NTFS (New Technology File System) is a file system developed by Microsoft. FAT32, which is also commonly used, is another example of file system. They define and control how the data, or files, are stored and retrieved from a storage drive. However, Mac OS X supports NTFS read only, but not write, by default. There are software that can enable NTFS write. Yet, it is easy and free to enable the access by a few steps. Here is a complete guide.
1. Open “Terminal“.
Paragon NTFS for Mac 15 ($20) is a file system driver that allows Mac OS X Yosemite and later (incuding macOS Sierra) to read and write to hard drives, solid-state storage devices, and USB thumb. Aug 29, 2016 The catch is, NTFS can be read by Mac OSes, but not written to without third-party software. This means if you plug an NTFS-formatted thumbdrive into a Mac you can copy the contents from it, but.
There are 3 ways to open terminal.
- Open it via “Spotlight” on the top-right comer or “
Cmd + Space” (default short-cut key), and type “Terminal“. - Another way is to open “Finder“, “Go to Folder…”
/Applications/Utilitiesand you should find “Terminal” there. - Press “F4” >> open folder “Other” >> click the icon of Terminal
A new Terminal window should be prompted out. If you are a geek, I believe you need it quite often, keep it in Dock now~
2. Check your Hard Drive / USB Name.
You can simply check it by plugging it into your Mac and a new drive should shown on “Finder” or “Desktop“. The name appeared is the name of the hard drive.
Note: There MUST be NO space in the device name. If there is, go back to Windows and change it first. For example, it’s fine for “HDD-device” but not for “HDD device”
3. In “Terminal”, type the following command:
sudo echo 'LABEL=DEVICE_NAME none ntfs rw, auto, nobrowse' >> /etc/fstab
Note: remember to change DEVICE_NAME into your Hard Drive Name
If you used Linux before, you may know some text editor like nano, vm, vim, etc. You can use them for editing /etc/fstaband add the underlined part in it. Then, your Hard Drive is now mounted on Mac under the folder /Volumes and you can have NTFS write access now!
4. Create a Shoutcut
But it may be hard for you to find your hard drive now because it no longer appears on “Finder” or “Desktop“. This is because /Volumes is a hidden folder and your drive is mounted on it. You may type the following command to create a symbolic link to /Volumes on Desktop:
sudo ln -s /Volumes ~/Desktop/Volumes
5. Finished!
Be careful that you need to unmount the device before disconnecting it, just right click on the device icon and choose “Eject“. If you can’t do so, you may try to re-login and eject again.
Disable NTFS write
If you no need NTFS write for the device anymore, just simply remove /etc/fstabby the following command in Terminal:
sudo rm /etc/fstab
Troubleshooting
After enabling NTFS write, you may sometime find that your hard drive is disappeared if you plug in your external hard disk or USB stick, or the above guide don’t work for you. It is usually because you didn’t unmount it cleanly on Windows previously, which is caused by unsafe eject. This is because Mac has no fsck to repair problems on the NTFS volume to make the log file clean again. You can verify the problem by plugging in your storage drive and then, type the following command in Terminal:
sudo dmesg
A similar error message should be shown:
NTFS driver 3.11 [Flags: R/W].
NTFS volume name DEVICE_NAME, version 3.1.
NTFS-fs error (device /dev/disk1s1, pid 345): ntfs_system_inodes_get(): $LogFile is not clean. Mount in Windows.
NTFS-fs error (device /dev/disk1s1, pid 345): ntfs_mount(): Failed to load system files (error 30).
NTFS-fs error (device /dev/disk1s1, pid 345): ntfs_mount(): Mount failed (error 30).
Solution
- Plug the drive to Windows again and disconnect by “Safely Remove“.
- Restore the original backup by the command:
sudo mv /sbin/mount_ntfs.orig /sbin/mount_ntfs
Enjoy!
Please reply if you encounter any problem or if I made any mistake.
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Oct 13, 2020 • Filed to: Windows Computer Solutions • Proven solutions
USB Flash Drives are the new file briefcase in this world of technology. It allows you to store as many files you want within a little device. It makes files very compact, easily transportable, and organized. However, just like with a filing system used in paperwork, USB drives also make use of file systems. The most common file systems used are NTFS, exFAT, and FAT32. If you’ve been using flash drives and other external storage devices for a long time, you may be already familiar with this. Each file system has its pros and cons. Many PC users are opting to format or change their file systems to NTFS. If you’re unfamiliar with the file system and have no idea why this needs to be done, keep on reading. In this article, we will provide you with three easy ways you can format your USB drive to NTFS.
Why Do You Need To Format a USB Drive to NTFS?
The default format used by most USB flash drives and other external storage media is FAT32. Some people are fine with keeping this format. But for most users, they always find the need to convert or format their USB drive to NTFS. This is for many reasons. With a USB drive that uses the FAT32 file type, you can only copy or add files less than 4GB. This may be a hassle for some users who want to transport large files like movies, program installers, etc. Meanwhile, NTFS doesn’t have this limitation. You can copy or add files of any size and the partition sizes usually have a large capacity.
What is NTFS?
NTFS is a type of file system. It stands for the NT File system and is also called the New Technology File System. It’s a way of organizing files within a flash drive. It’s a new improvement from previous file types like File Allocation Table (FAT) or Extended File Allocation Table (exFAT) previously used by Microsoft Windows. Because it’s a relatively new file type, it has increased security from its new features like file permissions and encryptions. NTFS also has a Change Journal where the driver keeps track of the changes made within the drive. This means that if ever your PC unexpectedly shuts down or you experience a system crash, you can recover files that were lost during the event.
Here are three proven methods on how to format USB flash drive to NTFS.
Method 1. Format USB Flash drive to NTFS using Disk Management
1. Find My Computer in the Start menu or by typing it in the search bar. Right-click on it and click on Manage.
Ntfs Usb For Mac Os
2. In Device Manager, look for your USB drive in the Disk Drives tab.
3. Right-click on your drive and choose Properties.
4. Under the Policies tab, click on Optimize for performance. Select OK.
5. Go to My Computer and look for your drive. Right-click and choose Format in the drop-down menu.
6.In the format options that will pop-up, select NTFS to convert your drive to NTFS.
Ntfs For Mac
7. Select Start and wait for the process to finish.
Method 2. Format USB flash drive to NTFS using Command Prompt
Using Command Prompt, make sure to type in the exact commands to avoid unexpected errors.
1. Launch Command Prompt by typing in cmd in the Run tool or typing Command Prompt in the search bar. Select Run as administrator.
2.Type in the command:
convert G: /fs:NTFS
NOTE: In this command, we’re formatting drive G. Change this to whatever drive letter you’re trying to work with.
Method 3. Formatting your USB drive using Windows tools
You can easily format your USB drive with just the built-in features of your Windows computer. Follow the steps below to perform this:
1. Plug the USB drive into the USB port of your computer or laptop.
2. Go to My Computer and right-click on your USB drive. A drop-down menu will appear. Choose Format…
3. The format window will open. Here you will see the device’s capacity, File System, and Allocation unit size. You can also rename the volume label. The Restore device defaults button will revert your drive’s settings to default. You can change the file system in NTFS or FAT and also assign the unit size.
4. Select the Start button at the bottom of the window and click OK to begin the format and erase all the data contained in the drive.
Formatting your USB drive may seem intimidating at first. Formatting changes the file type of your drive and along with this, also wipes out all the data saved within. So it’s important to back up all the files to your computer or another drive before performing any format. With any of the methods previously mentioned above, you will be able to perform a format of your USB flash drive easily and quickly.
Video Tutorial on How to Recover Lost/Deleted Partition Data?
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