Apple’s macOS can read from Windows-formatted NTFS drives, but can’t write to them out of the box. Here are a few solutions for getting full read/write access to NTFS drives.
This could be useful if you want to write to a Boot Camp partition on your Mac, as Windows system partitions must use the NTFS file system. However, for external drives, you should probably use exFAT instead. macOS can natively read and write to exFAT drives, just like Windows can.
Microsoft NTFS for Mac by Paragon Software is a great upgrade to an exceptional cross-platform utility that’s easily worth the money, especially if you own the previous version 14, in which case this one’s free. About HFS+, the primary file system for Macintosh computers, while Mac OS X only provides read access to NTFS. While Paragon NTFS for Mac solves this naughty issue in Mac OS X, Paragon HFS+ for Windows does it in.
Three Options
RELATED:What’s the Difference Between FAT32, exFAT, and NTFS?
There are several options for this, and you’ll need to choose one:
We highly recommend paying for a third-party NTFS driver if you need to do this as the other solutions don’t work as well and are more work to set up.
The Best Paid Third-Party Driver: Paragon NTFS for Mac
Paragon NTFS for Mac costs $19.95 and offers a ten-day free trial. It’ll install cleanly and easily on modern versions of macOS, including macOS 10.12 Sierra and Mac OS X 10.11 El Capitan. It really does “just work”, so it’s the best option if you’re willing to pay a small amount of money for this feature.
You also won’t have to fiddle with terminal commands to manually mount partitions, insecurely mount partitions automatically, or deal with potential corruption as you will with the free drivers below. If you need this feature, paying for software that does it properly is worth it. We cannot stress this enough.
If you own a Seagate drive, be aware that Seagate offers a free download of Paragon NTFS for Mac so you won’t have to purchase anything extra.
You could also purchase Tuxera NTFS for Mac, which costs $31 and offers a fourteen-day free trial. But Paragon NTFS does the same thing and is cheaper.
The Best Free Third-Party Drivers: FUSE for macOS
This method is free, but it requires a good bit of work, and is less secure. To make your Mac automatically mount NTFS partitions in read-write mode, you’ll have to temporarily disable System Integrity Protection and replace one of Apple’s built-in tools with a binary that is more vulnerable to attack. So this method is a security risk.
However, you can use FUSE to mount NTFS partitions in read-write mode manually if you don’t mind using the Terminal. This is more secure, but it’s more work.
First, download FUSE for macOS and install it. Use the default options when installing it.
RELATED:How to Install Packages with Homebrew for OS X
You’ll also need Apple’s command line developer tools installed to continue. If you haven’t installed them yet, you can open a Terminal window from Finder > Applications > Utilities and run the following command to do so:
Click “Install” when you’re prompted to install the tools.
RELATED:How to Install Packages with Homebrew for OS X
In addtion, you’ll need to download and install homebrew if you haven’t already installed it on your Mac. Homebrew is a “package manager” for Mac OS X. Copy-paste the following command into a Terminal window and press Enter to install it:
Cac reader for mac best buy. Press Enter and provide your password when prompted. The script will automatically download and install Homebrew.
Once you’ve installed the developer tools and Homebrew, run the following command in a Terminal window to install ntfs-3g:
You can now manually mount NTFS partitions in read/write mode. From a terminal window, run the following command to create a mount point at /Volumes/NTFS. You only need to do this once.
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When you connect an NTFS drive to the computer, run the following command to list any disk partitions:
You can then identify the device name of the NTFS partition. Just look for the partition with the Windows_NTFS file system. In the screenshot below, it’s
/dev/disk3s1 .
The NTFS partition was probably automatically mounted by your Mac, so you’ll need to unmount it first. Run the following command, replacing
/dev/disk2s1 with the device name of your NTFS partition.
To mount the drive, run the following command, replacing
/dev/disk2s1 with the device name of your NTFS partition.
You’ll see the file system mounted at /Volumes/NTFS. It will also appear on your desktop as a normal mounted drive. You can eject it normally when you want to unplug it.
If you’re happy manually mounting partitions with the above instructions, you don’t have to continue.
RELATED:How to Disable System Integrity Protection on a Mac (and Why You Shouldn’t)
If you want to make your Mac automatically mount NTFS drives you connect in read-write mode, you’ll need to disable System Integrity Protection.
Warning: You probably don’t want to do this! The software’s official instructions warn that this is a security risk. You will be replacing the NTFS mount tools in your Mac with the ntfs-3g tools, which will run as the root user. Because of the way Homebrew installs software, malware running on your Mac could overwrite these tools. It’s probably not work the risk, but we’ll explain how to do if if you want to take the risk.
Reboot your Mac and hold Command+R while it’s booting. It’ll boot into a special recovery mode environment.
Launch a terminal from the Utilities menu in recovery mode and run the following command:
Once you have, reboot your Mac normally.
From the Mac desktop, open a Terminal window again and run the following commands to make ntfs-3g function:
Lastly, re-enable System Integrity Protection. Reboot your Mac and hold Command+R while it’s booting to enter recovery mode. Launch a terminal in recovery mode and run the following command:
Once you have, reboot your Mac. NTFS-write support should be functioning now.
To undo your changes and uninstall everything, you’ll need to first disable System Integrity Protection. After you do, run the following commands:
You can then uninstall FUSE for macOS from its panel in the System Preferences window and re-enable System Integrity Protection.
You can see why we recommend the $20 option instead now, huh?
Apple’s Experimental NTFS-Writing Support: Don’t Do This, Seriously
We don’t recommend the below method because it’s the least tested. This might not work properly, so don’t blame us or Apple if you experience problems. It’s still unstable as of macOS 10.12 Sierra, and it may never be fully stable. This is really just here for educational purposes.
First, be sure that your drive has a convenient single-word label. If it doesn’t, change its label. This will make this process easier.
You’ll first need to launch a terminal. Navigate to Finder > Applications > Utilities > Terminal or press Command+Space, type Terminal, and press Enter.
Type the following command into the terminal to open the /etc/fstab file for editing in the nano text editor:
Add the following line to nano, replacing “NAME” with the label of your NTFS drive:
Press Ctrl+O to save the file after you’re done, and then press Ctrl+X to close nano.
(If you have multiple NTFS drives you want to write to, add a different line for each.)
Connect the drive to the computer—unplug it and reconnect it if it’s already connected—and you’ll see it under the “/Volumes” directory. In a Finder window, you can click Go > Go to Folder and type “/Volumes” into the box to access it. It won’t pop up automatically and appear on your desktop like drives normally do.
To undo this change later, just repeat the above process to open the /etc/fstab file in nano. Delete the line you added to the file and save your changes.
Most Mac users will be better off formatting external drives with exFAT, ensuring they work well on both Windows and Mac OS X without any extra work. if you must write to an NTFS drive, one of the paid, third-party drivers will be the easiest option with the best performance and least risk of file corruption.
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Need to read Mac drives in Windows?
Unfortunately, it’s not a straightforward process; you can’t just connect the Mac drive and expect it to work. Here’s everything you need to know to get it working.
Why Can’t Windows Read Mac Drives?
Windows and macOS use different file systems. Windows uses the NTFS file system for its internal drives, whereas Apple replaced HFS+ with its successor--Apple File System (APFS)—in early 2017. Today, APFS is used on Macs, iPhones, iPads, and Apple TVs.
External hard disks and USB drives are generally formatted with the Windows FAT32 file system for maximum compatibility. Most devices, including Macs, can read and write from FAT32 devices. There’s even a way to make a Mac read an NTFS driveWrite To Your NTFS Drives Again in OS X El Capitan (For Free)Write To Your NTFS Drives Again in OS X El Capitan (For Free)Some of the most common methods of adding NTFS support broke with the recent release of El Capitan, but you can still write to your Windows drives with a bit of tinkering.Read More.
All new Macs will be formatted with APFS. Older Mac drives may still be formatted with the HFS+ file system. Windows can’t read either file system by default.
We’ll show you how to access your Mac-formatted APFS or HFS+ drive on Windows.
How to Read APFS on Windows
Firstly, let’s look at how to read the newer Apple File System format on Windows. All these apps will allow you to read drives from any updated Apple device, not just Macs.
1. MacDrive
MacDrive has been one of the go-to apps for a long time. The first version was released way back in 1996. If you’re prepared to spend some money, you don’t need to look elsewhere.
The app works with APFS drives and HFS+ drives.
Unlike some of the options we’ll discuss later, MacDrive lets you read and write data to your Mac-formatted drive directly from Windows.
The app is focused around the freshly redesigned Disk Management Window. It acts as a hub for all the Mac drives connected to Windows.
You will also be able to see your APFS or HFS+ drive directly within File Explorer, allowing easy integration with the rest of the Windows operating system.
Other useful features include the ability to create and partition Mac disks direct from your PC, a powerful disk repair feature, and robust security tools.
The standard version costs $49.99. There’s also a Pro version. It adds several extra features, including automatic file defragmentation, support for RAID setups, and a way to create Mac ISO files.
A five-day free trial is available.
Download:MacDrive ($49.99)
2. Paragon APFS for Windows
Paragon APFS for Windows is another paid app. It is the main competitor of MacDrive.
The app provides read and write access to APFS-formatted partitions, read and write access to compressed and cloned files, and read-only support for encrypted volumes.
It supports disk auto-mounting at start-up, but doesn’t have MacDrive’s partition tools.
MacDrive has one big advantage over Paragon’s app: HFS+ support. Paragon APFS for Windows only supports APFS-formatted drives. If you have some older Mac drives lying around that are still running HFS+, you would need to separately purchase Paragon HFS+ for Windows. MacDrive, therefore, is a more economical option.
One license—which costs $49.95—works on three Windows PCs.
Download:Paragon APFS for Windows ($49.95)
3. UFS Explorer Standard Access
Our third and final recommendation for reading APFS drives on Windows is UFS Explorer Standard Recovery. Once again, it’s a paid option. The app will cost you €21.95.
UFS Explorer Standard Recovery is the most versatile app on this list. It can read the two formats we care about—APFS and HFS+—as well as NTFS, FAT, FAT32, exFAT, SGI XFS, Linux JFS, Unix/BSD, UFS/UFS2, and VMware VMFS.
As such, this is the app you should choose if you find yourself hopping between lots of different operating systems during your day.
UFS Explorer Standard Recovery also comes with RAID support as standard. The app has a built-in RAID builder, so you can customize it for your array.
There is a free version of the app with no time limits, but it will only let you copy files smaller than 256KB in size.
Download: UFS Explorer Standard Access (€21.95)
How to Read HFS+ on Windows
If your Mac-formatted drive is still running HFS+, use one of these three methods instead.
1. Install Apple HFS+ Drivers
If you only need read access, you can install the Apple HFS+ drivers for Windows. Be sure to remove Paragon or MacDrive before proceeding.
Download the correct Windows driver package, then follow these steps:
The video above also demonstrates the process.
After restarting, your Mac-formatted drive should show up under This PC. This method only gives you read access to the drive. If you would like to edit or delete files, try one of the alternative methods below.
2. HFSExplorer
HFSExplorer is completely free. You can use it to access Mac file systems from Windows without paying a dime. The developer hasn’t updated it since October 2015 due to the arrival of APFS, but it still works on older systems.
HFSExplorer requires Java. We generally recommend against having Java installed, but it’s necessary here unless you want to spend money. You also need to run the app as an Admin.
This tool is simple to use. Connect your Mac-formatted drive to your Windows system, open HFSExplorer, and click File > Load File System From Device. HFSExplorer can automatically locate any connected devices with HFS+ file systems and open them. You can then extract files from the HFSExplorer window to your Windows drive.
Note that HFSExplorer is read-only, so you can’t modify or delete files on your Mac drive. It also doesn’t integrate with Windows File Explorer—files are available in the HFSExplorer application and you must copy them elsewhere.
Download: HFSExplorer (Free)
3. Paragon HFS+ for Windows
Paragon HFS+ for Windows is a paid application, but it distinguishes itself with additional features.
Unlike HFSExplorer, Paragon HFS+ for Windows provides full read/write access to Mac drives and promises high performance. It even integrates HFS+ file systems with Windows Explorer or File Explorer on Windows. Any Windows program can read from or write to the Mac drive.
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The app costs $19.95, but it also offers a 10-day free trial. If you just need to recover files from a drive, 10 days is plenty of time to install this file system driver, copy your files over, and uninstall it.
Paragon HFS+ doesn’t need Java to work.
https://chatteryellow282.weebly.com/free-screen-reader-for-mac.html. Download: Paragon HFS+ for Windows ($19.95)
Or Format the Mac Drive for Windows
If you have a Mac drive lying around and you no longer have a Mac, you’re not stuck with the Mac file system forever. After recovering the files from your drive with one of the tools above, you can then format the drive and convert it to a standard FAT32 partition that will work with most devices.
Formatting will erase all the files on your drive, so make sure you have backed up your files. To format the drive, just use the dialog that appears when you connect the drive to your computer.
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Check out our guide to learn more about using FAT32How to Format a Large Hard Drive With FAT or FAT32How to Format a Large Hard Drive With FAT or FAT32The FAT and FAT32 formats support up to 16TB. Yet Windows sets a 32GB limit for formatting with FAT or FAT32. We'll show you how to format larger drives.Read More.
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