Mac Ntfs Free

By Jessica | Posted to Home > NTFS for Mac Tips, updated on July 27th, 2021 |

Ntfs Mac Free Big Sur

Ntfs free mac capitain

This post compares 8 NTFS for Mac software, including freeware and paid app.

They will help you read NTFS drive on Mac and write to NTFS files on Mac, solving your Mac external hard drive read only problem.

  1. Best free NTFS for Mac:
  2. 1. iBoysoft NTFS for Mac
  3. 2. iBoysoft DiskGeeker
  4. 3. Mounty for NTFS
  5. 4. NTFS-3G
  6. 5. FUSE for macOS
  7. 6. SL-NTFS
  8. 7. Paragon NTFS for Mac
  9. 8. Tuxera NTFS for Mac

1. iBoysoft NTFS for Mac

iBoysoft NTFS for Mac is the ultimate NTFS for Mac solution to mount NTFS drives in read-write mode on your Mac.

NTFS-3G is a free and open source read and write file system driver for NTFS that enables your Mac to effortlessly write files to a NTFS formatted drive. In other words, NTFS-3G is designed to give your Mac the ability to write to NTFS partitions and mount them as native parts of the operating system environment. Happily, all the apps mentioned today – NTFS for Mac, Get Backup Pro, and Disk Drill – are available for free during a seven day trial of Setapp, the world’s leading suite of productivity apps for your Mac. Along with these four incredible apps, you’ll have unlimited access to the entire Setapp catalog of nearly 200 apps! A Microsoft NTFS for Mac is a small menu bar utility. It works as a Mac NTFS mounter to mount and unmount your Windows NTFS drives in Mac's desktop, Finder, and Disk Utility. As a Mac NTFS reader, it allows you to view and copy files from an NTFS formatted external drive on Mac. It is also an NTFS writer that enables you to gain NTFS write. We know that the NTFS file system built into Mac cannot write NTFS drives by default, it can only read NTFS drives. Hasleo NTFS for Mac is a free software primarily designed to help users full access to NTFS drives in Mac, with it you can mount, unmount, read and write NTFS drives easily, safely and seamlessly in macOS. To full access (mount, read and write) the BitLocker-encrypted drives in.

We know that the NTFS file system built into Mac cannot write NTFS drives by default, it can only read NTFS drives. Hasleo NTFS for Mac is a free software primarily designed to help users full access to NTFS drives in Mac, with it you can mount, unmount, read and write NTFS drives easily, safely and seamlessly in macOS.

#7-day free trial#NTFS for M1 Mac#NTFS for Mac Big Sur#NTFS for Mac Monterey
  • Pros:
  • 7-day free trial
  • Support macOS from High Sierra to Monterey Beta
  • Compatible with Apple Silicon M1 Mac
  • Repair NTFS file system errors
  • Erase NTFS volumes for data cleanup
  • Format drive to NTFS
Paragon

How to use iBoysoft NTFS for Mac for free

  • 1. Free download iBoysoft NTFS for Mac, install, and launch it on your Mac.
  • 2. Connect the read-only NTFS drive to your Mac.
  • 3. iBoysoft NTFS for Mac will automatically mount NTFS drive in read-write mode. Then you can write, copy, delete, and modify files on the NTFS drive smoothly.

Overall experience

Compared with other NTFS for Mac free software, iBoysoft NTFS for Mac tops the list. After free downloading this app and installing, it plugs and plays once NTFS drives are connected to your Mac.

Read Full Review

This small menu bar utility uses an intuitive interface, showing a list of detected NTFS volumes, a disk management tool, and some customizable options. iBoysoft NTFS for Mac makes it simple, fast, and efficient to write to NTFS drives on Mac.

With a 7-day free trial period, uses can copy and modify files on NTFS drives for free.

Additional features: iBoysoft NTFS for Mac is highlighted with simple disk management, including one-click to open volumes, clean NTFS volumes, repair NTFS file system corruption, unmount NTFS volumes, erase other disks to NTFS file system, etc.

Sum-up: User-friendly, plug-and-play, free trial version, and technical support make iBoysoft NTFS for Mac the best NTFS driver.

2. iBoysoft DiskGeeker

iBoysoft DiskGeeker is a handy Mac disk management tool, which not only enables NTFS read-write support on Mac, but also helps read/write BitLocker encrypted drive, manage external drives and network drives on Mac.

#7-day free trialNtfs for mac free#NTFS for Mac Monterey#BitLocker for Mac#Manage network drives#Manage external drives
  • Pros:
  • 7-day free trial
  • Support macOS from High Sierra to Monterey Beta
  • Compatible with Apple Silicon M1 Mac
  • Read/Write BitLocker encrypted drive on Mac
  • Map network drives
  • Free technical support

How to use iBoysoft DiskGeeker?

  • 1. Download, install and launch iBoysoft DiskGeeker on your Mac.
  • 2. All connected NTFS external drives will be automatically mounted in read-write mode.
  • 3. Copy-paste, transfer, modify, and write to NTFS drives.

Overall experience

iBoysoft DiskGeeker is handy tool for people whose NTFS external drives are read-only on Mac. With this software, mounting NTFS drives with write access lifts a disk insertion, simple and intuitive. It works with a wide range of storage types like USB flash drives, SD cards, and memory sticks.

Read Full Review

This NTFS for Mac app will stay in the menu bar silently until detecting newly plugged hard disks. From its drop-down box, you can open, mount, unmount, and disconnect all NTFS volumes with a simple click. Then, you'll have full access to NTFS disks as you use APFS and HFS+ on Mac.

Other Highlights: Besides being an NTFS driver, iBoysoft DiskGeeker also can manage and map network drives. It means your network volumes will be mounted as local drives so that you can access it directly in the Finder.

Sum-up: You can enjoy this NTFS for Mac software for free within 7 days, and then you'll know iBoysoft DiskGeeker can definitely satisfy your needs of an NTFS driver on Mac.

3. Mounty for NTFS

Mounty is a NTFS for Mac free software to make NTFS drive write support on your Mac.

#Freeware#NTFS for Mac Big Sur
  • Pros:
  • 100% Free
  • Compatible with Apple Silicon M1 Mac
  • Support macOS from Mavericks to Big Sur
  • Fast and free download for full version
  • Cons:
  • Rather slow write speed
  • Unstable and>Supported macOS Auto-mountTransfer SpeedPriceModern InterfaceOthers highlightsiBoysoft NTFS for MacmacOS 12 Beta - macOS 10.13YesFastFree trialYes1. Support M1 Mac
    2. Clean NTFS volumes
    3. Format to NTFS iBoysoft DiskGeekermacOS 12 Beta - macOS 10.13YesFastFree trialYesMap network drives in FinderMounty for MacmacOS 11 - OS X 10.9NoSlowFreeYesN/ANTFS-3GmacOS 10.10 - OS X 10.6NoSlowFreeNoN/AFUSE for macOSmacOS 10.15 - OS X 10.6YesSlowFreeNoN/ASL-NTFSmacOS 10.12 - OS X 10.6NoSlowFreeYesN/AParagon NTFS for MacmacOS 11 - 10.12YesFastFree trialYes1. Format to NTFS
    2. Support M1 Mac Tuxera NTFS for MacmacOS 11 - OS X 10.4YesRelatively slowFree trialYesCheck NTFS drives

Conclusion:

All NTFS for Mac free software has obvious flaws or shortcomings (like low write speed, poor compatibility, and no technical support). Some disadvantages can even put your data at risk. If you don't care about the risks and want to try out the free NTFS for Mac programs, generally speaking, Mounty for NTFS and FUSE for macOS are better free ones.

Most free NTFS drivers are for macOS Mojave edition, macOS High Sierra, and earlier, and few are compatible with the latest macOS Big Sur.

But you have a better choice, cost-effective NTFS for Mac alternatives like iBoysoft NTFS for Mac, so that you can get enough reliability, stability, compatibility, and simplicity from that app. Though they are not completely free, they can provide a lot of merits that NTFS for Mac free software doesn't do.

Why do you need free NTFS for Mac driver?

NTFS is a file system developed by Microsoft, the competitor of Apple. It's for Windows platform, especially used in the system drive. That's why you use Boot Camp to run Windows on Mac but find you can't mount BOOTCAMP partition in read-write mode.

Up to now, Mac operating systems, including macOS Big Sur, Catalina, Mojave, High Sierra, Sierra and Mac OS X El Capitan, only provide NTFS read support but no NTFS write support.

Business is business, but for users, you need Mac to write to NTFS drives. Users want Windows NTFS file system to be fully compatible with macOS or Mac OS X. Sure. That it. You need NTFS for Mac free software to share NTFS drives between Windows and Mac.

People Also Ask

Q: Is NTFS for Mac free?

A: NTFS drivers generally cost $20 around, but there are four completely free NTFS for Mac software:

  1. 1. Mounty for NTFS
  2. 2. NTFS-3G
  3. 3. FUSE for macOS
  4. 4. SL-NTFS

Q: How can Mac read NTFS for free?

A: Mac can read NTFS drives for free by default. All you need to do is to mount the disk in Disk Utility by:

  1. 1. Connect the NTFS drive to your Mac for automatically mounting.
  2. 2. Open Disk Utility if the NTFS drive is not mounted.
  3. 3. Select the NTFS drive and click on Mount.
  4. 4. Mac reads the NTFS drive for free then.

Q: What is the best NTFS for Mac?

A: There are three best NTFS for Mac software:

  1. 1. iBoysoft NTFS for Mac
  2. 2. Paragon NTFS for Mac
  3. 3. Tuxera NTFS for Mac

Q: I lost the data from NTFS drive, how to recover?

A: Free download the professional data recovery software: iBoysoft Data Recovery and have a try.

The NTFS partition might be marked as 'dirty' and the Apple NTFS driver cannot recover from that situation. Mounty will not delete anything by itself, please try to restore your files on a Windows PC using usual recovery s/w, i.e. Chkdsk command line utility or professional tools like GetDataBack for Windows. Format the External Drive to FAT32. This method is not very coinvent. Not at least for me. NTFS-3G is a free and open source read and write file system driver for NTFS that enables your Mac to effortlessly write files to a NTFS formatted drive. In other words, NTFS-3G is designed to give your Mac the ability to write to NTFS partitions and mount them as native parts of the operating system environment. Installation from source code: 1.

Updated by Tim to NTFS for Mac on April 15th, 2019

Paragon NTFS for Mac is a driver which gives you full read and write access to Windows partitions under Mac OS X. When working with media files or documents on Mac, you need access to the high performance of your system regardless if the files are located on the Mac's HFS+ formatted volume, or in Window's NT File System. Paragon NTFS for Mac provides full read/write access to NTFS with the same high speed as native HFS+ file system.

Why seek for Paragon NTFS for Mac alternative?

1. Paragon NTFS for Mac fails to recognize the NTFS drive.

2. Paragon NTFS for Mac doesn't provide easy-to-use and intuitive UI.

3. Paragon NTFS for Mac fails to install, because Paragon NTFS for Mac has complex operating system compatibility.

  1. The NTFS-3G driver is a freely and commercially available and supported read/write NTFS driver for Linux, FreeBSD, Mac OS X, NetBSD, Solaris, Haiku, and other operating systems.
  2. When you plug an NTFS disk into your Mac, it just mounts on the desktop like any other disk, and when you copy a file to it, it just works, no muss, no fuss. This utility is also invaluable if you find yourself in a situation where you need to format a disk as NTFS, and it performs this task with an equal lack of drama.«.

Ntfs For Mac Free

Paragon NTFS for Mac alternative: M3 NTFS for Mac

As Paragon NTFS for Mac alternative, M3 NTFS for Mac is a NTFS driver which enables you to read and write NTFS external hard drive and flash drive on macOS. M3 NTFS for Mac provides easy-to-use and intuitive UI to make NTFS read-write operations very simple. After mounting NTFS drive with M3 NTFS for Mac, M3 NTFS for Mac allows you to read and write NTFS drive as same high speed as native HFS+ drive on Catalina/Mojave/High Sierra/Sierra and Mac OS X.

How to enable NTFS read-write access with Paragon NTFS for Mac alternative: M3 NTFS for Mac?

Step 1: Download, install and launch M3 NTFS for Mac.

Step 2: Insert NTFS external hard drive or USB flash drive into Mac computer.

Step 3: Click Open icon to open NTFS drive with M3 NTFS for Mac.

Step 4: After mounting NTFS drive, you can read and write NTFS drive.

Related articles:

By Juno Posted to NTFS for Mac Tips, updated on May 29, 2020

Before you are led to the introduction of free NTFS for Mac, here is some background information in case you don't know.

You can read Windows NTFS drives on Mac. But Mac can't write to NTFS drives, including create, edit, copy, paste, delete, or transfer files on NTFS drive on Mac desktops and laptops. Do you know why?

NTFS is a file system developed by Microsoft, the competitor of Apple. NTFS is used by default on Windows platform, especially for system drive. Additionally, if you use Boot Camp to create a Windows partition on your Mac, you will find you can't mount BOOTCAMP partition with read-write access either. Up to now, Mac operating systems, including macOS Catalina/Mojave/High Sierra/Sierra and Mac OS X El Capitan, only provide NTFS read support but deny NTFS write support.

You know the business, but for users, is there any way to let Mac write NTFS drives? Can you make the NTFS drive fully compatible with macOS or Mac OS X? Sure. The easiest method is to use NTFS driver for macOS software.

If you are looking for a totally free NTFS for Mac software, there are four options: Mounty for NTFS, NTFS-3G, FUSE for macOS and SL-NTFS.

Top 4 NTFS for Mac free software

Some Mac users may have upgraded to macOS Catalina and are digging around for an NTFS driver for macOS 10.15. But it's hard to find a Free NTFS for Mac that supports macOS 10.15 yet. Fortunately, iBoysoft has upgraded their software iBoysoft NTFS for Mac to be compatible with macOS Catalina.

If you are using a Mac running macOS 10.14 and earlier, you can try the NTFS for Mac below and share NTFS drives between Windows and Mac.

1. Mounty for NTFS

Mounty for NTFS is completely NTFS for Mac free software to enable write ability to NTFS drives on your Mac. It has simple design to help users mount NTFS drives with write support on Mac.

Ntfs Mac Free Fuse

As a free utility, Mounty for NTFS does have some highlights:

  1. Totally free.
  2. Fast download and installation because it is less than 1MB.
  3. One-time installation and no additional driver needed.

But Mounty for NTFS dose get complaints because:

  1. The write speed to NTFS drive is rather slow.
  2. It can't mount the NTFS formatted drives in read-write mode automatically.
  3. It can be unstable and fails to mount NTFS drives.
  4. It can cause data loss problems.
  5. It doesn't provide tech support.
  6. The software is not compatible with the latest macOS Catalina or Mojave.

Ntfs 3g

2. NTFS-3G

Tuxera Ntfs Mac Free

NTFS-3G is an open-source project from Tuxera, so the public can download this NTFS for Mac free software to write to Windows NTFS drives on your Mac computers

Set aside its advantage for being free, NTFS-3G is complained a lot because of its poor performance. Some main drawbacks of this free NTFS for Mac are listed below:

  1. Complicated installation. You have to know how to use Terminal or have already downloaded FUSE for macOS, Homebrew or Xcode.
  2. Poor usability. Users have to use the software by command lines in Terminal instead of an interface.
  3. Poor compatibility. NTFS-3G only supports macOS 10.12 or earlier. It doesn't support the latest macOS 10.15 and macOS 10.14.
  4. Slow write speed. The file transferring is noticeably slow.
  5. Tuxera stops maintaining this utility.
  6. No technical support. As freeware, no technical support is available when issues occur.

3. FUSE for macOS

FUSE for macOS (was OSXFUSE) is another open and NTFS for Mac free software that can enable write support to NTFS drives on Mac. In fact, FUSE is a file system extension that allows user to read and write disks with the formats that are not fully supported by Apple.

FUSE for macOS is worth trying because:

  1. It is free of charge.
  2. It is compatible with Mac operating system from Mac OS X 10.6 to macOS 10.14.
  3. Multiple languages are available.

As a free NTFS for Mac, FUSE for macOS has some obvious limitations:

  1. It can be unreliable sometimes such as file size being reported as 0 bytes.
  2. It has no technical support when issues occur.

4. SL-NTFS

SL-NTFS means Snow Leopard NTFS. As a matter of fact, writing to NTFS drive on Apple is possible since Mac OS 10.6 without any third-party NTFS driver, but the NTFS writing support is disabled by default. Therefore, SL-NTFS is used as an interface on the Apple NTFS driver to enable writing to NTFS drives on Mac.

As a NTFS for Mac free app, SL-NTFS has some pros as followings:

  1. It is free.
  2. It is simple to install.
Mac Ntfs Free

However, SL-NTFS has some cons to prevent people from using it.

  1. It has limited access to a large number of files and a large volume of data.
  2. It can't enable NTFS write on some NTFS external hard drives.
  3. It can cause conflicts if you have another NTFS enabler installed.
  4. It has no technical support.

Mac Ntfs

Generally speaking, despite of being free, those NTFS for Mac free software have various flaws, making them very risky to use.

If you are afraid of using a risky free NTFS utility for Mac, there are two cost-effective alternatives for you. Even though they are not completely free, they can provide a lot of merits that NTFS for Mac free software on't have.

Best NTFS for Mac software

NTFS for Mac free software can be troublemakers because of their low write speed, poor compatibility, no technical support, etc. Nevertheless, you don't have to pay a fortune to get enough reliability, stability and simplicity from a cost-effective NTFS for Mac - iBoysoft NTFS for Mac or iBoysoft Drive Manager.

1. iBoysoft NTFS for Mac

iBoysoft NTFS for Mac is an ultimate NTFS for Mac solution in macOS and Mac OS X that can easily help you mount NTFS volumes on Mac desktops and laptops as regular drives in read-write mode.

iBoysoft NTFS for Mac has quite a few advantages you can take into account:

  1. It can mount NTFS volumes in read-write mode automatically.
  2. It can unmount and eject NTFS volumes with one click.
  3. It can repair NTFS file system errors.
  4. It can erase NTFS volumes for data cleanup.
  5. It can reformat other file system (except APFS) into NTFS.
  6. It is fully compatible with macOS 10.15/10.14/10.13/10.12 and Mac OS X 10.11/10.10/10.9/10.8.
  7. It is easy to install and use.
  8. Free technical support is provided.

2. iBoysoft Drive Manager

Another great alternative to NTFS for Mac free software is iBoysoft Drive Manager. It is a handy Mac tool that can enable full read-write access to NTFS drives on Mac and help manage multiple external drives/network drives with one click.

Mac Ntfs Free

iBoysoft Drive Manager is a great replacement of a free NTFS for Mac because:

  1. It is extremely affordable and offers 7-day free trial.
  2. It is fully compatible with macOS 10.15/10.14/10.13/10.12 and Mac OS X 10.11/10.10/10.9/10.8.
  3. It is fast to write to NTFS drives and transfer files between NTFS drives and Mac.
  4. It is easy to install and use.
  5. It provides lifetime free upgrades.
  6. Free technical support is provided.
  7. Besides powerful NTFS writing support, it can manage external drives and map network drives as local drives in the Finder.

If you want to know any disadvantages that iBoysoft Drive Manager might have, I would say the only one should be - it is not free. But it is really cheap compared with other commercial NTFS for Mac programs, such as Paragon and Tuxera.

We also provide a table to help you find the most preferable NTFS driver:

NTFS for macOSiBoysoft Drive ManageriBoysoft NTFS for MacMounty for MacNTFS-3GFUSE for macOSSL-NTFS
NTFS writingYesYesYesYesYesYes
Auto-mount NTFS in read-write mode YesYesNoNoYesYes
SpeedFastFastSlowSlowSlowSlow
Supported Mac OSmacOS 10.15/10.14/10.13/10.12 and Mac OS X 10.11 to 10.8.macOS 10.15/10.14/10.13/10.12 and Mac OS X 10.11 to 10.8.macOS 10.13/10.12 and Mac OS X 10.11 to 10.6.macOS 10.13/10.12 and Mac OS X 10.11 to 10.6.macOS 10.14/10.13/10.12 and Mac OS X 10.11 to 10.6.macOS 10.12 and Mac OS X 10.11 to 10.6.
Supported devicesUSB drives, SD cards, HDDs, etc.USB drives, SD cards, HDDs, etc.USB drives, SD cards, HDDs, etc. (not all)USB drives, SD cards, HDDs, etc.USB drives, SD cards, HDDs, etc.USB drives, SD cards, HDDs, etc. (not all)
Supported file systemNTFS, APFS, FAT32, exFAT, etc.NTFS, APFS, FAT32, exFAT, etc.NTFSNTFSNTFS, APFS, FAT32, exFAT, etc.NTFS
Tech supportYesYesNoNoNoNo
Simple installationYesYesYesNoNoYes
Ease of useYesYesYesNoYesYes
Other1.Manage external storage media with one click.
2.Map network drive as local drives.
1. Repair NTFS.
2.Erase NTFS volumes.
3.Reformat other file systems into NTFS.
N/AN/AMultiple languages are available.N/A
Price$29.95$19.95FreeFreeFreeFree
Free downloadDownloadDownloadDownloadDownloadDownloadDownload

Now, you have a few options in your hands. If you don't care the risks and want to try out the free NTFS for Mac programs, generally speaking, Mounty for NTFS and FUSE for macOS are better ones. However, if you care about the reliability, technical support and NTFS write speed a lot, or you are specifically looking for an NTFS driver for macOS Catalina, Mojave or High Sierra, iBoysoft NTFS for Mac is your best choice.

People also ask

Q: Is NTFS for Mac free

A: There are four NTFS for Mac free software:

  1. Mounty for NTFS
  2. NTFS-3G
  3. FUSE for macOS
  4. SL-NTFS

Q: How can Mac read NTFS for free?

A: By default, macOS Disk Utility can mount NTFS drive in read-only mode.

Q: What is the best NTFS for Mac?

A: There are three best NTFS for Mac software:

  1. iBoysoft NTFS for Mac
  2. Paragon NTFS for Mac
  3. Tuxera NTFS for Mac