How to format an external HDD on NTFS on Mac?

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How to format an external HDD on NTFS on Mac?

please help me; I'm new to mac and need to help a friend who has an old mac laptop and a new mac desktop. I don't know what operating systems they have. If I try to format a disk the laptop only gives me the mac, fat and exfat formats but not NTFS. The new desktop which I believe has the latest operating system has the option to format NTFS but if I try to format NTFS even a new pendrive it gives me an error code, i don't remember which. Can anyone help me understand? Unfortunately I can't say anything else because I've never used Mac. Thank you

[Re-Titled by Moderator]

Posted on Sep 21, 2023 8:12 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Lilawadee

Level 1

12 points

Jul 21, 2024 1:32 PM in response to Phil0124

That is not a helpful response. Many need to be able to format to NTFS. There is third party apps that will do it on MacOS. Paragon NTFS is one of them but not free.

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Answer 2

Sep 22, 2023 6:56 AM in response to Contenitore21

If the disks are formatted as NTFS, macOS can only read from them, but cannot write to them natively as mentioned above.

You would need a 3rd party NTFS driver to allow writing to an NTFS volume.

click here ➜ https://www.paragon-software.com/home/ntfs-mac/#

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Answer 3

Sep 21, 2023 8:19 AM in response to Contenitore21

NTFS is a Windows only format. Macs can read NTFS volumes, but normally cannot format or write to drives formatted as NTFS.

There should be no reason for you to want to format a drive as NTFS for use with a Mac.

Choose HFS+ or APFS. Or if the drive needs to be used with a Windows system, use exFAT.

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Answer 4

Sep 21, 2023 8:39 AM in response to Contenitore21

My goal is to use hd with a tv Samsung who accept fat but less 4gb and nfts. Thx

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Answer 5

Sep 21, 2023 10:58 PM in response to Contenitore21

Another question please: old disks that are read only on the laptop have write protection from users other than him, but even if he logs in with his user, the Get information menu says that he can only read: is there a way from iOS or even from Win to remove these protections? Thx

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Answer 6

Jul 21, 2024 2:53 PM in response to Lilawadee

Lilawadee wrote:

That is not a helpful response. Many need to be able to format to NTFS. There is third party apps that will do it on MacOS. Paragon NTFS is one of them but not free.

Phil0124's response is a correct response, and it is a helpful one in that it clarifies the situation for anyone who might be unsure what it is. Don't resurrect ten-month-old threads to "shoot the messenger" just because you don't like the message.

As for your second claim, I have seen no evidence that many Mac users need to be able to format to NTFS. The more common scenario is buying a "PC"-formatted hard drive, and using Disk Utility to get rid of it! (Something that works quite well, with no need for third-party drivers.)

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How to format an external HDD on NTFS on Mac?

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