How to fix external hard disk NTFS READ ONLY? [duplicate]
What is the best, easiest, preferably cheapest way to make OS X write to NTFS-formatted drives in Mac OS X?
Solution 1:
Updated at May 2015, with current solutions.
Free solutions
FUSE for OS X - Successor to MacFUSE
NTFS-3G
Requires a build from source for anything newer than 2010. Last "pre built" version linked from http://macntfs-3g.blogspot.co.uk/2010/10/ntfs-3g-for-mac-os-x-2010102.html You can build it from source using homebrew in the other answers.
Paid solutions
Paragon NTFS
Tuxera NTFS
MacFuse is abandonware, and hasn't been updated since 2009.
Solution 2:
This answer is for latest compatibility for OS X 10.11 El Capitan, macOS 10.12 Sierra, macOS 10.13 High Sierra, macOS 10.14 Mojave.
It needs an update for Apple Silicon and Monterey and Big Sur and Catalina so proceed with caution
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Install latest osxfuse (3.x.x) from GitHub. Or install it with Homebrew as follow:
brew cask install osxfuse
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Install latest NTFS-3G with Homebrew as follow:
brew install ntfs-3g
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Auto-mount NTFS volumes in read-write mode:
Link NTFS-3G to boot after temporary disabling System Integrity Protection, as follow:
* [reboot by holding <kbd>CMD</kbd>+<kbd>R</kbd> to get in recovery mode]
csrutil disable
* [reboot normally]
sudo mount -uw /
sudo mv /sbin/mount_ntfs /sbin/mount_ntfs.original
sudo ln -s /usr/local/sbin/mount_ntfs /sbin/mount_ntfs
* [reboot by holding <kbd>CMD</kbd>+<kbd>R</kbd> to get in recovery mode]
csrutil enable
* [reboot normally]
You will need to re-link manually (step 3) each year when you upgrade macOS (10.11 → 10.12 → 10.13 → 10.14 → ...)
Additional steps if solution does not work:
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try to install ntfs-3g again
brew install ntfs-3g
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it warns that it installed but not linked, try to link again:
brew link ntfs-3g
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it fails and prints dry-run command which will show files to remove:
brew link --overwrite --dry-run ntfs-3g
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remove these files with sudo ('Would remove:' is for English console)
brew link --overwrite --dry-run ntfs-3g | grep -vF 'Would remove:' | awk '{print $1}' | xargs sudo rm
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try to link again and get permission error on creation /usr/local/share/doc/ntfs-3g. brew prevents running with sudo so prepare directory for README:
sudo mkdir /usr/local/share/doc/ntfs-3g sudo chmod a+w /usr/local/share/doc/ntfs-3g
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run
brew link
again... success. -
reboot your Mac and allow system extension to load in System Preferences as error box suggests.
See also the following wiki page: https://github.com/osxfuse/osxfuse/wiki/NTFS-3G