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A number of Mac owners have installed Windows on their Macs for a variety of reasons. While some users have installed Windows on Mac without the Boot Camp Assistant software, most users have installed Windows using the native Boot Camp Assistant software.
If you have installed Windows 1o/8 on Mac with or without the help of Boot Camp, you probably are aware of the fact that one can’t write to Mac’s partition from Windows with default settings. That is, while you can open a file located on the Mac’s partition, you can’t edit and save a file located on Mac’s partition.
This also means that you can copy files from Mac partition to Windows but can’t copy or move a file to Mac partition while using Windows operating system. This is because Apple has included read-only HFS+ driver with Boot Camp and it lets you only copy and open files saved on Mac’s HFS+ partition.
Whenever you attempt to copy a file to Mac’s partition, you see Destination Folder Access Denied dialog box with “You need permission to perform this action” message. Even though this certainly provides a better security for Mac OS X, you can’t write to Mac’s partition without adding HFS+ write support to Windows.
But you can open HFSExplorer, read a Mac-formatted drive, and copy the files to your Windows PC without paying a dime. It can also mount Mac.dmg disk images to get at the files inside them. This application’s read-only nature isn’t necessarily a bad thing. EDIT: I realize that there are other third party options to get both read and write support for HFS+, but I am specifically looking for an option built in by Apple. Macos mac multi-boot boot-camp hfs+.
Download this free HFS+ driver for Windows 10 and Windows 8.1 in order to easily copy and move files to Mac partition from Windows 10/8.1. This is because Apple has included read-only HFS+ driver with Boot Camp and it lets you only copy and open files saved on Mac’s HFS+ partition. Download and install Microsoft NTFS for Mac by Paragon Software onto your Mac. Restart your Mac. Microsoft NTFS volumes connected to your Mac are available and ready to use. Mount in read-only if you need to access sensitive data without modifying any files. HFS+ deleted file recovery freeware to restore our lost files. Compared with HFS file system, HFS+ file system has changed the way how information is stored and maintained, and can be more reliable. How to fix read only external hard drive on Mac?
There are plenty of applications out there to enable write support but most of them either don’t work and the programs that work aren’t free.
Paragon HFS+ driver for Windows 10 and 8.1
Mac users who have installed Windows 10/8.1 on their Macs can now download HFS+ driver for free of cost. Yes, Paragon Software has recently released free HFS+ driver for Windows 10/8.1 to help users easily copy and move files to Mac’s partition from Windows 10/8.1.
The good thing is that you can add HFS+ full support to Windows 10/8.1 by simply installing this HFS+ driver and don’t need to configure at all. Visit the download link mentioned at the end of this article, download HFS+ driver for Windows 8/8.1, and then install the same. Once installed, you’ll be asked to perform a reboot to add HFS+ support.
After installing HFS+ driver in Windows 10/8.1, you can copy and move files to and from your Mac’s drive without any errors and restrictions. Please note that HFS+ driver for Windows 10/8.1 doesn’t support Windows 7 and you need to purchase HFS+ driver for Windows 7, meaning Paragon HFS+ driver for Windows 7 isn’t free.
Download HFS+ driver
NOTE: Although HFS+ driver for Windows 10/8.1 from Paragon Software is free, you need to provide your email ID in order to receive free license key. While installing the HFS+ driver, you’ll see a screen asking product key and serial number. Simply click Get free serial button, type your email ID and click send button to receive serial number and serial number.
By Katrina | Posted to NTFS for Mac, updated on July 29th, 2019 |
External hard drives are important storage media for both Mac and Windows users. Usually, you can read and write to files on an external hard drive on your Mac. But there are chances that this external hard drive shows read-only on Mac. When you check its disk information, you will find you can only read this external hard drive. Moreover, users who use SD cards, USB flash drives, etc. on Mac could also encounter this read-only problem.
You may be wondering why you can't write to this external hard drive even though you are the owner of this disk, and more importantly, if you can fix this problem.
Thus, this post will analyze three external hard drive read-only cases so that you can find a relevant and feasible solution to your problem.
- Table of contents
- Case 1: The read-only external hard drive is NTFS formatted
- Case 2: Disk permissions are changed as read-only
- Case 3: Can't write to external hard drives on Mac due to disk errors
- Conclusion
Case 1: The read-only external hard drive is NTFS formatted
A file system controls how data is stored and retrieved on a disk. There are many different kinds of file systems, and each one has different structure and logic, properties of speed, flexibility, security, size, etc. By default, Windows uses Microsoft NTFS file system while Macs use HFS and APFS for OS volume. FAT32 and exFAT are usable for both Windows and Mac operating systems.
That's to say, you are unable to write to NTFS drives on macOS Catalina, Mojave, and any earlier Mac operating systems . If you try to copy or drag files on an NTFS-formatted external hard drive on Mac, you'll be unable to but see the greyed-out no symbol as below. And when you open files on this external hard drive, you will find your documents being read-only and photos being locked.
Therefore, if you find your external hard drive read-only, for example, a Seagate external hard drive shows read-only on Mac, the first thing comes to your mind should be to check if this drive is NTFS formatted.
How to check if an external hard drive is NTFS formatted on Mac?
Simply, you can check this by viewing its disk information either in Disk Utility or in the Finder, and here is how.
Method 1: Check if an external hard drive is NTFS formatted in Disk Utility
Step 1: Click on Launchpad at the dock of your Mac and choose Other in the menu.
Step 2: Choose Disk Utility among these utilities and open it.
Step 3: When it is launched, click on the external hard drive you have problem with in the left sidebar. You will see an obvious 'Windows NT File System' in the right column.
Then, after making sure that it is the Windows NTFS file system that makes your external hard drive read-only on Mac, you can go head to fix this problem.
Method 2: Check if an external hard drive is NTFS formatted in the Finder
You can also check this in the Finder with a few clicks.
Step 1: Open the Finder and right-click on this external hard drive.
Step 2: Choose Get info in the context menu.
Step 3: You will see 'Windows NT File System' after the Format Sim 4 all dlc torrent. if this drive is formatted with Microsoft NTFS file system.
Solution 1: Format this external hard drive to exFAT/FAT32
It is possible that you just recently bought a new hard drive and found it is formatted as NTFS. In this case, if you don't have anything important on this drive or you have a copy of a data backup, you can simply format this external hard drive without worrying about data loss. To formatting this read-only hard drive, you can just go to Disk Utility and erase it.
There are several format you can choose, and erasing this disk into which file system depends on how you intend to use the drive.
- APFS: If you plan to use the drive on macOS 10.15 Catalina, macOS 10.14 Mojave, and macOS 10.13 High Sierra, you can format it into APFS for better experience.
- HFS+: It is also known as Mac OS Extended, whose later versions was added journaling to prevent corruption of the file system structure. Therefore, you can choose HFS+ if you are going to use this external hard drive on macOS Sierra and earlier Mac operating systems.
- FAT32/exFAT: If your storage device is an SD card or USB flash drive, and you'd like to use this portable drive both on Mac and Windows OS, you'd better erase it with exFAT or FAT32.
Solution 2: Run NTFS for Mac software on Mac
However, if you have several important files on this external hard drive, and you frequently swap your work between Windows and Mac computers, formatting this drive definitely is the last solution you would resort to. The reason is, as you may know, formatting a hard disk will wipe your data out of this drive and cause data loss.
Then how can you fix the 'read-only' NTFS-formatted drive without formatting?
An NTFS driver for Mac should be the most convenient tool for people who want to fix this issue without formatting, because you can work natively and seamlessly on NTFS formatted external hard drives on your Mac in a few clicks. There are two NTFS for Mac software you can try to make the NTFS drives writable on Mac.
![Free civilization download for mac](http://img.brothersoft.com/screenshots/softimage/c/civilization_iv-373271-1275363704.jpeg)
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1. iBoysoft Drive Manager - NTFS drive, external drive and network drive manager
The first tool welcomed by many users is iBoysoft Drive Manager. It can mount NTFS external hard drives in read-write mode on your Mac, granting people full access to read, write, edit, copy, and delete files on NTFS-formatted drives.
iBoysoft Drive Manager - Best NTFS for Mac Driver and More
- Grant full access to write, edit, copy, move, transfer, and delete files on NTFS formatted external hard drives, SD cards, USB flash drives, etc. on Mac
- Map network drives as local drives
- Safely eject external drives on Sleep mode
- Mount/unmount multiple drives with one click
- Support macOS 10.14/10.13/10.12 and OS X 10.11/10.10/10.9/10.8/10.7
iBoysoft Drive Manager is also a wonderful tool to manage external drives and map network drives locally. It's a menu bar app, from which users can mount, unmount and remount several network drives, hard drives, external hard drives, SD cards, USB flash drives, etc. with a single click.
Tutorial to write to NTFS-formatted external hard drive on Mac with iBoysoft Drive Manager
Step 1: Free download, install and launch iBoysoft Drive Manager on your Mac.
Step 2: Connect NTFS external hard drive to Mac.
Step 3: Write to NTFS external hard drive after getting notified that the external hard drive is mounted successfully.
2. NTFS Assistant - the cheapest NTFS for Mac app
Another NTFS for Mac app is NTFS Assistant. It has excellent performance but charges at a low price in App Store. Thus, it is the best way to save files from macOS to an NTFS drive and make read-only external hard drive writable without formatting. It is compatible with macOS Mojave 10.14/macOS High Sierra 10.13/10.12 Sierra and Mac OS X 10.11/10.10/10.9/10.8/10.7.
Guidance to download and use NTFS Assistant
Step 1: Download and install NTFS Assistant fromApp Store >>.
Step 2: Download and installNTFS Assistant Helper >> to enable NTFS read-write access.
Step 3: After getting the notification that the external hard disk is mounted successfully, you will be able to write to this NTFS drive on your Mac.
Both iBoysoft Drive Manager and NTFS Assistant can help you solve read-only external hard drive without formatting.
You can also check this video tutorial.
Solution 3: Fix read-only NTFS external hard drives with the command line (not recommend)
You can also try the experimental method to enable NTFS read-write support with command prompt on your Mac. However, it is not recommended as it is not stable and could result in data loss if it goes wrong. So, use the command line with caution!
Warning: Do not use this method as a long-term solution to write to NTFS drives that contain important files. Meanwhile, do not use this method if you are not familiar with the command line, in case that you input a wrong command and cause unexpected damage to your Mac and drives.
Well, if you insist…here is how to do this:
Step 1: Click Go at the upper right of your desktop and go to the Applications >Utilities >Terminal.
Step 2: Input 'sudo nano /etc/fstab' to edit the fstab file (supply your password when prompted).
Step 3: Type 'LABEL=NAME none ntfs rw,auto,nobrowse' in the editor window for the fstab file. (Be sure to change the word NAME to the name of your drive)
Step 4: Press Control+O to save the file, followed by Control+X to exit.
Step 5: Unmount your NTFS drive and attach it again.
Case 2: Disk permissions are changed as read-only
The Sharing and Permissions option is set up to determine who can delete or modify a file or program copied to the drive. Thus, if the permissions are changed by you or others, a message will pop up and inform you that the file is read-only or you don't have permission to save when you save changes to this disk.
In this case, if you right-click on the icon of your disk and choose 'Get info' to check the disk information, you will find you can only read this external hard drive or SSD even though it is not NTFS formatted. That's to say, you can't write to this drive.
![Word Word](https://dl2.macupdate.com/images/icons256/48015.png?d=1428238386)
If this is the cause for your external hard drive being read-only, you can try the following solutions and fix this issue without formatting your drive.
Solution 1: Change the permission of this external hard drive
If your files on this external hard drive shows as read-only or locked, or if you try to move some files to the Trash but get no response, you can try to change the permission of this disk.
Step 1: Open the Finder and find your external hard drive in the left sidebar.
Step 2: Right-click on this drive or volume and choose Get info, and then scroll down to Sharing & Permissions.
Step 3: Extend this column by clicking on the triangle symbol, and then click on the Lock button.
Step 4: Input the password of your Mac, and click on Read only, then change your privilege as Read & Write in the right column.
Step 5: Click the gear button (Action menu) at the bottom of the window, choose Apply to enclosed items, and then click OK to confirm the action.
Solution 2: Ignore Permissions on external hard drive in the Finder
To prevent such errors from happening, Mac operating system includes a setting to ignore Permissions on external drives, so all files on the drive should be fully accessible regardless of their Permissions settings. Here below are steps to ignore the permission on external hard drives:
Step 1: Select the external hard drive on your desktop or in the Finder sidebar, and then press Command + I to get information on the drive.
Step 2: Click on the arrow that is at the left side of the Sharing & Permissions tab near the bottom of the window.
Step 3: Check the box to Ignore ownership on this volume, or toggle it off and then on if it's already enabled. (Provide the password of your Mac if it is required.)
Case 3: Can't write to external hard drives on Mac due to disk errors
Some internal errors will cause a drive to be read-only as well. When this happens, your drive will be only mounted in read-only mode to prevent the data on it from corruption.
Solution: Repair read-only external hard drive with Disk Utility
Fortunately, you can take some actions to repair these minor disk errors with Disk Utility on your Mac. You can use the following guide to fix read-only external hard drive in Disk Utility without formatting.
Step 1: Click Go at the upper right of your desktop and go to Utilities, and then open Disk Utility.
Step 2: Select the read-only external hard drive on the left window.
Step 3: Click First Aid in the top center and choose Run.
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However, it is possible that an NTFS format is not the culprit of your disk being read-only. On the contrary, some other reasons make your disk not writable. For instance, if your disk becomes read-only after a macOS update, you may be facing one of the rare glitches of a macOS. Under this circumstance, if the solutions above are unable to fix this read-only external hard drive, you may need to format this drive, and then recover your important data from the formatted external hard drive instead.
Conclusion:
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Generally speaking, external hard drives being read-only on Mac appears when they are not formatted correctly and the solutions above should be helpful. Nevertheless, if you failed to repair this hard disk even with Disk Utility, it could be a failed external hard drive which needs to be replaced, or you can try your luck by sending it to a local disk repair service.