western digital external drive, My Passport, help with MacBook pro

[mikeSF]

I just downloaded the new external drive onto my MacBook pro. The laptop recognizes the drive but I can't move any folders from my MacBook to the drive. any ideas on how to fix this? The MacBook is up to date. I tried google and a few of those ideas with no luck.
Thanks!

[mikeSF]

an update, I went into the disk utility on the mac. It says the external drive isn't writeable. Wonderful. Not sure what to do next.

[tj]

Disclaimer: I'm not a mac user, so there's that. Might do some more internet searching to verify info below the xxxxx line.

I have a Western Digital 'My Passport' Ultra 1 TB. I just checked, my 'My Passport' is formatted as NTFS same as my Windows 10 desktop.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Mac does not support NTFS write by default. In order to Write to NTFS Drives on a Mac, you have two options: third-party Software, free extension or format the drive to exFAT."


​https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/...my/m-p/3956751

[cadman]

I have two of these and they have been flawless, however mine is for a PC. My downloadable file are via a USB cable. Is that what you have? Maybe the drive is not compatible with a Mac system.

[tj]

Warning - I'm not a mac user, so there's that

They sell WD My Passport that are already formatted for Mac, maybe you could return yours if you bought a NTFS version (W10, W11). https://www.amazon.com/WD-2TB-My-Pas...%2C1077&sr=8-2

Western Digital Support 3.32k subscribers
120k views 1 year ago

[tj]

Might return it and get a MAC version

[Bsktball55]

You should be able to reformat the drive so that it is compatible with your Mac. I'm not an expert, but I know one of the file formats is compatible with Mac and PC. I am able to move my WD passport back and forth between my Mac and PC. Keep in mind when you reformat it, you will lose anything on the drive so make sure it is backed up first.

[rjvana37]

Call WD they were pretty easy to talk to when I called them.

[Javelin389]

It's probably formatted in the NTFS file system. Windows standard for many years.

If there is no data on the drive, go in to Disk Utility and reformat it to a Mac format, like APFS. Easy to do, and I'm sure there are plenty of videos on it. If there is data on it, copy it to the Mac then format it, copy it back afterwards.

If there is data on the drive (that you need), or you have a need to move it between Mac/Win, you'll need a third party app like Tuxera NTFS. Transfer rates are a little slower on the Mac, but if it's a backup drive that's no big deal. I've been using Tuxera for many years now.

Alternatively, you could format it as an ExFAT file system that is readable/writeable on both, but not the best way to do it.

[printman71]

It's probably formatted in the NTFS file system. Windows standard for many years.

If there is no data on the drive, go in to Disk Utility and reformat it to a Mac format, like APFS. Easy to do, and I'm sure there are plenty of videos on it. If there is data on it, copy it to the Mac then format it, copy it back afterwards.

If there is data on the drive (that you need), or you have a need to move it between Mac/Win, you'll need a third party app like Tuxera NTFS. Transfer rates are a little slower on the Mac, but if it's a backup drive that's no big deal. I've been using Tuxera for many years now.

Alternatively, you could format it as an ExFAT file system that is readable/writeable on both, but not the best way to do it.

I've had Macs for 35+ years. This is correct.