Forum Discussion
How can I read and write an ntfs drive on Mac?
I recently encountered a problem when using a Mac computer, and I hope to get some help here. My problem is that I can't read and write NTFS drives on Mac. I know that the default setting of the Mac system is that it can only read the contents of NTFS drives, but not write. This is very inconvenient for me because I often need to transfer files between Windows and Mac.
I have tried some methods and tools, but I still haven't found a stable and safe solution. Does anyone know how to effectively read and write NTFS-formatted hard drives on Mac? If you have any good suggestions or experiences, it would be great if you could share them with me, thank you very much!
Writing to NTFS is not supported by Mac natively. You have to install file system library to enable this feature. Here is one good example to let you copy files to NTFS drive on any Mac:
https://www.appleinsidez.com/read-write-ntfs-drive-on-mac
Let me know if you need more assistance on this.
18 Replies
I have used a tool called Donemax NTFS which is more mature and relatively simple to use. I read the comments section, I feel that the solution is still a little complicated, some methods need to have a technical basis for people to get started. Personally, I recommend using third-party tools to be more convenient.
Writing to NTFS is not supported by Mac natively. You have to install file system library to enable this feature. Here is one good example to let you copy files to NTFS drive on any Mac:
https://www.appleinsidez.com/read-write-ntfs-drive-on-mac
Let me know if you need more assistance on this.
- It's nice that macOS now supports reading NTFS drives out of the box (no additional software required)! You can easily copy files from an NTFS drive to your Mac, which is pretty convenient if you just need to grab something from a Windows-formatted drive.
However, the fact that you can't write to NTFS drives on a Mac without third-party software is definitely a limitation. If you need to actually modify files, save new ones, or transfer data back to the NTFS drive, you're out of luck unless you pull in some extra software. Alright, let's break down the whole exFAT thing when you're thinking about switching from NTFS to exFAT for your drives on a Mac. Sure, there are some solid perks—like being able to read and write NTFS drives on Mac and Windows without extra software—but there are also a few downsides you should consider:
The biggest disadvantage is that formatting the drive to exFAT wipes everything on it. If you've got files on that NTFS drive and you don't have backups, goodbye data! It's a total bummer to lose stuff, especially if it's important. Trust me, I've learned that lesson the hard way before. Always have your backups ready!While exFAT can handle large file sizes, there are still some quirks. You can't have files larger than 16 exabytes (which is massive), but exFAT can struggle with very large files on some older systems. I haven't run into that too often, but it's something to keep in mind if you're working with super huge video files or databases.
- To write to NTFS on Mac for free with Mounty, download the application from the official website or the Mac App Store. Once installed, connect your NTFS drive to your Mac, and Mounty will automatically detect the drive and prompt you to re-mount it in read-write mode. Simply follow the on-screen instructions, and within moments, your NTFS drive will be accessible for both reading and writing. This utility is especially useful for users who frequently switch between operating systems and need a hassle-free method to manage their files on NTFS drives.
- Are you trying to read and write to NTFS drives on Mac? Well, the method I'm about to share with you is a decent solution, but it's not without its drawbacks.
First off, you'll need to install Windows 10 on your Mac using Boot Camp Assistant. This will require partitioning your hard drive and installing Windows alongside macOS. This means you'll need to dedicate a significant amount of space on your Mac for Windows. Not ideal if you're running low on storage space.
Once you've installed Windows, you'll need to restart your Mac and boot into the Windows installer. This will take some time, and during this process, your Mac will restart a few times. Not exactly the most convenient experience. Another free way to write NTFS drive on Mac is using the macFuse command line utility. To do this, please first install Command Line Tools for Xcode and Homebrew package manager. After that, Then you will need to download and install the latest version of macFUSE from GitHub releases page.
brew install --cask macfuse
Restart your Mac. After that, install package ntfs-3g-mac from Terminal.
brew tap gromgit/homebrew-fuse
brew install ntfs-3g-macMount NTFS drive on Mac and start writing NTFS drive from the mounted volume:
sudo nano /usr/local/sbin/mount_ntfs
Mounty is a lightweight macOS utility that allows users to write to NTFS-formatted drives. Since macOS natively supports only read access to NTFS drives, Mounty bridges this gap without requiring complex configurations or third-party drivers. It works by re-mounting the NTFS drive in read-write mode using macOS’s built-in NTFS support.
To write to NTFS on Mac for free with Mounty, download the application from the official website or the Mac App Store. Once installed, connect your NTFS drive to your Mac, and Mounty will automatically detect the drive and prompt you to re-mount it in read-write mode. Simply follow the on-screen instructions, and within moments, your NTFS drive will be accessible for both reading and writing. This utility is especially useful for users who frequently switch between operating systems and need a hassle-free method to manage their files on NTFS drives.
- To enable both read and write access to a drive on both macOS and Windows, you can format the drive to exFAT. exFAT is a file system that is compatible with both operating systems. Formatting the drive will erase all the data on it, so make sure to back up any important files!
Right-click on the drive and select Format. In the Format dialog box, choose exFAT from the File System dropdown menu. You can also set a name for the drive in the Volume Label field. Click OK to start the formatting process.
After formatting, connect the drive to your Mac. Access the Drive: The drive should now appear on your desktop or in Finder, and you should have full read and write access to it. By formatting your NTFS drive to exFAT, you enable seamless read and write operations on both macOS and Windows without the need for additional software or dual-booting. AdamsRobinson You can install Windows 10 on your Mac using Boot Camp Assistant. After that, boot into Windows 10 on your Mac and start reading and writing NTFS on macOS. However, this only works for Intel Mac.
- Download the Windows 10 ISO file from the official Microsoft website.
- Go to Applications > Utilities and open Boot Camp Assistant. Follow the on-screen instructions to partition your hard drive and install Windows 10.
- Boot Camp Assistant will guide you through the installation process. When prompted, choose the partition size for Windows (at least 64GB recommended).
- Your Mac will restart and boot into the Windows installer.
- Once Windows is installed, the Boot Camp installer will appear. Follow the instructions to install Apple’s Boot Camp drivers, which ensure your Mac hardware works correctly with Windows.
- Once Windows is set up, you can access and write to NTFS drives just as you would on a native Windows machine.
By installing Windows 10 on your Mac with Boot Camp, you will be able to write to NTFS drives while running Windows. Alternatively, if you want to avoid dual-booting, you can use third-party NTFS for Mac software to enable write access to NTFS drives directly from macOS.
