NTFS (New Technology File System) is a file system developed by Microsoft. FAT32, which is also commonly used, is another example of file system. They define and control how the data, or files, are stored and retrieved from a storage drive. However, Mac OS X supports NTFS read only, but not write, by default. There are software that can enable NTFS write. Yet, it is easy and free to enable the access by a few steps. Here is a complete guide.
Option 1: Format to NTFS, and use NTFS-3G to read/write on Mac. If you keep your hard drive's out-of-the-box NTFS format for all the reasons FAT32 displeases, there's a workaround that will allow. NTFS (New Technology File System) is a file system developed by Microsoft. FAT32, which is also commonly used, is another example of file system.They define and control how the data, or files, are stored and retrieved from a storage drive. However, Mac OS X supports NTFS read.
1. Open “Terminal“.
There are 3 ways to open terminal.
- Open it via “Spotlight” on the top-right comer or “
Cmd + Space
” (default short-cut key), and type “Terminal“. - Another way is to open “Finder“, “Go to Folder…”
/Applications/Utilities
and you should find “Terminal” there. - Press “F4” >> open folder “Other” >> click the icon of Terminal
A new Terminal window should be prompted out. If you are a geek, I believe you need it quite often, keep it in Dock now~
Laptop Hard Disk Reader
2. Check your Hard Drive / USB Name.
You can simply check it by plugging it into your Mac and a new drive should shown on “Finder” or “Desktop“. The name appeared is the name of the hard drive.
Note: There MUST be NO space in the device name. If there is, go back to Windows and change it first. For example, it’s fine for “HDD-device” but not for “HDD device”
![Ntfs Hard Disk Reader For Mac Ntfs Hard Disk Reader For Mac](https://profullkey.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/NTFS.jpg)
3. In “Terminal”, type the following command:
sudo echo 'LABEL=DEVICE_NAME none ntfs rw, auto, nobrowse' >> /etc/fstab
Note: remember to change DEVICE_NAME into your Hard Drive Name
If you used Linux before, you may know some text editor like nano, vm, vim, etc. You can use them for editing
/etc/fstab
and add the underlined part in it. Then, your Hard Drive is now mounted on Mac under the folder /Volumes and you can have NTFS write access now!4. Create a Shoutcut
But it may be hard for you to find your hard drive now because it no longer appears on “Finder” or “Desktop“. This is because /Volumes is a hidden folder and your drive is mounted on it. You may type the following command to create a symbolic link to /Volumes on Desktop:
sudo ln -s /Volumes ~/Desktop/Volumes
5. Finished!
Be careful that you need to unmount the device before disconnecting it, just right click on the device icon and choose “Eject“. If you can’t do so, you may try to re-login and eject again.
Disable NTFS write
If you no need NTFS write for the device anymore, just simply remove
/etc/fstab
by the following command in Terminal:sudo rm /etc/fstab
Troubleshooting
![Mac Mac](https://crackedable.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Tuxera-NTFS-Crack.jpg)
After enabling NTFS write, you may sometime find that your hard drive is disappeared if you plug in your external hard disk or USB stick, or the above guide don’t work for you. It is usually because you didn’t unmount it cleanly on Windows previously, which is caused by unsafe eject. This is because Mac has no fsck to repair problems on the NTFS volume to make the log file clean again. You can verify the problem by plugging in your storage drive and then, type the following command in Terminal:
sudo dmesg
A similar error message should be shown:
NTFS driver 3.11 [Flags: R/W].
NTFS volume name DEVICE_NAME, version 3.1.
NTFS-fs error (device /dev/disk1s1, pid 345): ntfs_system_inodes_get(): $LogFile is not clean. Mount in Windows.
NTFS-fs error (device /dev/disk1s1, pid 345): ntfs_mount(): Failed to load system files (error 30).
NTFS-fs error (device /dev/disk1s1, pid 345): ntfs_mount(): Mount failed (error 30).
NTFS volume name DEVICE_NAME, version 3.1.
NTFS-fs error (device /dev/disk1s1, pid 345): ntfs_system_inodes_get(): $LogFile is not clean. Mount in Windows.
NTFS-fs error (device /dev/disk1s1, pid 345): ntfs_mount(): Failed to load system files (error 30).
NTFS-fs error (device /dev/disk1s1, pid 345): ntfs_mount(): Mount failed (error 30).
Solution
- Plug the drive to Windows again and disconnect by “Safely Remove“.
- Restore the original backup by the command:
sudo mv /sbin/mount_ntfs.orig /sbin/mount_ntfs
Enjoy!
Please reply if you encounter any problem or if I made any mistake. Popclip cut copy and paste 2019 9.
Please reply if you encounter any problem or if I made any mistake. Popclip cut copy and paste 2019 9.
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- 1. Mac Files Tips
- 2. Mac Software
- 3. Mac Storage Tips
- 4. Mac Troubleshooting
- 5. Mac OS
by Anna SherryUpdated on 2019-11-30 / Update for Mac OS
One of the major differences between a Windows computer and a Mac is that they often use different file systems for their devices. Windows mostly uses NTFS whereas Mac uses FAT or its own file system. Since both use different file systems, you cannot write to NTFS drives on a Mac. You can write to a FAT file system on a Windows computer, though.
Apple does not natively support writing data to NTFS drives on a Mac, however, there are some ways to do the same but they may not always work normally. Our guide below shows how to use NTFS for Mac and write data to it from your machine.
Way 1. Write to NTFS Drives on Mac with Paragon NTFS for Mac
Since your Mac does not have an official option to write data to NTFS drives, you are forced to use a third-party app to get the job done. If you do a quick Google search, you would come across many software claiming to help you with the Mac OS NTFS write task. Many of those are false claims and the software do not work as they are supposed to.
Fortunately, there is one that works exactly the way it should. It is called Paragon NTFS and it allows you to work seamlessly with the NTFS drives attached to your Mac.
It is a paid software, but it gives you ten days of free trial for you to check out its features. If you like it, you can then purchase a license to continue using the software. The following is how it works on a Mac.
Step 1. Head over to the official Paragon Software website and download and install the software on your Mac.
Step 2. Restart your Mac to bring changes into effect on your system.
Step 3. When your Mac restarts, you will find all of your attached NTFS drives showing up in Finder on your Mac.
You may then add whatever data you want to your drives that use NTFS file system. That is how you perform a Mac NTFS write operation on your machine.
Way 2. Enable NTFS Writing on Mac Using Apple's Experimental NTFS-Writing Support
Apple has an experimental feature to let you write data to your NTFS based drives. However, it is highly discouraged that you use the feature to write data. The feature is still in experimental mode and it may cause data corruption or data loss on your drives.
If you would like to give the method a try despite knowing its disadvantages, the following should help you do it. To be on the safer side, create a backup of your NTFS drive if you have stored your important files on it. Performing the following operation may result in you losing your valuable data on your drive.
Ntfs Driver For Mac
Step 1. Make sure your NTFS drive uses a single word label. Disconnect your drive from your Mac.
Step 2. Click on Launchpad in your Dock and search for and click on Terminal. It will launch the Terminal app on your Mac.
Step 3. When the Terminal app launches, type in the following command and press Enter.
sudo nano /etc/fstab
Step 4. A file will open in an editor on your screen. Add the following line to the file and save the file by pressing Ctrl + O. Replace YOUR with the label of your NTFS drive.
LABEL=YOUR none ntfs rw,auto,nobrowse
Step 5. Finally press the Ctrl + X key to close the editor. Connect your NTFS drive to your Mac and you will find it in /Volumes ready to add data.
There you go. That is how you use Apple's experimental NTFS write method to add data to a NTFS based drive. It is a NTFS for Mac free tool to use on your Mac.
Extra Tip: How to Recover Lost Data from NTFS Drive
If the experimental feature did not work well, you may face a data loss situation on your NTFS drive. If this has happened, you may want to recover the data saved on your drive.
Since the data has been deleted from your drive, you cannot use any of the built-in options on your Mac to recover the data. Fortunately, there is a third-party software called Tenorshare 4DDiG for Mac Data Recovery to help you recover the data on your drives.
The software specializes in helping users recover data from various data loss scenarios. It has support for multiple file systems, can recover data from external drives, and is extremely easy to use. The following is how you use it to recover your data.
Step 1 Connect your NTFS drive to your Mac and download, install, and launch the software on your Mac. When the software opens, click on your NTFS drive and hit the Scan button.
Step 2 Let the software scan your drive to recover files. When the results appear, select the files you would like to recover and click on Recover.
Step 3 Choose a folder where you would like to save the recovered files.
Photomill x 1 6 1. You are done. Your chosen files will be recovered from your NTFS drive and saved to your Mac.
You may also be interested in How to Recover Data from APFS Drive.
Conclusion
While it is easy to read NTFS on Mac, it is almost impossible to write data to a NTFS drive on a Mac. Despite being hard, we have shown you the methods to write data to your NTFS drives from your Mac. We hope it helps you out.