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 file system external hard drives on your Mac in a few clicks. The NTFS for Mac software you can try is iBoysoft NTFS for Mac to make the NTFS drives writable on Mac.

1. External Hard Drive For Mac And Pc Without Formatting Disk
2. Best External Hard Drives For Mac
3. Best Format For External Hard Drive
4. External Hard Drive For Mac And Pc Without Formatting Hard Drive
5. Format Hard Drive For Mac And Pc
6. External Hard Drive For Mac
7. Reformatting External Drive For Mac

1. To recover external hard drive without formatting using Disk Drill, follow these steps: Download and install Disk Drill for Windows. Connect the external drive and launch the program. Choose the external drive from the disk list. Click the Search for lost data button to scan the drive. Preview the recoverable data and select the files you want.
2. Connect the external hard drive to your Mac and copy the important data to the Mac PC. Now connect the external hard drive to Windows 8 computer and format it in FAT32 file system. Now you would be able to use the external hard disk on both the computers. Also refer to this link: Drives, partitions, formatting w/Mac's + PC's.

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.

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 read-only problem without formatting or not?

There are mainly three causes for this issue:

• The read-only external hard drive is NTFS file system
• You only have read permission to this external hard drive
• You can't write to external hard drives on Mac due to disk corruption

For example, many people have reported that their WD My Passport external hard drives are read-only on Mac. When you check its disk information, you will find you can only read the external hard drive on Mac. Moreover, users who use USB flash drives and SD cards on Mac also encounter this read-only 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.

Case 1: The read-only external hard drive is NTFS file system

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 Big Sur, 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. For an NTFS file system SD card on Mac, files like photos are locked as you can only read them.

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 that comes to your mind should be to check if this drive is NTFS file system.

How to check if an external hard drive is NTFS file system 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 file system in Disk Utility

• 1. Click on Launchpad at the dock of your Mac and choose Other in the menu.
• 2. Choose Disk Utility among these utilities and open it.
• 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.

Method 2: Check if an external hard drive is NTFS file system in the Finder

You can also check this in the Finder with a few clicks.

• 1. Open the Finder and right-click on this external hard drive.
• 2. Choose Get info in the context menu.
• 3. You will see 'Windows NT File System (NTFS)s' after File system if the read-only drive is formatted with Microsoft NTFS file system.

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. Try to repair the read-only external hard drive with or without formatting.

Solution 1: Using NTFS for Mac tool

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 when external drive is NTFS-formatted, how can you fix the read-only 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 file system external hard drives on your Mac in a few clicks. The NTFS for Mac software you can try is iBoysoft NTFS for Mac to make the NTFS drives writable on Mac.

About iBoysoft NTFS for Mac

iBoysoft NTFS for Mac 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 NTFS for Mac- Best NTFS Disk Management for Mac

• Grant full access to Windows NTFS file system on Mac
• Read, write, modify, transfer, and delete files on NTFS drives on Mac
• Erase disks to NTFS file system on Mac
• Unmount multiple drives with one click
• Support macOS 11 to macOS 10.13

iBoysoft NTFS for Mac is also a wonderful tool to manage NTFS external drives on Mac. It's a menu bar app, from which users can mount, repair, erase NTFS hard drives, external hard drives, SD cards, USB flash drives, etc. with a simple click.

Tutorial to write to NTFS-formatted external hard drive on Mac with iBoysoft NTFS for Mac

• 1. Free download and install iBoysoft NTFS for Mac on your computer, and then restart the Mac.
• 2. Connect NTFS external hard drive to Mac and launch iBoysoft NTFS for Mac.
• 3. Write to NTFS external hard drive after the external hard drive is mounted successfully.

Solution 2: Enable NTFS read-write with Terminal (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:

• 1. Click Go at the upper right of your desktop and go to the Applications > Utilities > Terminal.
• 2. Input 'sudo nano /etc/fstab' to edit the fstab file (supply your password when prompted).
• 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)
• 4. Press Control + O to save the file, followed byControl + X to exit.
• 5. Unmount your NTFS drive and attach it again.

Solution 3: 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 formats 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 11 Big Sur, 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 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 read-write this portable drive both on Mac and Windows OS, you'd better erase it with exFAT or FAT32.

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.

External Hard Drive For Mac And Pc Without Formatting 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 SD card even though it is not NTFS file system. That's to say, you can't write to this drive.

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 show 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.

• 1. Open the Finder and find your external hard drive in the left sidebar.
• 2. Right-click on this drive or volume and choose Get info, and then scroll down to Sharing & Permissions.
• 3. Extend this column by clicking on the triangle symbol, and then click on the Lock icon.
• 4. Input the password of your Mac, and click on Read only, then change your privilege as Read & Write in the right column.
• 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 on 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 corrupted external hard drives on Mac

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

Best External Hard Drives For Mac

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 and choose Run.

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.

Bonus part: Fix SD card read-only on Mac

Except for external hard drives, memory cards like micro SD cards and SDHC cards could be read-only on Mac as well. It could occur when your SD card is write protected, whether you access the SD card via a card slot or connect the camera to the Mac. If you have tried the solutions mentioned above and none of them work for you, here is a bonus tip.

Solution 1: For most cases, you need to make sure that you slide the write protection switch to the unlocked positition. It's possible that some USB SD card adapters don't honor that switch, but the card reader on Mac definitely does.

Solution 2: If the SD card is read-only on Mac still, you may want to slide the read-write lock to the middle neutral position and retry. Strange though, sliding the 'lock' switch on the card halfway does help mount SD cards in read-write mode.

Conclusion

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.

• How to format NTFS drives on Mac?

Though the default hard disk file system (also known as format) of Windows and Mac are different, there should be some ways to format an external drive for both Mac and PC. This post will conclude these tutorials:

• A comparison of common File Systems for Mac and PC
• Guide to format external hard drives for Mac and PC
• Guide to partition an external hard drive for Mac and Windows PC
• Make external hard drives compatible with Mac and PC without formatting

Then, after reading this post, you'll know what is the best file system for your camera's SD card and what is the best format for your Mac and PC. More importantly, you will know how to format flash drives for Mac and PC and make hard drives compatible with macOS and Windows.

Common File Systems for Mac and PC

The file system is one of the most important part for an external hard drive because it manages how your files are stored and retrieved. So, every hard disk needs a proper file system, including desktop drives and portable storage devices like external hard drives, USB flash drives and SD cards. However, different file systems have different advantages and disadvantages. So before you know how to format a hard drive, you should know the pros and cons of each file system.

1. FAT32

FAT file system includes three major file system variants but the majorly used one is FAT32. FAT32 is commonly used in floppy disks, SD memory cards, USB flash drives, digital cameras, as well as many portable and embedded devices.

Pros

• Works universally with all versions of Mac, Windows, Linux, game devices, as well as other devices supporting a USB port.

Cons

• Doesn't support a file size larger than 4GB and a drive partition size larger than 32GB on Windows.
• Doesn't support the drive partition larger than 2TB on macOS.

2. exFAT

exFAT is a good option for external hard drives (e.g. Seagate Backup Plus Slim), especially for large-capacity removable storage devices. It also is frequently used in flash memory drives such as USB flash drives and SD cards. exFAT is easily often implemented in firmware that has low memory and low power requirements, such as cameras, mobile phones, media players, etc.

Pros

• Supports the largest partition and file sizes by today's standards.

Cons

• Not compatible with too much old operating systems.
• Not a good option for drives less than 32GB because it can't maximize space utilization.

3. NTFS

NTFS is a proprietary journaling file system developed by Microsoft. It is used as the default file system of Windows system hard drive (e.g. Windows 10). NTFS does well in data security based on its encryption, access permission control, and log file.

Pros

• Improved performance, reliability, and disk space use.
• Performs better in protecting data security, data management.
• Compatible with all versions of Windows and latest hardware.

Cons

• Read-only in macOS and the disabled-by-default write support for NTFS in macOS is unstable.

4. Mac OS Extended (HFS+)

HFS Plus or HFS+ is a journaling file system developed by Apple Inc. It's the startup disk’s default file system before macOS High Sierra. It also frequently used as Time Machine backup external hard drives of WD, Seagate, etc.

Pros

• Supported by all versions of Mac OS X and macOS.
• Has journaling, compression, and encryption features.

Cons

• Has no access permission control.
• Perfoms slow or crash in dealing with a large number of files.
• Harder for data recovery when an HFS+ hard drive is corrupted.

5. Apple file system (APFS)

APFS is the new proprietary file system of Apple. It has been known to increase read/write speeds on solid-state drives (SSDs), as well as increase storage space due to the way in which it calculates the available data on disk.

Pros

• Allows full-disk encryption with single or multi-key encryption for added security.
• Efficient in management of free storage space

Cons

• Not good for Time Machine backup due to no support for hard links to directories.
• Can only be used on macOS 10.13 and above.

After knowing their unique specifications, it becomes easier to choose the best file system for your storage device. For instance, you would know why exFAT is better for camera SD cards, or why NTFS is better for external backup drive on Windows 10. In a word, you can format or reformat your external hard drive per your requirement, either for Mac and PC.

Warning: Formatting will erase data on this drive. So, make sure you have a backup. However, if you have formatted this drive and lose files, you can recover lost data from formatted external hard drive with iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac.

Best Format For External Hard Drive

How to format external hard drives for Mac?

To format external hard drives on Mac, you'll need the built-in disk management tool called Disk Utility. Then, you need to choose the best file system for your external hard drive when erase it.

Tips: Remember to back up the files on the external hard drive if you have saved anything important on it.

• Guide to format external hard drive on Mac computer.

• Guide to format NTFS drives on Mac.

How to format external hard drives for Windows computer?

Similarly, you can also format your drive on Windows computers with a utility called Disk Management.

Tips: To prevent data loss during formatting, make sure you haven't saved important files on the drive. If you have, backup them first.

• Guide to initialize and format external hard drive on Windows computer.

How to format an external hard drive for Mac and PC?

It's important to know how to format an external hard drive for your Mac and PC before you use it to free up space and transfer files between computers. If you don't format the external hard drive correctly, it won't work to the utmost extent. For instance,Windows uses NTFS, while Mac uses HFS+ or APFS. Out of the box, Windows can't read or write to HFS+/APFS drives and Macs can't write to NTFS drives either.

Sometimes, users need to use the same external hard drive interchangeably on Mac and PC. To make it compatible with both macOS and Windows, you need to reformat the external hard drive.

Whether you are using an APFS/HFS+ or a Windows NTFS formatted external hard drive on Mac, you can reformat the external hard drives for both Mac and PC. File systems like FAT32 and exFAT can make the external HDD compatible with both Macs and Windows PCs.

Warning: Reformatting will wipe files off the external hard drive. So, you should make sure you have backed up your files on the external hard drive before you continue any steps.

When should you choose FAT32 file system?

FAT32 works with almost any operating system as well as video game consoles, Android USB expansions, media players, and other devices. However, FAT32 can only support files up to 4 GB in size. So, If all your files on the external hard drive are smaller than 4 GB, and the drive itself is smaller than 2 TB, then FAT32 is a better choice for you to use the hard drive on Mac and PC.

When should you choose exFAT file system?

Similarly, exFAT is also a widely compatible file system. The difference is that exFAT has no limitations on file size and hard drive size. So, when the external HDD you want to used for both Mac and PC is larger than 2 TB, exFAT is the best choice.

After you choose the best format for your drive, you can format or reformat the external hard drive in Disk Utility as it was introduced. Then the external hard drive will work both for Mac and PC.

When should you choose NTFS file system?

Some users would prefer to the features of Windows NTFS file system. However, naturally, Disk Utility can't format external hard drive to NTFS. If you want an hard drive that you can only read on Mac but have full access on Windows, NTFS is the best choice. You can also use iBoysoft NTFS for Mac to reformat the external hard drive with NTFS on Mac.

• 1. Download and install iBoysoft NTFS for Mac on your Mac.Then, restart your Mac.
• 2. Connect the external hard drive to your Mac and launch this software.
• 3. Find Disk Management in its main menu and click on it.
• 4. Locate the volume you want to reformat, select it, and then click on Erase to NTFS.

What to do if you can’t format the external hard drive on Mac?

Usually, to format the external hard drive as FAT32 or exFAT, you are advised to do this on a Mac computer via Disk Utility. But if you have formatted the external hard drive under the Windows system, it would cause some inconvenience. You can't add or re-partition volumes of the external hard drive again on Mac. In this case, your only choice is to backup your files and reformat the whole disk.

How to partition an external hard drive for Mac and Windows PC?

Except for having the whole external hard drive formatted, you can also split this disk with two partitions. One is formatted with the file system that is compatible with macOS, another partition is compatible with Windows conversely. By this means, you can use all the advantages each format has on the respective system.

Warning: Still, you need to back up files on this drive before you begin to create two separate partitions to work for Mac and Windows PC.

For some Mac models, the partition option would be greyed out in Disk Utility. So, we suggest that it's better to use a PC to partition an external hard drive for macOS and Windows. Here are the steps to partition an external hard drive for Mac and Windows PC, which is a little tricky.

Step 1: Connect the external hard drive to your PC and then launch Disk Management.

Step 2: Check if the external hard drive is initialized or not.

If the drive is not initialized, you need to initialize the external hard drive with Master Boot Record (MBR). Then you can create two new partitions. You need to format one of them as NTFS for Windows use and format the other as your wish.

If the external hard drive is initialized, you need to right-click the disk to check if it's an MBR external hard drive.

• If you see Convert to GPT Disk in the context menu, be it greyed out or lighted, it’s an MBR hard drive. Then you can create two or more partitions. And you need to prepare one partition for NTFS file system, and reformat with any file system.
• If you see Convert to MBR Disk in the menu, it's an GPT hard drive. In this case, you need first backup files, delete the existing partitions, then click the Convert to MBR Disk button. Then, you can create two new partitions. You need to format one partition as NTFS for Windows use, and then format the other randomly.

Step 3: Up to now, there should be at least two partitions on the external hard drive. And one of them (the NTFS one) is ready for Windows use. Then, you need to safely remove the external hard drive and plug it into a Mac.

Step 4: Open Disk Utility and select the other partition (not the NTFS one) under the name of your external hard drive.

Step 5: Click Erase on the top, choose Mac OS Extended format when it asks, and chose Erase to finish.

Up to now, the external hard drive will have two partitions. One is HFS+ formatted for Mac, and the other is NTFS formatted for Windows.

By creating two separate partitions, you can use this external hard drive on both Mac and Windows. You won't be able to write to the Mac partition from your Windows computer, and vice versa. Thus, it's a good solution for people who need to swap between two operating systems but with separate work.

Make external hard drives compatible with Mac and PC without formatting

Many famous external hard drives like Seagate Backup Plus Ultra Touch and WD My Passport are pre-formatted with NTFS. However, the NTFS file system is a hassle for users who need to use the same external hard drive on both Mac and Windows. The external hard drive is not letting you add files if you use an NTFS external HDD on Mac. It will be read-only and you can't write to this drive normally in this case.

Many users don't know this and use the external hard drive directly. And when they want to reformat the hard drive to use it interchangeably, only to find that files on the drive are erased as well.

Then, can you solve external hard drive read-only without formatting?

Definitely! If you want to use NTFS formatted external hard drives on Mac, software like iBoysoft NTFS for Mac that might be helpful.

iBoysoft NTFS for Mac - professional NTFS driver for Mac

iBoysoft NTFS for Mac is a professional NTFS for Mac software, which can automatically mount NTFS drives in read-write mode on Mac. It supports macOS Big Sur 11/Catalina 10.15/Mojave 10.14/High Sierra 10.13.

With this useful tool, you'll have full access to NTFS drives on Mac and make your external hard drive interchangeable between Macs and PCs without formatting. Also, you can mount and unmount NTFS drives from the Mac menu bar with advanced and optimized options.

External Hard Drive For Mac And Pc Without Formatting Hard Drive

What's more, iBoysoft NTFS for Mac is also a handy tool to manage NTFS external drives. You can use it to easily mount, unmount, repair, erase NTFS external hard drives, USB flash drives, SD cards, memory cards, CF cards, pen drives, etc. on Mac.

Format Hard Drive For Mac And Pc

Tutorial to mount NTFS external hard drive on macOS with read-write mode with iBoysoft NTFS for Mac

External Hard Drive For Mac

• 1. Free download, install, and launch iBoysoft NTFS for Mac on your computer.
• 2. Connect your NTFS external hard drive to Mac, and iBoysoft NTFS for Mac will automatically mount it.
• 3. Write to NTFS external hard drive after the disk has been mounted in read-write mode successfully.

Reformatting External Drive For Mac

If you want to use HFS+ or APFS formatted external hard drives on Windows, you can also attempt to install HFS+ for Windows software or APFS for Windows software on your PC to get read and write access to this external hard drive.

Conclusion

To sum up, it is easy to format an external hard drive for both Mac and Windows PC. You can either choose to format the whole disk as exFAT/FAT, or you can create two separate partitions of HFS+ and NTFS if you prefer. But compared with formatting, an NTFS for Mac driver like iBoysoft NTFS for Mac is a better and feasible solution.