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If the administrator requires all external storage devices to be read-only, you will have read-only access to this device then. Scenario 2: The external hard drive has read-only permission.Īn administrator on Mac can set up different authorizations for different users. Find the NTFS volume in the list and open it to manage files.Click Go and Go to Folder on the desktop menu bar.Press Control + X to exit to quit Nano.Copy the command to the Terminal: LABEL=DRIVENAME none ntfs rw,auto,nobrowse Remember to replace DRIVE NAME with the actual name of your external hard drive.Hit Enter key and put down a password if asked.Copy the command to the Terminal to edit fstab file: sudo nano /etc/fstab.Open Terminal through Finder > Applications > Utilities.Method 3: User Terminal to enable Mac’s native NTFS write support (not recommended) Write to the NTFS-formatted disk directly as you are using a Mac-friendly external storage device.Connect the external hard drive to the Mac.Download and install Microsoft NTFS for Mac by iBoysoft on your Mac.Quit Disk Utility and reconnect the external HDD if necessary.Write down a name, select FAT/ExFAT in Format, and GUID Partition Map in Scheme.Open Disk Utility through Finder > Applications > Utilities.Back up the files by copying and pasting the files from the external hard drive.Method 1: Format the external hard drive in Disk Utility To solve the incompatibility problem, you can choose to format the NTFS drive, install an NTFS for Mac driver or use Terminal. You can’t rename, delete or edit the files at all.
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By default, an NTFS-formatted disk can be mounted and read on macOS, but files will appear locked or read-only. MacOS is fully compatible with Microsoft FAT and exFAT file systems but not the Microsoft NTFS file system. Scenario 1: The external hard drive is formatted with the NTFS file system. In this tutorial, I will explain three scenarios you may face and their corresponding solutions. If external hard drive suddenly shows read-only after you attach it to your Mac device, it is definitely very inconvenient to use this external hard drive. People use external hard drives as extended storage for computers or backup disks for important files, as a result, frequent file sharing, and modification are needed.
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