NTFS for Mac Overview: What Is NTFS for Mac & Is It Safe

NTFS (stands for New Technology File System) is a proprietary file system of Windows. However, you need to use your NTFS drive on a Mac for file transferring or editing now. So, you wonder "Does NTFS work on Mac?", "Does Mac detect NTFS?", "Can macOS read NTFS?", "Is NTFS compatible with Mac?".

Apple doesn't have the full read-write right for NTFS. macOS can only detect the NTFS drive and mount it in read mode. This led to the birth of the necessary utility - NTFS for Mac. If you have no idea about NTFS for Mac, you can follow this post.

This article will give you a detailed overview of NTFS for Mac, answer you what is NTFS for Mac, is NTFS for Mac safe, and do you really need it to help you use NTFS drives on Mac.

Does Mac support NTFS?

Simply speaking, Mac can recognize and read NTFS drives but is unable to write to them.

Created and developed by Microsoft, NTFS is a default file system for Windows. You are allowed to read and write to NTFS on a Windows computer without limitation. While for the competitor of Microsoft - Apple, it doesn't have the complete right to use NTFS. 

In macOS, you can only open and read files on the NTFS drives, format NTFS drives to a macOS-compatible file system, and move files from the NTFS drives to your Mac. 

What is NTFS for Mac and do you need it?

What is NTFS for Mac? NTFS for Mac is a third-party app specially designed to make NTFS drives fully read-write on Mac.

By default, NTFS is read-only on Mac. In other words, you can't write to NTFS formatted drives on Mac, such as moving files onto NTFS drives and deleting and editing files stored in the NTFS drives.

Therefore, a special third-party tool comes out to enable you to read and write NTFS drives on Mac just as on a Windows computer. That utility is called NTFS for Mac. Some developers also named it NTFS mounter for Mac, NTFS File Explorer for Mac, NTFS driver for Mac, Mac NTFS writer, or similar.

Download NTFS for Mac to edit or delete files or folders on NTFS drives.

But some of you may think that there are other ways to make the NTFS drives read and write on Mac, including formatting the NTFS drive to a macOS-compatible file system (FAT32, exFAT, or APFS) and running commands in Terminal.

In fact, it is not advisable to format the NTFS drive to FAT32, exFAT, or APFS. That's because formatting a drive will erase all data on it, which can cause data loss.

And for the way to use the Terminal, it is not recommended either. Why? To be honest, this feature is experimental and may cause data loss on both your Mac and the NTFS drive. Also, it is a complicated job for you to run a series of command lines in the Terminal. Any incorrect step will result in irreparable damage to macOS and the NTFS drive.

All things considered, NTFS for Mac is the first choice to help you read and write NTFS drives on Mac easily, securely, and stably. 

No matter what NTFS hard drive you're using, you can always get full write and edit support by installing an NTFS driver for Mac, for example, iBoysoft NTFS for Mac, Paragon NTFS for Mac, and Seagate NTFS for Mac. It really saves a lot of time without moving around the files and then reformatting the disk. 

Also read: How to Read/Write to NTFS for Mac Apple Silicon M1/M2/M3?

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Is NTFS for Mac safe?

Yes. Given that NTFS for Mac is not a built-in program in macOS, you may wonder whether it is safe to run NTFS for Mac on your Mac. In fact, you don't need to worry too much about that.

On the one hand, NTFS for Mac is the assistant that just helps macOS mount the NTFS drives in read-write mode. It won't make changes on your NTFS drives and macOS.

On the other hand, macOS has a security feature named Gatekeeper that works to check if the app you prepare to download and install onto your Mac is verified and authenticated by Apple. If not, macOS will stop you from using it.

Therefore, once you download the NTFS for Mac program from the App Store on Mac or an Apple-identified developer's website, it is safe to run NTFS for Mac on your Mac computer.

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Best NTFS for Mac

There are different brands of NTFS for Mac apps on the market. However, not all of them have high compatibility, excellent performance, and proven security. You need to be careful before making a decision, especially for the so-called free NTFS for Mac, NTFS Writer for Mac for free, or open-source NTFS drivers (like NTFS-3G).

If you have no clue about how to choose the best NTFS for Mac, here we give you some suggestions and recommend the best NTFS for Mac for you.

What are the features that the best NTFS for Mac should contain:

iBoysoft NTFS for Mac is such an NTFS writer that is highly integrated with macOS. Different from those NTFS for Mac which still not working on macOS Sonoma up to now, the iBoysoft NTFS driver already fully supports macOS 14 and macOS 15 Beta. It gives you full read-write access to NTFS drives on Mac, making NTFS drives have equivalent performance to native APFS & HFS+ in macOS.

This NTFS Mounter for Mac can automatically mount the NTFS drive in read-write mode once it is detected and recognized by your Mac. Then, you can access and edit files on the NTFS drive seamlessly, such as renaming or deleting a file on it, moving files from your Mac to the NTFS drive, etc.

In security, this NTFS for Mac software is developed by iBoysoft, which is an Apple-trusted and authenticated developer. So, it is a risk-free and reliable tool.

How to read and write your NTFS drive on Mac with iBoysoft NTFS for Mac:

It is highly recommended you follow this video guide about how to use iBoysoft NTFS for Mac to enable your NTFS external hard drive read-write on Mac.

Or, you can refer to the steps below:

There are also other NTFS for Mac programs available, such as iBoysoft DiskGeeker, Paragon NTFS for Mac, Tuxera NTFS for Mac, etc. But among them, iBoysoft NTFS for Mac is your overwhelming choice.

Share the detailed way of how to use the best NTFS for Mac to read and write NTFS drive on Mac.