How do I copy from Mac to external hard drive?

Browse to the folder on your external drive where you want to store the files or folders and then drag and drop folders and files from your Mac’s Finder window into the external hard drive’s window. A status bar appears on your screen indicating progress. Wait until the full transfer completes.

Table of Contents

Why can’t I transfer files from my Mac to USB?

The main reason for this issue is macOS can only read NTFS format files but can not write files to NTFS disk. So if the USB disk is NTFS format, then the copy and paste operation can not be operated. So we should change the USB Disk file format to others such as FAT or ExFAT. And ExFat is a more good choice.

How do I copy and paste from Mac to NTFS external hard drive?

Open Finder, then click Go’> Go to Folder, then type ‘/Volumes/NAME’ where ‘NAME’ is the name of your NTFS drive. Click ‘Go’ to access your Windows disk. You should now be able to edit existing files and copy new ones here.

How do I copy files from Mac that won’t boot?

Here’s how to use Terminal to copy files from a Mac that won’t boot:

Connect the external drive.
Boot to macOS Recovery using the method appropriate to your Mac model.
Enter your admin password if prompted.
Launch Disk Utility, mount your startup volume, if necessary, and close the app.
Click Utilities > Terminal.

Why can’t I add things to my external hard drive Mac?

The drive is set to read-only permissions, so you can’t add or delete files. The external hard drive uses a partially supported file system, like NTFS, which macOS only supports as read-only. The drive is encrypted, meaning you can’t access it in any way until you’ve decrypted the disk.

How do I transfer files to my external hard drive?

About This Article

Connect the drive to the computer.
Format the drive if necessary.
Open File Explorer.
Go to the folder with the files you want to copy.
Select the files and press Ctrl + C.
Click This PC.
Open the external drive.
Right-click a blank area and press Ctrl + V.

Why won’t my files copy to my flash drive?

If you can’t copy files to USB drive due to Write Protected message, the problem might be your drivers. Sometimes your USB flash drive isn’t installed properly, and that can cause this problem to appear. To fix the issue, it’s advised to reinstall your flash drive.

How do I change permissions on an external hard drive Mac?

Change permissions for files, folders, or disks on Mac

On your Mac, select a disk, folder, or file, then choose File > Get Info.
If the information in Sharing & Permissions isn’t visible, click the arrow .
Click a user or group in the Name column, then choose a privilege setting from the pop-up menu.

How do I make my NTFS drive writable on a Mac?

Enable NTFS write support in Terminal

Open Terminal on your Mac.
Connect the drive formatted as NTFS.
Enter this command: sudo nano /etc/fstab.
Scroll to the end of the list, and enter this command: LABEL=NAME none ntfs rw, auto, nobrowse.
Press Control+O on your Mac keyboard.
Press Control+X on your keyboard.

How do I recover data from a dead MacBook Pro 2020?

If your Mac is completely dead, you need to get an A1708 working Mac. Remove the SSD drive from the dead Mac and install it on the working Mac. Your SSD drive can boot up from the working Mac without installing any new drivers. You simply connect an external drive and copy your data from the SSD drive.

Why can’t I write to an external hard drive on Mac?

If you look at the format of the external hard drive, it is probable setup to NTFS and is something that Macs can read and copy from but cannot write to it. The only way you can do that is to reformat the drive to either so that it will be for Macs to write to or you can format it to FAT and it can read and write to both.

Why can’t I copy and paste on my Mac?

If the commands are not working, next try using the “Edit” menu approach of manually selecting Copy and Paste. If that approach works, it suggests something is going on with the keyboard rather than the clipboard.

Do I need to reformat my external hard drive for Mac?

If the drive is going to be only used with a Mac then it needs to be reformatted in Mac OS Extended) Journaled). This is easy to do and is explained in:

Why is my NTFS drive not recognized by my iMac?

The drive can’t be recognized because NTFS which is a PC format. OS X can read a NTFS drive and copy data on it to your iMac but it cannot write to NTFS. If the drive is going to be only used with a Mac then it needs to be reformatted in Mac OS Extended) Journaled).