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Can't Write to New/Writable USB Drive - Read-only Permission

I cannot write to my new external USB drive. I tried reformatting the USB to MS-DOS (FAT), MS-DOS (FAT32), even Mac OS extended, none of the formats made it writable. The drive is listed as 'read only'in Get Info. I tried an old writable USB drive, same problem, 'read only' permissions. I think that it's a permissions issue at my OS level not a problem on the drives. Right? Please give some help.

Best Answered by

iBoysoft author Connie Yang

Connie Yang

Answered on Sunday, June 8, 2025

Are you the administrator of this Mac device? If not, you need to use the admin account to change the permissions to the USB drives.

Here's how to change permissions on a Mac:

  1. Right-click the USB drive.
  2. Select Get Info.
  3. Scroll down and click the arrow next to Sharing & Permissions to expand it.
  4. Click the lock icon and the bottom, and enter the admin account to unlock for changes.
  5. Click the privilege next to your user name and change "Read-only" to "Read & Write".

If you still can't write to the USB drives, it could be caused by your system errors. You can reset NVRAM or update your Mac until the issue is fixed.

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