There are a few things you can do with NTFS files on your Mac beyond reading them. NTFS for Mac: How to Work with Windows Drives in macOS You can read them on your Mac, but that's likely not going to suit your needs. When working with NTFS files, you'll need a third party NTFS driver for Mac if you want to work with the files. Many external drives are formatted to NTFS by default, as Windows is more widely used than macOS.īecause it's a proprietary file system Apple hasn't licensed, your Mac can't write to NTFS natively. NTFS stands for NT File System, and was first developed for Windows NT version 3.1, where itw as the default file system for that operating system. In this article, we'll tell you what NTFS is, how you can use it on your Mac, whether there's an NTFS Mac alternative, and discuss the best ways to use the niche filetype on your Mac. The NTFS format isn't one that's widely discussed, so you may be wondering: 'what is NTFS format, and why would I use it?' Get an ever-growing collection of troubleshooting apps.
