OS X has always been able to read NTFS drives, but tucked away in Mac OS X is a hidden option to enable write support to drives formatted as NTFS (NTFS stands for New Technology File System and is a proprietary file system format for Microsoft Windows). Enabling NTFS write support on the Mac is fairly technical and it’s not officially supported by Apple, making it an experimental feature that is best left in the hands of advanced users who understand the process and the potential repercussions.
Apple's native NTFS driver handles read capability, yet write support has long been absent from the equation. Even though write support is built in to the native driver itself, it's disabled. Use free but complicated NTFS driver for Mac. If you don’t want to erase your disk, there are some free NTFS drivers for Mac, which guarantee the read-write support on Mac. Mounty for NTFS, NTFS-3G, and FUSE for macOS, just to name a few. However, most of them have inevitable flaws. In its own words, Mounty for NTFS is “a tiny tool to re-mount write-protected NTFS volumes under Mac OS X 10.9+ in read-write mode.” The app uses the same principle to get NTFS write support but without making configuration changes in the fstab file. Instead, it simply helps you to re-mounts NTFS volumes with the write support enabled. For general use, NTFS-3g is a good solution. NTFS is the most stable file system for windows and with drivers like NTFS-3g you can get it work easily on MAC. However, if you work with multiple MAC computers then it’s not a good idea to install NTFS-3g on your friends computer. Neither is paying each time or using a terminal. How to Use NTFS Drive on MAC – 3 Ways #1 Terminal. Now you may not know, but modern MAC OS support NTFS volume (both read and write) However, this feature is. #2 NTFS -3g (recommended). This is the most popular method, and also the one I am using right now. Instead of tinkering.
Because this feature is officially unsupported by Apple, NTFS should not be considered a reliable cross-platform file system for moving files between a Mac and a Windows PC, users will still want to format drives for the FAT file system for optimal Mac to/from PC drive compatibility with full read and write support (perhaps a better solution for many users would be to use samba networking and share files directly through a local network between the PC and Mac in question). Additionally, the lack of official support suggests there could be the potential for something to go wrong, either in the form of kernel panics or even theoretical data loss on the NTFS drive. Accordingly, such a feature may be best as a last resort and should not be used with important data on the Windows drive without having adequate backups of those files. So, do the right thing and back up your stuff first.
Comfortable with all of that? Great, we’ll cover two different ways to enable NTFS write support in OS X, this must be used on a per-drive basis and it requires the usage of the command line.
Enable OS X NTFS Write Support Using Drive UUID
Though it’s slightly more complicated than the drive-name based approach mentioned below, this is really the best method for precision.
Connect the NTFS drive to the Mac, then retrieve the NTFS drives UUID with the following command string:
diskutil info /Volumes/DRIVENAME | grep UUID
With the resulting UUID, use the following command to append the UUID with NTFS read and write support to
/etc/fstab
:sudo echo 'UUID=ENTER_UUID_HERE none ntfs rw,auto,nobrowse' >> /etc/fstab
The NTFS drive will likely not appear on the desktop by default, but you can get access to it in the
/Volumes/
directory by opening that folder in the Finder with the following command:open /Volumes
If you do want to see the drive on the desktop (assuming you have the desktop shown, of course), you can make an Finder alias with a symbolic link:
sudo ln -s /Volumes/DRIVENAME ~/Desktop/DRIVENAME
You can also use the experimental NTFS write mounting with a drive name rather than UUID, which we’ll go over next.
Enable NTFS Write Support with the Drive Name
For precision I prefer to use the UUID method, but you can also add NTFS write support by using the Windows drives name by using the following command:
sudo echo 'LABEL=DRIVE_NAME none ntfs rw,auto,nobrowse' >> /etc/fstab
Because this uses the sudo command you will need to enter an admin password to be able to execute the entire command properly. This command string is appending the drive name to the end of the
/etc/fstab
file, because /etc/
is a system directory you need to have superuser access to write to files in that directory, thus the requisite sudo prefix.For example, adding read/write support to an NTFS drive named “WINDOWS8″ would look like the following:
sudo echo 'LABEL=WINDOWS8 none ntfs rw,auto,nobrowse' >> /etc/fstab
If the drive has as complex name, use the UUID method mentioned above, or rename the NTFS drive in Windows before attempting to mount it with write support.
Again, you’ll want to look in
/Volumes/
Half life 1 pc. to find the newly mounted Windows NTFS drive with full read and write support. As mentioned already, it can also be helpful to create a symbolic link on the OS X Desktop to easily access the mounted NTFS drive:Insignia cd500 navi manual.
sudo ln -s /Volumes/DRIVENAME ~/Desktop/DRIVENAME && open ~/Desktop/DRIVENAME
There are a variety of easier but older tools to automatically complete the processes mentioned above, but the aforementioned NTFS Mounter utility seems to have stopped working post-Snow Leopard, and thus modern versions of OS X from Mountain Lion to Mavericks will want to use the command line approach instead. There are also third party paid apps available to provide NTFS support to OS X, which may be better options for enterprise environments where an experimental feature is not considered reliable enough to deploy.
from OSXDaily
Related posts:
By Juno | Posted to NTFS for Mac Tips, updated on May 29, 2020
Before you are led to the introduction of free NTFS for Mac, here is some background information in case you don't know.
You can read Windows NTFS drives on Mac. But Mac can't write to NTFS drives, including create, edit, copy, paste, delete, or transfer files on NTFS drive on Mac desktops and laptops. Do you know why?
NTFS is a file system developed by Microsoft, the competitor of Apple. NTFS is used by default on Windows platform, especially for system drive. Additionally, if you use Boot Camp to create a Windows partition on your Mac, you will find you can't mount BOOTCAMP partition with read-write access either. Up to now, Mac operating systems, including macOS Catalina/Mojave/High Sierra/Sierra and Mac OS X El Capitan, only provide NTFS read support but deny NTFS write support. 32 lives keygen.
You know the business, but for users, is there any way to let Mac write NTFS drives? Can you make the NTFS drive fully compatible with macOS or Mac OS X? Sure. The easiest method is to use NTFS driver for macOS software.
If you are looking for a totally free NTFS for Mac software, there are four options: Mounty for NTFS, NTFS-3G, FUSE for macOS and SL-NTFS.
Top 4 NTFS for Mac free software
Write Ntfs On Mac
Some Mac users may have upgraded to macOS Catalina and are digging around for an NTFS driver for macOS 10.15. But it's hard to find a Free NTFS for Mac that supports macOS 10.15 yet. Fortunately, iBoysoft has upgraded their software iBoysoft NTFS for Mac to be compatible with macOS Catalina.
If you are using a Mac running macOS 10.14 and earlier, you can try the NTFS for Mac below and share NTFS drives between Windows and Mac.
1. Mounty for NTFS
Mounty for NTFS is completely NTFS for Mac free software to enable write ability to NTFS drives on your Mac. It has simple design to help users mount NTFS drives with write support on Mac.
As a free utility, Mounty for NTFS does have some highlights:
- Totally free.
- Fast download and installation because it is less than 1MB.
- One-time installation and no additional driver needed.
But Mounty for NTFS dose get complaints because:
- The write speed to NTFS drive is rather slow.
- It can't mount the NTFS formatted drives in read-write mode automatically.
- It can be unstable and fails to mount NTFS drives.
- It can cause data loss problems.
- It doesn't provide tech support.
- The software is not compatible with the latest macOS Catalina or Mojave.
2. NTFS-3G
NTFS-3G is an open-source project from Tuxera, so the public can download this NTFS for Mac free software to write to Windows NTFS drives on your Mac computers
Set aside its advantage for being free, NTFS-3G is complained a lot because of its poor performance. Some main drawbacks of this free NTFS for Mac are listed below:
- Complicated installation. You have to know how to use Terminal or have already downloaded FUSE for macOS, Homebrew or Xcode.
- Poor usability. Users have to use the software by command lines in Terminal instead of an interface.
- Poor compatibility. NTFS-3G only supports macOS 10.12 or earlier. It doesn't support the latest macOS 10.15 and macOS 10.14.
- Slow write speed. The file transferring is noticeably slow.
- Tuxera stops maintaining this utility.
- No technical support. As freeware, no technical support is available when issues occur.
3. FUSE for macOS
FUSE for macOS (was OSXFUSE) is another open and NTFS for Mac free software that can enable write support to NTFS drives on Mac. In fact, FUSE is a file system extension that allows user to read and write disks with the formats that are not fully supported by Apple.
FUSE for macOS is worth trying because:
- It is free of charge.
- It is compatible with Mac operating system from Mac OS X 10.6 to macOS 10.14.
- Multiple languages are available.
As a free NTFS for Mac, FUSE for macOS has some obvious limitations:
Enable Ntfs Write On Mac
- It can be unreliable sometimes such as file size being reported as 0 bytes.
- It has no technical support when issues occur.
4. SL-NTFS
SL-NTFS means Snow Leopard NTFS. As a matter of fact, writing to NTFS drive on Apple is possible since Mac OS 10.6 without any third-party NTFS driver, but the NTFS writing support is disabled by default. Therefore, SL-NTFS is used as an interface on the Apple NTFS driver to enable writing to NTFS drives on Mac.
As a NTFS for Mac free app, SL-NTFS has some pros as followings:
- It is free.
- It is simple to install.
However, SL-NTFS has some cons to prevent people from using it.
- It has limited access to a large number of files and a large volume of data.
- It can't enable NTFS write on some NTFS external hard drives.
- It can cause conflicts if you have another NTFS enabler installed.
- It has no technical support.
Generally speaking, despite of being free, those NTFS for Mac free software have various flaws, making them very risky to use.
If you are afraid of using a risky free NTFS utility for Mac, there are two cost-effective alternatives for you. Even though they are not completely free, they can provide a lot of merits that NTFS for Mac free software on't have.
Best NTFS for Mac software
NTFS for Mac free software can be troublemakers because of their low write speed, poor compatibility, no technical support, etc. Nevertheless, you don't have to pay a fortune to get enough reliability, stability and simplicity from a cost-effective NTFS for Mac - iBoysoft NTFS for Mac or iBoysoft Drive Manager.
1. iBoysoft NTFS for Mac
iBoysoft NTFS for Mac is an ultimate NTFS for Mac solution in macOS and Mac OS X that can easily help you mount NTFS volumes on Mac desktops and laptops as regular drives in read-write mode.
iBoysoft NTFS for Mac has quite a few advantages you can take into account:
- It can mount NTFS volumes in read-write mode automatically.
- It can unmount and eject NTFS volumes with one click.
- It can repair NTFS file system errors.
- It can erase NTFS volumes for data cleanup.
- It can reformat other file system (except APFS) into NTFS.
- It is fully compatible with macOS 10.15/10.14/10.13/10.12 and Mac OS X 10.11/10.10/10.9/10.8.
- It is easy to install and use.
- Free technical support is provided.
2. iBoysoft Drive Manager
Another great alternative to NTFS for Mac free software is iBoysoft Drive Manager. It is a handy Mac tool that can enable full read-write access to NTFS drives on Mac and help manage multiple external drives/network drives with one click.
iBoysoft Drive Manager is a great replacement of a free NTFS for Mac because:
- It is extremely affordable and offers 7-day free trial.
- It is fully compatible with macOS 10.15/10.14/10.13/10.12 and Mac OS X 10.11/10.10/10.9/10.8.
- It is fast to write to NTFS drives and transfer files between NTFS drives and Mac.
- It is easy to install and use.
- It provides lifetime free upgrades.
- Free technical support is provided.
- Besides powerful NTFS writing support, it can manage external drives and map network drives as local drives in the Finder.
If you want to know any disadvantages that iBoysoft Drive Manager might have, I would say the only one should be - it is not free. But it is really cheap compared with other commercial NTFS for Mac programs, such as Paragon and Tuxera.
We also provide a table to help you find the most preferable NTFS driver:
NTFS for macOS | iBoysoft Drive Manager | iBoysoft NTFS for Mac | Mounty for Mac | NTFS-3G | FUSE for macOS | SL-NTFS |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
NTFS writing | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Auto-mount NTFS in read-write mode | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes |
Speed | Fast | Fast | Slow | Slow | Slow | Slow |
Supported Mac OS | macOS 10.15/10.14/10.13/10.12 and Mac OS X 10.11 to 10.8. | macOS 10.15/10.14/10.13/10.12 and Mac OS X 10.11 to 10.8. | macOS 10.13/10.12 and Mac OS X 10.11 to 10.6. | macOS 10.13/10.12 and Mac OS X 10.11 to 10.6. | macOS 10.14/10.13/10.12 and Mac OS X 10.11 to 10.6. | macOS 10.12 and Mac OS X 10.11 to 10.6. |
Supported devices | USB drives, SD cards, HDDs, etc. | USB drives, SD cards, HDDs, etc. | USB drives, SD cards, HDDs, etc. (not all) | USB drives, SD cards, HDDs, etc. | USB drives, SD cards, HDDs, etc. | USB drives, SD cards, HDDs, etc. (not all) |
Supported file system | NTFS, APFS, FAT32, exFAT, etc. | NTFS, APFS, FAT32, exFAT, etc. | NTFS | NTFS | NTFS, APFS, FAT32, exFAT, etc. | NTFS |
Tech support | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No |
Simple installation | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes |
Ease of use | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
Other | 1.Manage external storage media with one click. 2.Map network drive as local drives. | 1. Repair NTFS. 2.Erase NTFS volumes. 3.Reformat other file systems into NTFS. | N/A | N/A | Multiple languages are available. | N/A |
Price | $29.95 | $19.95 | Free | Free | Free | Free |
Free download | Download | Download | Download | Download | Download | Download |
Now, you have a few options in your hands. If you don't care the risks and want to try out the free NTFS for Mac programs, generally speaking, Mounty for NTFS and FUSE for macOS are better ones. However, if you care about the reliability, technical support and NTFS write speed a lot, or you are specifically looking for an NTFS driver for macOS Catalina, Mojave or High Sierra, iBoysoft NTFS for Mac is your best choice.
People also ask
Q: Is NTFS for Mac free
A: There are four NTFS for Mac free software:
- Mounty for NTFS
- NTFS-3G
- FUSE for macOS
- SL-NTFS
Q: How can Mac read NTFS for free?
A: By default, macOS Disk Utility can mount NTFS drive in read-only mode.
Q: What is the best NTFS for Mac?
A: There are three best NTFS for Mac software:
- iBoysoft NTFS for Mac
- Paragon NTFS for Mac
- Tuxera NTFS for Mac