Home > Questions

Move files from external drive used on Windows to new Mac

I used to use an external hard drive to store all of my information before I purchased a MacBook Pro. I was a longtime Windows computer user. I want to move all the data from that external hard drive—which was not formatted for Mac—to either my recently purchased Seagate external hard drive, which is formatted for Mac right out of the box, or to my MacBook Pro, depending on which is easier. Is anyone able to assist? Many thanks!

Best Answered by

iBoysoft author Amanda Wong

Amanda Wong

Answered on Monday, April 29, 2024

The answer is yes, you can move files from the external hard drive used for Windows to your new Mac or the Seagate external drive formatted for macOS. 

The external hard drive you used on Windows should be formatted as exFAT, FAT32, or NTFS. The former two file systems are compatible with macOS, and you can free copy and move files from an exFAT/FAT32 formatted drive to your Mac. NTFS is read-only on Mac, you can copy the files from an NTFS drive to Mac, but if you want to move files from it to Mac, you will need a third-party NTFS for Mac driver such as iBoysoft NTFS for Mac, it enables you to read and write NTFS on Mac.

To transfer files from external hard drive to Mac, the methods are different depending on whether you want to copy or move(delete the item from its original location) the items. And the steps are same whether you want to transfer the files from the Windows drive to your Mac or the Seagate drive connected to Mac, just select the correct destination.

People Also Ask

Read More Questions

Read More Advice From iBoysoft's Computer Experts

Comment obtenir rapidement le chemin d'un fichier sur Mac

Comment copier un fichier/dossier dans le Terminal macOS? (commande cp)

Cet article explique comment copier un fichier ou un dossier dans le Terminal macOS en utilisant la commande cp, avec des exemples détaillés.

como fazer uma cópia de um documento do Word

Guia Prático: Duplicar Documento do Word no Mac/Windows/Online

Quanto a como fazer uma cópia de um documento do Word no Mac, Windows e online. Também informaremos como duplicar um doc do Word no Microsoft Word/OneDrive/Office 365.

cómo solucionar la corrupción o descarte de archivos de Finder al copiar

¿Cómo arreglar que el Finder de Mac corrompa o elimine archivos al copiarlos?

Esta publicación se enfoca en por qué el Finder corrompe o elimina archivos como MKV o archivos de video al copiarlos desde un disco duro externo a una Mac o viceversa, y presenta varias soluciones viables.