron Contributor
Jan 21, 2025

What's the best NTFS for Mac software for Apple Silicon Device?

Hi, Long time Windows 10 user here and recently bought a MacBook Pro M3. One of my portable hard drive was formatted on Windows 10 with NTFS format. But I can't move files from my drive to Mac. Afte...
device management
Eorku's avatar
Eorku
Iron Contributor
Jan 21, 2025

NTFS is a proprietary file system developed by Microsoft. It's the default file system for Windows operating systems since Windows XP. If you want to write to an NTFS-formatted drive on a Mac, you'll need to install an NTFS driver because macOS doesn't provide native write support for NTFS out of the box.

To write to NTFS drives on a Mac, you need to install a third-party NTFS driver. These drivers enable macOS to communicate with NTFS-formatted drives in a way that allows both reading and writing. Now, you can use the free command line tool for copying files to NTFS drive on Mac.

brew install ntfs-3sg 

sudo umount /dev/diskXsY 

sudo mount -t ntfs -o rw,auto,nobrowse /dev/diskXsY /Volumes/YourDriveName

Configure the system to allow NTFS-3SG to manage NTFS drives. This involves modifying system files and could pose security risks if not done correctly.

The drive won’t appear on the desktop automatically. To access it, open Finder and press Cmd + Shift + G, then enter /Volumes/YourDriveName.

Though macOS doesn't natively support writing to NTFS-formatted drives, installing a NTFS for Mac software is a reliable solution to enable this functionality. If you frequently transfer files between Windows and Mac systems, investing in a reliable NTFS driver can significantly streamline your workflow and enhance compatibility across platforms.

 

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