Getting files back

Why the Mac will not write to that drive

Updated 2026-08-08 · 4 min read

The files open, copying to the Mac works, copying to the drive is impossible — no error dialog, options greyed out. That signature belongs to NTFS, the Windows format macOS can read but will not write.

Confirm the diagnosis

Select the drive, Get Info. Format saying Windows NT File System confirms it, and the Sharing & Permissions section shows *You can only read*. Or:

diskutil info /Volumes/DriveName | grep -E "File System|Media Name"

If the format is FAT32 or exFAT and the drive is still read-only, the diagnosis is different — disk errors have forced a protective read-only mount, and First Aid in Disk Utility is the path instead.

The options for NTFS

Route	Cost	Trade
Reformat to exFAT	Free	Erases the drive once; both OSes read-write after
Commercial NTFS driver	~€20	Full write support, nothing erased
Copy off, reformat, copy back	Free	Needs temporary space; ends clean

Reformatting is right when the drive's history does not matter or fits elsewhere temporarily: copy contents to the Mac, Disk Utility → Erase → format exFAT, copy back. exFAT is the interchange format both operating systems write natively.

A driver (Paragon and Tuxera are the established ones) is right when the drive must stay NTFS — because it belongs to a Windows machine, or is too full to stage elsewhere.

The free NTFS-write hacks that circulate — enabling Apple's dormant experimental support — corrupt drives regularly enough that no one should route real data through them.

Before reformatting: get the inventory

Once erased, the question "was everything copied off?" cannot be re-asked. Make the file listing first:

find /Volumes/DriveName -type f > ~/Desktop/drive-inventory.txt

An indexed search tool that remembers offline volumes serves the same purpose permanently — the drive's contents stay searchable even after the drive is erased, which is the only record that survives the reformat.

Common questions

Why does macOS read NTFS but not write it?

Apple ships a read-only NTFS driver. Reliable write support requires licensing or reverse-engineering, and Apple chose to leave writing to third parties.

Is exFAT reliable for shared drives?

Yes, with the caveat that exFAT has no journaling — always eject properly, because an interrupted write hurts more than on APFS or NTFS.