How to Get Your Wd Passport to Back Up Again

How to Solve External Hard Drive Read But Error Without Formatting on Mac?

Summary: Yous volition find 3 methods to solve Mac external hard drive read merely error quickly. Free download iBoysoft NTFS for Mac if external hard drive is read but on Mac because it is formatted with Microsoft NTFS file organisation.

Subsequently an external difficult drive with Mac compatible file system is connected to a Mac computer, you tin open up it and take full read and write access. Information technology is not impossible that external hard drive is read just on Mac, preventing you lot from copying or transferring any files from Mac to the external hard drive.

For case, many people have reported that their WD My Passport read-simply on Mac and don't know how to fix Seagate external hard drive read only on Mac.

This commodity discusses 3 quick solutions to help you solve Mac external hard drive read only error, based on the three main causes listed below:

• External hard bulldoze is NTFS formatted
• Disk permission is changed every bit read only
• External hard drive is corrupted

Example one: The file system on external hard drive is NTFS

Most external hard drives and SSDs are previously formatted with Microsoft NTFS for Windows use. NTFS file system is not a Mac uniform file system considering macOS only reads it but not allows writing to it.

If you try to copy or transfer files from Mac to an NTFS-formatted external hard drive on Mac, you'll run across the greyed-out forbidden symbol shown as below. Subsequently opening the disk, all documents prove read only or locked.

What file system does Mac use then? Mac tin can fully support APFS (macOS 10.thirteen or to a higher place), HFS+, and Fat family unit. If you find your Apple external difficult bulldoze read merely, the get-go thing to bank check what file system the external HDD or SSD is formatted, NTFS or not.

How do I know if my external hard drive is NTFS file system?

Simply, you tin can check file system information by viewing its deejay information either in Deejay Utility or in the Finder.

Method 1: Check file organisation info in Deejay Utility

• 1. Click on Launchpad at the dock of your Mac and choose Other in the menu.
• 2. Choose Deejay Utility among these utilities and open it.
• 3. When it is launched, click on the external difficult drive you lot have read-simply problem with in the left sidebar. Y'all will run across an obvious "Windows NT File Organisation" in the right column.
• 

Method 2: Check file organization info in the Finder

You tin also cheque this in the Finder with a few clicks.

• i. Open the Finder and right-click on this external hard drive.
• 2. Choose Get info in the context menu.
• 3. You will run into "Windows NT File Arrangement (NTFS)" later File system if the read-only drive is formatted with Microsoft NTFS file system.
• 

How to fix NTFS external hard drive read but on Mac:

After confirming that it is the Windows NTFS file organization that makes your external hard drive read only on Mac, you can go head to fix this problem by either reformating the external hard bulldoze on Mac or using an NTFS for Mac app.

Solution one: Using NTFS for Mac tool

If you have important files on this external hard drive, and you frequently swap your work between Windows and Mac, reformatting definitely is the last solution you would resort to. Reformatting the disk will delete all files.

If you want to ready external hard drive read only on Mac without formatting, using a cross-platform NTFS commuter for Mac is the best pick.

iBoysoft NTFS for Mac is the best pick. This easy-to-operate NTFS for Mac software tin make the NTFS read just external hard bulldoze writable on Mac.

Nigh iBoysoft NTFS for Mac

iBoysoft NTFS for Mac tin can mount NTFS external difficult drives in read-write manner on your Mac, granting people full access to read NTFS drive on Mac and write files on NTFS-formatted drives.

iBoysoft NTFS for Mac- Best NTFS Disk Management for Mac

• Grant full admission to Windows NTFS file organization on Mac
• Read, write, change, transfer, and delete files on NTFS drives on Mac
• Repair NTFS disks on Mac
• Erase disks to NTFS file organisation on Mac
• Support macOS 12 to macOS 10.13
• Fully support Apple M1, M1 Pro, and M1 Max Mac

How to access external hard drive on Mac with iBoysoft NTFS for Mac:

• 1. Free download and install iBoysoft NTFS for Mac on your computer.
• 2. Connect NTFS external hard bulldoze to Mac and launch iBoysoft NTFS for Mac.
• 3. Write to NTFS external hard drive after the external hard drive is mounted in read-write mode successfully.
• 

Annotation: If you can't write to your NTFS drive later on installing the software, you lot need to install an NTFS commuter by iBoysoft and enable Arrangement Extensions as the pop-upwardly indicates. And then, the NTFS disk will exist mounted in read-write mode.

Solution 2: Enable NTFS read-write with Terminal (non recommend)

You tin can also attempt the experimental method to enable NTFS read-write support with command prompt on your Mac. In this fashion, y'all still do not need to reformat external difficult bulldoze on Mac. All attemps are at your own gamble.

Alert: Practise not use this method as a long-term solution to solve NTFS read only external hard bulldoze on Mac, especially on drives that contain important files. Meanwhile, be careful with the control line, in example that you input a wrong command and cause unexpected damages to your Mac and drives.

How to change external difficult drive from read merely on Mac with Terminal:

• 1. Click Become at the upper right of your desktop and go to the Applications > Utilities > Terminal.
• ii. Input "sudo nano /etc/fstab" to edit the fstab file (supply your password when prompted).
• iii. Type "LABEL=DISKNAME none ntfs rw,auto,nobrowse" in the editor window for the fstab file. (Be sure to change the word DISKNAME to the name of your drive)
• 4. Press Control + O to save the file, followed by Control + C and so Control + X to exit.
• 5. Unmount your NTFS drive and attach it again.

Solution three: Erase external hard bulldoze to exFAT/FAT32

If your NTFS external hard drive is new and empty, giving it a Mac uniform file arrangement is a adept thought.

How to reformat external difficult drive on Mac? You tin can just go to Disk Utility and Erase it. At that place are several formats you tin choose, and erasing this deejay into which file organisation depends on how you intend to employ the drive.

• APFS: If yous plan to use the drive on macOS 12 Monterey, xi Big Sur, x.15 Catalina, macOS 10.14 Mojave, and macOS 10.13 Loftier Sierra, you can format it into APFS for meliorate read-write speed.
• HFS+: Likewise known as Mac Bone Extended, employ this Mac file system if you are going to open this external hard drive on macOS Sierra and before Mac operating systems.
• FAT32/exFAT: Best selection if y'all demand to view files and transfer files to external storage devices both on Window and Mac.

How to Format an External Difficult Drive on Mac?

Read this detailed guide to format your external hard drive on Mac. You can format external hard drive for PC and/or Mac.Read more >>

Case 2: Disk permission is read simply

User can gear up up file permissions to decide who can delete or modify a file or programme copied to a certain drive. Thus, if the external difficult disk has read simply permission, there is no suprise to run across a message informing you that Mac external difficult drive is read only when saving changes.

Yous tin can correct-click on the icon of your disk and choose "Become info", scroll downwardly to bank check the disk privilege y'all have. If it shows read but, you don't have the permission to write to the external hard drive on this Mac.

You tin either utilize another Mac or use this external disk on Windows to bypass the effect. No 2d figurer available? Try to change permissions on the external difficult drive on Mac.

Solution 1: Change permission on external difficult drive on Mac with admin privilege

To solve Mac external hard drive read only error due to limited permission, you tin easily alter it if you are an administrator.

How to change read only permission on Apple external hard drive to read & write?

• 1. Open the Finder and find your external hard drive in the left sidebar.
• 2. Right-click on this bulldoze or book and choose Get info, and then scroll downward to Sharing & Permissions.
• 3. Extend this column by clicking on the triangle symbol, and so click on the Lock icon.
• 4. Input your admin username and countersign, and click on Read only, then alter your privilege as Read & Write in the right column.
• v. Click the gear button (Action menu) at the lesser of the window, choose Use to enclosed items, and then click OK to confirm the action.
• half-dozen. Click the Lock icon to save changes.

Solution 2: Ignore Permissions on external hard drive in the Finder

Mac operating organization includes a setting to allow an administrator to ignore permissions on external drives, so all files should exist fully accessible regardless of their permissions settings. Here below are steps to ignore the permissions on external hard drives without formatting:

• Footstep 1: Select the external hard drive in the Finder sidebar, and then printing Command + I to go information of the drive.
• Stride 2: Click on the Lock icon with admin countersign so click on the arrow by the Sharing & Permissions tab near the bottom of the window.
• Step 3: Check the box to Ignore buying on this book.
• Pace four: Click the Lock icon to save changes.

Example 3: External hard drive is corrupted

Can't change permisions on Mac? To avoid further corruption, internal deejay logic errors will forestall the organization from writing to or changing file permissions on an external difficult bulldoze. Or fifty-fifty worse, this external disk will not be mounted for use at the commencement.

Solution: Repair external hard bulldoze with First Aid

Fortunately, Mac has a built-in and gratuitous deejay repairing tool in Disk Utility named First Aid that can help you lot check and set minor file organization errors. Follow the guide below to ready read-only external difficult drive without formatting in Mac'south Deejay Utility app.

• Pace one: Open Disk Utility from Launchpad and Other folder.
• Step two: Select the deejay from the sidebar that is read only.
• Stride 3: Click Commencement Aid at the top and cull Run.
• Stride iv: Wait for a short time and see what feeback you lot get from running Showtime Assist. If it returns with "Commencement Assistance procedure is complete" message, click Done to close the window.

And then you try to remove the external hard disk and connect it back to the computer to see if yous can open up it and re-create files from Mac to it.

If First Aid doesn't brand any differences, you need to reformat the external hard bulldoze on Mac. Yous should rescue files off the external drive with data recovery software.

iBoysoft Mac Data Recovery, the costless data recovery software, works to recover information from corrupted, unmounted, inaccessible hard drives with only a few clicks: Browse, Preview, and Recover. Information technology is compatible with macOS Monterey, Big Sur, Catalina, Mojave, and earlier OS versions.

[Solved] Disk Utility'due south Start Help Repairing Process has Failed on External Hard Drives

This article tells yous what to exercise when Get-go Help failed in repairing external hard drives. Read more >>

Conclusion

Generally speaking, Mac external hard drive read-only consequence appears when it is formatted with NTFS file system, corrupted, or set with read-only disk permission. The solutions above are useful to fix external hard drive read-only on Mac without formatting.

To solve Mac external hard drive read only error due to Microsoft NTFS format, free download iBoysoft NTFS for Mac is the most efficient fashion.

Nigh author

Katrina Yuan

Katrina Yuan is a senior technical writer at iBoysoft with over four years of experience delivering knowledge nigh computer operating systems, hard drives, etc.

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Source: https://iboysoft.com/ntfs-for-mac/how-to-solve-external-hard-drive-read-only-mac-without-formatting.html

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