How to format an external HDD on NTFS on Mac?

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.

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/#

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.

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.)