How to format drives in NTFS on a Mac—in 3 easy steps
Sharing data between a Mac running macOS or OS X and PCs running Windows may not be that straightforward. By default, Macs can only read files from Windows-formatted external hard drives, but not write to them. This prevents you from saving, editing, copying, or deleting anything stored on your drives using your Mac. The reason behind this? The file system used by Macs (HFS+) is different than the file system used in Windows (NTFS).
How to read NTFS files on a Mac
There's a real easy solution for this, however: your Mac just needs a driver. Tuxera NTFS for Mac is a full read-write NTFS driver that enables your Mac to read and write NTFS-formatted drives. It also comes with Tuxera Disk Manager, a companion app that lets you format, check, and repair NTFS drives. Tuxera Disk Manager lets you fully manage your hard drive and stored data regardless of the operating system.
Formatting drives with Tuxera Disk Manager
You may find that you first need to format the external drive so it can be used with both your Mac and your PC. Formatting is the process of preparing a drive for use by an operating system. For reference, we explain in more detail what formatting is and why you need it here: http://www.tuxera.com/formatting-an-ntfs-drive-using-a-mac/
Here’s how you format a drive using Tuxera Disk Manager:
About Tuxera NTFS for Mac
Tuxera NTFS for Mac and Tuxera Disk Manager work in the latest macOS and OS X 10.11 El Capitan. It's backwards compatible and runs on all OS X versions starting from Tiger. Personal licensing allows you to install Tuxera NTFS for Mac on all your home computers with a single license.
Get Tuxera NTFS for Mac with Tuxera Disk Manager to get started:
Tuxera NTFS for Mac 2016 RC - macOS Sierra and NTFS drives
After our visit to Apple's WWDC last week we couldn't wait but get our hands in the new macOS Sierra and start working on a release candidate of our driver Tuxera NTFS for Mac for all those developers and users who depend on our software to ensure the compatibility of their storage between Mac and Windows machines. This release candidate is available for download directly from us: https://www.tuxera.com/mac/tuxerantfs_2016-RC.dmg.
And in case you missed it, here is a piece of news that Mac users were hoping for in the release of macOS Sierra: you can use Apple's integrated Disk Utility to format NTFS volumes again. Tuxera NTFS for Mac still ships with Tuxera Disk Manager which helps you format and repair your NTFS drives in macOS Sierra, OS X El Capitan, and previous versions of OS X. In the release history page you will find a summary listing all the major changes and improvements to our NTFS driver for Mac.
As with every developer preview and beta versions released by Apple, macOS Sierra is as new to you as it is to us. We'll be listening to your feedback and suggestions for improvements and keep working towards our final release. If you are a new customer, you can visit our product page https://www.tuxera.com/products/tuxera-ntfs-for-mac to purchase the software or to download it and try it out for 15 days. If you have any questions, contact our support team at macsupport@tuxera.com.
UPDATE! Get the full version of Tuxera NTFS for Mac 2016 with support for macOS Sierra here:
Release: Tuxera NTFS for Mac and Tuxera Disk Manager version 2015.3
On March 1st we released a new stable version of Tuxera NTFS for Mac and its companion app Tuxera Disk Manager. By default OS X can only read files from Windows-formatted hard drives leaving the users unable to edit, copy or delete anything. Tuxera NTFS for Mac is a full read-write NTFS driver that enables your Mac to read and write NTFS-formatted drives. Tuxera Disk Manager is a companion application that lets you format, check and repair NTFS drives, thus overcoming the limitations caused by the System Integrity Protection (SIP) feature introduced in El Capitan. Tuxera NTFS for Mac and Tuxera Disk Manager work in the latest OS X - El Capitan - and are backwards compatible and run on all OS X versions starting from Tiger.
The new update (version 2015.3) is now available for download on our dedicated product page for Tuxera NTFS for Mac, or through the Updates tab in System Preferences > Tuxera NTFS for Mac if you are an existing customer. In the Release History page you will find a summary listing all the major changes and improvements to the driver:
http://www.tuxera.com/products/release-history/
Visit our product page https://www.tuxera.com/products/tuxera-ntfs-for-mac to purchase the software or to download it and try it out for 15 days.
Many thanks to our developers, and to our users who sent us bug reports and suggestions for improvements!
Tuxera NTFS for Mac: Special Pre-release for OS X 10.11 El Capitan Public Beta Testers
If you are one of the public beta testers of OS X 10.11 El Capitan, you should also try out our pre-release version of Tuxera NTFS for Mac 2015 with NTFS read/write support for OS X El Capitan.
OS X 10.11 El Capitan was announced during the WWDC keynote on June 8, 2015 as the successor to OS X Yosemite. This new version of OS X brings with it stability and performance improvements and security updates. It also includes new features like Split View (a snap-assist feature for window management) and several enhancements for well-known apps such as Mail, Notes, and Spotlight.
The pre-release of Tuxera NTFS for Mac for OS X El Capitan is free of charge for our existing customers. If you are not a paying customer yet, we offer a 15-day trial during which you can test Tuxera NTFS for Mac and see how it works.
Download it now and enjoy seamless compatibility with NTFS drives on your Mac.