How to Fix that I Can't Write to External Drives on Mac?

I have an external drive that I back up my 2010 photos. When I connect the drive, I can see it and do almost anything except write to it. If I right-click and choose Get Info, it says that "you can only read" under sharing and permissions. I'm not 100% sure that I used this same iMac to create the last backup at the end of 2009, but it has always been with an iMac. I feel like a doofus because I feel that I'm totally missing the obvious, but nonetheless, I'll ask the question: What do I need to do to be able to write to it?

Best Answered by

Sherry Song

Answered on Monday, April 29, 2024

Hello, glad to help you, here are my suggestions, you can follow:

(1) Check the file system in Disk Utility. If its file system is Windows NTFS, you need to use some tools to enable Mac to write it, because Mac can't write an NTFS-formatted drive. iBoysoft NTFS for Mac is a good choice to try, which can provide seamless read-and-write functionality for the NTFS drives on Mac.

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iBoysoft NTFS for Mac

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(2)Change the permissions. In the Sharing & Permission section, change the Read only to Read & Write, click the yellow padlock then enter your password.

(3)Enable Ignore ownership on this volume.

(4)Check the eternal hard drive's free space. If there isn't enough space, delete some unimportant files.

(5)Repair it with Disk Utility First Aid.

(6)Format the drive on Mac. Pay attention to backup your data before this process.

Hope you can use your drive normally as before.

Also read: Can't Write to External Hard Drive on Mac