Can Mac Read and Write NTFS? (with Methods to Enable)

NTFS is perfect for ultra-large files and has a great performance on Windows PCs. This makes it an ideal choice for an external hard drive to store and transfer documents.

However, this is not the case on Mac. Many complain that they have trouble using NTFS on Mac. Due to the incompatibility between Windows and MacOS, NTFS, the popular file system made by Microsoft, commonly causes reading and writing issues on Mac devices.

Today, we will go through the topic of whether Mac can read and write NTFS and provide useful tips to enable essential functions on Mac.

Can Mac Read NTFS?

Yes. You can read the NTFS drive on a Mac and view all documents inside.  

Apple Mac operating system has built-in read-only support for NTFS drives. And the supported versions are as follows:

• OS X 10.6: Snow Leopard
• OS X 10.7: Lion
• OS X 10.8: Mountain Lion
• OS X 10.9: Mavericks
• OS X 10.10: Yosemite
• OS X 10.11: El Capitan
• macOS 10.12: Sierra
• macOS 10.13: High Sierra
• macOS 10.14: Mojave
• macOS 10.15: Catalina
• macOS 11.0: Big Sur
• macOS 12.0: Monterey
• macOS 13.0: Ventura
• macOS 14.0: Sonoma
• macOS 15.0: Sequoia

It is worth knowing that Apple brought read-only support of NTFS since Mac OS X 10.3 Panther.

A discussion of Apple Community mentioned the NTFS reading access in 2010. A user suddenly found that his MacBook Pro was able to recognize an NTFS drive and then got a reply explaining the compatibility of Mac with NTFS.

Writing access for NTFS is a hot topic among many Mac users.

Can Mac Write NTFS?

Mac can not write NTFS by default. In Disk Utility (the application to manage internal disks and external storage devices on Mac), you can see no option related to NTFS. According to Apple’s official document, the available file system formats are APFS, Mac OS Extended, MS-DOS (FAT), and ExFAT in macOS.

However, it does not mean that you can not write NTFS volumes on Mac. Native NTFS write support is implemented in 10.6 and later. It’s just you need to activate it by some methods.

What Built-in Operations Does Mac Support for NTFS?

As you connect an NTFS drive to a Mac device, a hard-drive-like icon shows up automatically on the desktop. Double-click the icon to open it. Now you can see the supported operations.

11.Read-Only Access

You can browse files in the NTFS-formatted drive.

2View Info

Click ‘Get Info,’ and you can see the information on the NTFS drive as well as the file info.

What you can see:

Kind (Volume), Format, Capacity, Available Capacity, Used Capacity, Creation Date, Modification Date, Name & Extension, Comments, Sharing & Permissions, etc.

3Duplicate

When you duplicate the drive, a folder will be created automatically on the Desktop.

4Make Alias

Similar functionality to duplicating, but the entity is named differently.

5Quick Look

Both the drive and files inside can use the quick look feature and see basic info. Same as the preview.

6Copy

You can copy the drive or the files inside and paste them to any location on the Mac.

7Share

Files in the NTFS drive are able to be shared via AirDrop, Mail and other approaches.

8Eject

You can safely eject the NTFS device before unplugging it from your Mac.

What Operations Are Not Supported by Mac for NTFS Natively?

By default, you’re not allowed to write files in NTFS drives when using a Mac.

• Create New Folder
• Add Files to NTFS Volumes
• Delete Files
• Modify and Rename
• Format NTFS Drive

People who often need to transfer files between Windows and Mac will find that it’s very inconvenient to use an NTFS partition, especially at work. Is there a way to use NTFS on Mac as smoothly as on Windows PCs? Tips listed.

How to Enable Full Read and Write for NTFS Drives on Mac?

Method 1.Install a third-party software

This is the easiest way to use NTFS on Mac. You only need to install NTFS for Mac software on your Mac device so to use it without limitation.

As you installed, the NTFS drive will be mounted once it is connected. Then, you can proceed with read and write abilities, such as create, copy, paste, delete, view, and so on. See how to use the software.

Step 1: Download NTFS for Mac software and drag it to ‘Applications.’

Step 2: Connect the NTFS drive and open the software.

Step 3: Open the drive and modify it in the interface.

Method 2.Use Terminal to activate the write access

If you want to write NTFS on a Mac without third-party software, try Terminal, the built-in app.

This method requires shell command knowledge; you can read the details here.

Please note that using Terminal can possibly lead to failure and data corruption. Therefore, when entering commands, ensure that you have input the correct text.

Typical Issues When Connecting NTFS Drive to Mac And Tips to Fix

1) Can not see NTFS-formatted drive when connected to a Mac.

It may be due to NTFS damage, physical connection issues, outdated NTFS version, mounting problems, system security settings, etc.

Tip: See if your device can use other storage devices normally via Disk Utility. Then, check if the NTFS drive can be used on Windows devices and its info.

2) Can not see NTFS files on Mac/in Finder.

NTFS files invisible on a Mac is possible because of file attributes or permissions. They may be hidden and not appear in Finder.

Tip: Use Terminal to to list all files (including hidden). Type this command ‘$ ls -a’.

3) NTFS external hard drive is not mounting on Mac.

This is a common issue after the security update. It can affect System Integrity Protection (SIP) settings, which might interfere with third-party software. You can re-install software for NTFS.

For another reason, if the NTFS drive uses an unsupported NTFS variant or partition scheme, it may not mount correctly on macOS.

4) Should I reformat an NTFS drive?

When reformatting a drive, you need to take data loss and system compatibility into consideration. If there is no data stored in the NTFS drive and you want to use it on the Mac and Windows systems, you can format NTFS to ExFAT.