How to have read & write access to NTFS drives on macOS Big Sur?

Deepak Gupta
have read & write access to NTFS drives on macOS Big Sur

When you are using an NTFS drives on macOS Big Sur, are you not able to write to it? Are you not able to rename, edit, delete, and create files on the NTFS-formatted drive on the latest Mac operating system? Actually, the NTFS read-only issue is very common for Mac users, but it can be resolved very easily. Plus, you won’t have to format the drive. This post will offer you three ways to have read & write access to NTFS drives on macOS Big Sur.

1. Using free NTFS driver for Mac

You can make use of free NTFS drivers for Mac in order to be able to read and write NTFS drives on Mac. One such driver is FUSE. Here is the step by step guide.

Step 1: Download Xcode and install it

Step 2: Download Homebrew and install

/usr/bin/ruby -e "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/master/install)"

Step 3: Download FUSE for macOS and install it.

Step 4: Install NTFS-3G

brew install homebrew/fuse/ntfs-3g.

Step 5: Get SIP disabled

SIP or System Integrity Protection is meant to safeguard your OS from any kind of unauthorized changes. So, here is what you have to do to disable it,

Step 6: NTFS on Mac can now be edited

sudo mv /sbin/mount_ntfs /sbin/mount_ntfs.original
sudo ln -s /usr/local/sbin/mount_ntfs /sbin/mount_ntfs

Apart from FUSE for MacOS, there are other free NTFS drivers for your Mac device. However, you would need to put in some extra effort to get going.

In case this is difficult for you, there are 2 more methods. So, don’t lose heart just yet.

2. Use commercial NTFS drivers for Mac that are user-friendly

There are commercial NTFS drivers for Mac that are less complicated. However, you will have to shell out some money for them but they are easy to use and can save a lot of time! The list includes iBoysoft NTFS for Mac and NTFS Assistant.

iBoysoft NTFS for Mac

iBoysoft NTFS for Mac offers complete read-write support. It lets you rename, edit, delete, copy, paste, move or create files on NTFS drives on Mac with ease. It also offers high-speed file transferring. The experience you get is quite seamless and you won’t feel any difference. It is just like using drive with a format supported by macOS.

Here is how to go about it,

Step 1: Download iBoysoft NTFS for Mac on your Mac device and install it.

Step 2: Connect the Mac computer with the NTFS drive.

Step 3: Upon getting the NTFS drive mounted, you can get started with the read-write actions.

3. Use command line to enable NTFS write support

The Mac OS has an experimental NTFS write support but you have to enable it to use it. By default it is disabled. You have to run command lines to do so. This is true but Apple has not made this official yet. This is because doing so can lead to the corruption of the disk or even permanent data loss. Therefore, this particular solution is risky and should be given a miss! It is not recommended but it is possible!

The Final Word

With this, we come to the end of all the solutions to get read & write access to NTFS drives on macOS. You have seen that you can use free NTFS drivers and commercially available drivers to help you get the read & write access.

They make it possible for you to rename, edit, delete, copy, paste, move or create files on the NTFS-formatted drive on Mac. The drivers would resolve the problem you have with sharing files between Mac and Windows with an NTFS drive.

The NTFS drivers that are totally free of cost require time, patience and effort from your end whereas the commercial ones are easy to use but require you to pay a small amount for the convenience offered.  Also the paid ones like iBoysoft NTFS for Mac are more reliable than the free drivers. Choosing NTFS driver is totally up to you. If you have all the time in the world, you can go in for the free NTFS drivers and if you don’t, go in for iBoysoft NTFS for Mac.

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