3 Methods to Fix External Hard Drive Read Only Mac M1 Problem

Though made to the public not very long ago, the Apple M1 Mac lineup has gained its popularity, including MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, and Mac ...

Though made to the public not very long ago, the Apple M1 Mac lineup has gained its popularity, including MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, and Mac Mini. Apple’s in-house M1 chip marks a divergent way from Intel chips and adds some special color to the Apple Silicon. The ARM-based M1 chip claims to be blazing fast, highly efficient, and more integrated than ever. However, there’s one remaining issue even on M1 Mac, that is the NTFS read-only problem. You may still find it unable to write to your NTFS-formatted external hard drive on your newly bought Mac device. How to troubleshoot this issue? I have tried several methods and here I’ll share some with you.

3 Methods to Fix External Hard Drive Read Only Mac M1 Problem

Method # 1: Use Third-Party NTFS Driver

It is undeniable that the most effective and safe way to fulfill NTFS writing on macOS is using NTFS for Mac software. Since there are multiple NTFS for Mac software on the market, either completely free ones, and paid ones, it can be quite confusing to choose the best NTFS for Mac software. However, after the release of Apple's Silicon M1 chip, many companies haven’t updated their product, which means their software can only work with Intel chips instead of Apple M1 chip. One product I know that’s fully compatible with Mac devices with M1 chips is iBoysoft NTFS for Mac. Let’s see below how it performs:

Full Compatibility with macOS 11 and M1 chip

It is the world’s first company to support read and write access to macOS Big Sur as well as M1 chip. Users can run the tool on macOS 11 or the new Mac M1 device without any difficulty. You can access, view, and write to your NTFS-formatted drive, including copy, paste, edit, and rename.

Super Fast Read and Write Speed to NTFS Drives

The software comes with blazing fast speed dealing with your files. It also offers advanced mount options with a seamless user experience.

Secure and Stable Data Transfer

Compared with other methods and software, it enables fast, safe, and stable data transfer from your macOS to NTFS drive. You don’t have to worry about data loss or file corruption.

Method # 2: Format Disk into Apple-compatible File System

Format your disk into another file system can be taken into consideration if you have a backup of the previous files or you don’t care about the files within. That’s because formatting a disk will wipe away all information and write a new file system into it. If you have settled down your mind then here we go:

1. Click Launchpad >> Other >> Disk Utility.

2. Select your NTFS drive on the left side and click Erase on the top of the menu.

3. Select a file system (exFAT and FAT32 are recommended) and fill in other information.

4. Click Erase again.

Now your disk runs a file system that’s compatible with macOS, as a result, you can have read-write access to your disk on both Windows operating system and macOS.

Method # 3: Run Command Line in Terminal

Though it’s listed as a method, I don’t really suggest you do so. Modifying the kernel extension in macOS could result in serious data loss or file corruption because it’s very unstable. You can find the feedback online. Also, it’s way too complicated for normal users like you and me. Moreover, since Apple M1 has changed the way it manages memory and others, modifying kernel extension is so risky that you should avoid doing.

Conclusion:

While it remains to be a bothering issue, the NTFS read-only on Mac problem can actually be solved with ease if you choose the right software tool and product with excellent performance and handy operations.