Home > Questions

1TB external hard drive read only on iPad Pro

When I plug my 1TB external hard drive into my new iPad Pro, I can open the drive, but the files are read-only. The drive works on my older MacBooks. How can I make it work? Can someone help?

Best Answered by

Jenny Zeng

Answered on Tuesday, August 27, 2024

To write to an external hard drive on an iPad Pro, you need to ensure the following points are checked:

  • You need to use a compatible connector or adaptor to attach your external hard drive to your iPad Pro.
  • The external hard drive must have only one single data partition and be formatted as APFS, APFS (encrypted), macOS Extended (HFS+), exFAT (FAT64), FAT32, or FAT. (If your drive isn't formatted with one of the supported file systems, reformat it on your Mac or PC.)
  • The external hard drive has its own power source or is connected to a powered USB hub.

For more information, check out Apple's guide.