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Why Cannot Add Files to External Hard Drive on Mac? Help!

Hello, I have a 1TB hard drive in NTFS format. Recently I got a 2019 MacBook Pro and this hard drive won't let me add files to it. I got another 8G USB flash drive and that works fine. If anyone knows how to fix this, any help is greatly appreciated!

Best Answered by

iBoysoft author Wilsey Young

Wilsey Young

Answered on Wednesday, November 26, 2025

Since Microsoft designed the NTFS format, so you would not be allowed to write files to an NTFS formatted drive on your MacBook. You either format external hard drive into FAT32 or exFAT file system or use third-party software to add files to the external hard drive on Mac.

iBoysoft NTFS for Mac is highly recommended, which enables Mac to mount Windows NTFS drives, and you will have full read and write control over the NTFS file system in macOS without formatting it. You can free download it and then you can add files to your NTFS formatted drive.

 Download

iBoysoft NTFS for Mac

Rating:4.8

     

 Follow the steps below to have direct NTFS write access to NTFS formatted hard drives on Mac.

  1. Download and install iBoysoft NTFS for Mac.
  2. Connect your NTFS formatted external hard drive to your Mac.
  3. You can move, copy, write, and delete files on NTFS drives freely.

Wish you a good luck! 

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