Home > Questions

How to fix the external hard drive read-only on Mac?

After updating to El Capitan yesterday, my toshiba external hard drive is now only giving me permission to "read only". How do I fix this?

Best Answered by

iBoysoft author Eudora Liu

Eudora Liu

Answered on Wednesday, May 31, 2023

When your external hard drive shows read-only, you can only view the drive but write, copy, and delete on it. There are a few reasons that may cause your external hard drive read only.

  • The file system is NTFS.
  • The Permission Settings is not ignored.
  • The hard drive has formatting errors.

Before you fix your external hard drive read-only, you can check whether it has been formatted with NTFS. If it does, you can use iBoysoft NTFS for Mac to mount your disk, which is a powerful tool for you to mount your Windows NTFS volume in read-write mode. Using this software, you can delete, edit, rename, and write files on NTFS drives in macOS & Mac OS X freely without formatting.

  1. Free download and install iBoysoft NTFS for Mac.
  2. Connect your NTFS drive to your Mac.

After you connect your drive successfully, you can mount your NTFS drive in read-write mode.

If your external hard drive has not been formatted with NTFS, you can follow the below solutions to fix your external hard drive read-only on Mac.

People Also Ask

Read More Questions

Read More Advice From iBoysoft's Computer Experts

macOS Home-Ordner auf externes Laufwerk verschieben

Wie man den Home-Ordner auf einem Mac auf ein externes Laufwerk verschiebt?

Manchmal möchten Sie einfach Ihren Home-Ordner auf einem Mac auf ein separates oder externes Laufwerk verschieben. Aber Sie sind verwirrt darüber, wie es geht. Keine Sorge, dieser Artikel wird Ihnen verschiedene Möglichkeiten zur Verfügung stellen.

Factory reset MacBook

How to Completely Reset a MacBook Pro/Air to Factory Settings

To restore your MacBook to factory defaults, you need to start your Mac in Recovery Mode, wipe MacBook Pro/Air and then reinstall macOS.

Mac Data Recovery Tips

Mac Control Center

Where Is the Control Center on Mac & How to Use It?

This post answers where is the Control Center on Mac and how to use Control Center Mac.

Wiki Tips