Unable to Move or Copy Files to Mac External Hard Drive - Mac Will Not Write Files to USB Hard Drive

Unable to Move or Copy Files to Mac External Hard Drive - Mac Will Not Write Files to USB Hard Drive
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Ok so you've plugged in an external drive to your Mac to copy files to it. But no matter what you do, the file will not move or copy to the drive. The hard drive seems to be working fine but you just can't put any files on it. The reason this isn't working is because this drive has been formatted for a Windows operating system. And if I press Command-I on my keyword I can learn more about the attached storage device.
In the Info window next to Format, my drive shows that it has been formatted with the NTFS file system which is a Windows type of file structure. While the Mac can read and copy files from this NTFS drive, it cannot copy to or write files onto this device. For me, if I want full capabilities of this drive I'll have to initialize and format it.
But before I begin, I definitely need to plug it into a Windows computer and copy or backup all the files somewhere else if I want to keep them. I'd encourage you to watch the entire video before proceeding so you won't accidentally delete any of your important files. This is just a warning because I want to keep your data safe!
To format the NTFS drive, I'll connect it to my Mac. Then in the Launchpad, I'll type Disk Utility in the search bar. After launching the Disk Utility, click on the problem drive in the left column. Here mine is called Elements_1_Backup. And under the name I can confirm this is the NTFS drive. To start the format, click on the Erase button at the top right of the window.
On the popup menu, I can rename the drive if needed. In the Format dropdown menu there are only 2 options that should be used. Select MacOS Extended (Journaled) if this drive is only going to be used only on a Mac. Using this option means a Windows computer will no longer recognize this storage device when plugged in. But for me, the best option is to choose the ExFAT format which allows the most flexibility. ExFAT allows both Mac and Windows to read and write to the hard drive. It's actually the best of both worlds!
After you choose one of those formats the next step is to click Erase. But please note that this final step will erase and delete everything on the hard drive. There'll be no way to recover the lost data if you continue. So first back up the data on the drive if needed. I'm not ready to erase this drive so I'll just cancel out. But the steps I just described is what you need to do when your Mac can't write files to an external hard drive.
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[@RylanIsabella]

This video was very helpul and took a load of stress off me, thank you! You're a great teacher and get straight to the point.

[@AlexMyth]

Solved the problem! It was all about Windows format, now I changed it to ExFAT. Thank you!

[@vivianterzian506]

I had difficulty getting photos from my old macG4 to a new WD passport external drive, and you helped me tremendously. I couldn’t understand why the drive wasn’t compatible. I followed your instructions and Saved the photos! Thank you

[@kostaskazakos7653]

Very helpful . Thanks a lot mate

[@swetamuralinarippatta4427]

This was super helpful! thanks!!

[@emdlcrx]

this is brilliant! I love your video. It helped me a lot. I'm just new to mac because I recently bought a macbook pro 2019 and this perfectly worked for me. Thank you so much.

[@MaxTooney]

Very helpful, thank you!

[@thehometherapy]

Thank you so so much!!! this really helped solve my problem. 100% to you for doing this video :)

[@khalidhaariye950]

Thank you very much. This is really helpful

[@_xstarbutterfly]

this is perfect. mine is now working. thank you so much!

[@Kokomaxem]

It works for me!!!🎉🎉🎉 Thank You so much it was driving me crazy!

[@DineshKumarP08]

It was helpful. Thanks!

[@riyaajay4961]

you are a life saver! this was driving me nuts

[@techinsightchannel9314]

Thanks more my pal it helps me more bro❤❤

[@UtpalBiswasOfficial]

Thanks! It really helped.

[@MrCarlrockz]

very useful and informative.thanks it works👍

[@marningrace432]

Thank you this helped me out!

[@OhohohTST]

Cool stuff! Thanks mate

[@trinityuncut]

Quick and straight to the point. THANK YOU!! =)

[@TheRenderQ]

You’re welcome! Glad my hard drive tutorial helped!

[@MateoGaming1]

This Helped Thanks!

[@sergipadillaargelich8459]

what if i just can format it to APFS type formats?

[@Djanirudhapawar05]

thank you for solved my problem❤ love you

[@pinaswanderertv]

Thank you! Its working

[@AC-Ninja]

I changed to exfat and now do not get an "Errors" but it sill does not load them to the drive? I have all permissions on read and write. For whatever reason it makes the audible sound as though it loaded to external hd but just disappears from the hd and there is no error message or anything that would give me any insight as to why. I have been looking into this for a week now and cannot find ANYTHING that helps. I am at a loss here. Making me REALLY REGRET switching to Apple. Never had this issue with MS/Windows

[@rnowlin13]

Fixed my problem! thanks

[@alinavianne]

Thank you!

[@lindiepearl]

My drive is set to ExFat but is still unmodifiable. Thoughts?

[@h0jbj3r_B]

Thank you so much. Problem solved🙌🏻

[@eighttarot9949]

Really helpful

[@ignatiussetiawan1280]

Thanks a lot

[@ThatDominicanLife]

Thank You

[@Hanover_outdoorsman]

Thank you so much ! Saved my day man !

[@TheRenderQ]

You’re welcome! So glad you got your hard drive working on your Mac!

[@Hanover_outdoorsman]

@@TheRenderQ working on my first long form video , ran into space issues fast .
Used a 128GB SD card as a hard drive to put iMovie library on lol .
Till I got a hard drive , witch this saved the day and was Stright to the point and clear . Thank you

[@CaptureIndia]

I have 800GB hard disk and no other hard disk to backup . is there any solution in that we don't need to delete data?

[@plainkady]

How can I do it without having to delete 8Tb of data from my external hard drive?

[@johnxywu]

I don't see the ExFAT option on my hardrive

[@VICTORIOUS_SANJAY]

Ong 😢 Thank you so much 😮

[@Mazerschi36]

you save me thanks

[@yozeruga]

Why does MacBook crash when I’m connected to HDMi and move the magic mouse

[@rakeshreddy68]

Cant we Do without Formating Them ?

[@abigaelcalma]

Same question. All videos I find is to erase the external hard drive and change the format to ExFAT. I have alot of files in my external HD so I can’t copy and paste them all to my MacBook.

[@rakeshreddy68]

Yes , I had formatted my 1TB by copying files to other drive and changed to Exfat recopied back

[@JeramieSaito]

Wow I need to buy a new hard drive then thanks

[@muzykaarmani7831]

Im just start hate mac , my brother gifted it to me and omg its so complicated, too many websites not opening its so stupid i am now trying to format it so I haven the same problem and I don’t have now window laptop to save data i have 3 hard disk and all with same problems

[@tonyrajan5120]

My external drive is 8TB AND MAC has only 1 TB now tell me how do I back it up ???? Why making videos with the same single solution when each and every single video just says the same thing.

[@smokepepsi]

my g

[@RB-Book-Of-World-Records]

Wowwwww

[@jasonlindquistmedia]

gopd damn i hate mac so much

[@taghavi_script]

thanks bro help a lot