NTFS for Mac 15 Menu It is easy to install and use on the macOS 10.12 Sierra. This money is worth it because you will be able to easily transfer files from your Windows PC to your Mac and vice versa. WHY YOU NEED TUXERA NTFS FOR MAC. When it comes to Windows NTFS-formatted USB drives, Macs are only built for reading. That means you can open files stored on those drives, but you can’t edit, copy, move, or delete those files using your Mac. To write files, you need an add-on NTFS-driver. Tuxera NTFS for Mac is easy-to-use software that makes this all possible.
NTFS-3G for Mac adds drivers to your OS X installation that allow you to read and write to NTFS-formatted thumb and external hard drives as if you're using a Windows machine. The software comes free of charge and features several advanced options such as caching and filename normalization. Overall, it performs well, with speeds approaching those you would get in Windows.
Pros
Quick: We transferred a 700MB file in 45 seconds on a Mac, and the same file in 42 seconds using the Mac's Bootcamp installation of Windows.
Neat preference pane: NTFS-3G for Mac provides a clean and accessible preference pane for your NTFS-3G driver. With it you can turn on file system caching as well as configure global and volume options, including filename normalization, debug logging, and unclean volume recovery.
Easy installation: If you don't already have the MacFUSE and FUSE for OS X frameworks on your machine, which are necessary in order to run the app, they will be automatically installed. During the installation process you will be asked for your administrator password and to choose whether to use UBLIO caching.
Cons
UBLIO caching: While it increases performance, it may damage the NTFS disk in case of a system crash or if the drive is not disconnected properly.
Reboot required: Your NTFS drives won't be recognized by Finder unless you reboot your system.
Slow file transfers: File transfers are noticeably slow. There are also instances of copying failures.
Deletions are final: You have to remember that once you use this application, the files you delete no longer go to the Trash. Recovering them may not be possible.
Mac Reader For Windows
Bottom Line
If you often come across NTFS thumb drives, or have a Windows installation on your Mac that you'd like to access, NTFS-3G for Mac is just the right app for you. It works great out of the box, but if you're looking for further customization, you can go to System Preferences, where you have options like filename normalization, filesystem caching, debug logging, and more.
What do you need to know about free software?
OS X supports the option to read NTFS-formatted drives, but has not supported writing to these drives. Therefore, the use of a third-party driver such as Paragon NTFS or Tuxera NTFS has been required for those seeking full NTFS support; however, OS X does support writing to NTFS, but this feature is just not enabled by default.
To enable this feature, you have to do so on a per-volume basis, by editing the system's hidden fstab file to adjust the way the drive is automatically handled when attached and mounted.
First ensure that your NTFS drive has a simple single-word name, and then go to the Applications > Utilities folder and launch the Terminal program. In here, run the following command to edit the fstab file (supply your password when prompted):
Ntfs For Mac Free
sudo nano /etc/fstab
The Terminal should now show an editor window for the fstab file, in which you can enter the following all on one line. Be sure to change the word NAME to the name of your drive (it is case-sensitive):
LABEL=NAME none ntfs rw,auto,nobrowse
When finished, press Control-O to save the file, followed by Control-X to exit, and then unmount your NTFS drive and attach it again. When you do so, the system will no longer immediately show it in the Finder, but you can go back to the Terminal and run the following command to reveal it in the hidden Volumes directory where the system mounts all attached drives:
open /Volumes
In the folder that opens, you should see the mounted NTFS volume, and should now be able to copy files to it, or otherwise manage files on it. If you need to access this volume more frequently, you can drag it to the sidebar, or make an alias of it in the location of your choice. You can also view the Volumes directory in Column mode to reveal it as a parent directory, from which you can create an alias instead of doing so on a per-drive basis.
Keep in mind that the writing ability of Apple's NTFS driver has not been thoroughly tested, and though this will enable write support using Apple's driver, there may be some limitations or unknown behaviors with the driver, so use it with caution. If you are dealing with important data, or need to access numerous different NTFS volumes, then third-party drivers may still be the best (if not most convenient) choice.
Questions? Comments? Have a fix? Post them below or e-mail us!
Be sure to check us out on Twitter and the CNET Mac forums.