Cannot delete existing files from my external drive

WD External and Portable SSD External SSD for macOS
1

I have a My Book that I purchased about 8 years ago. I wanted to use it to back-up some files, but I cannot delete the existing files that I no longer want. I am using OS X 10.11.1, and the model of the drive is WD6400H1U-00. I hate the idea of discarding the drive when there is nothing wrong with it.

2

Hello there,

What error are you getting when you try to delete the files?

3

The most common reason you cannot delete files from your external drive on a Mac is that the drive is formatted in NTFS (a Windows format). Macs can read NTFS files but cannot delete or modify them.

Since you want to use the drive for fresh backups and want the old files gone anyway, the quickest solution is to reformat the drive.

How to Reformat Your Drive (Deletes All Existing Files)

  1. Open Disk Utility (press Command + Space, type “Disk Utility”, and hit Enter).

  2. Select your WD My Book from the left sidebar.

  3. Click the Erase button at the top.

  4. Set the Format dropdown to:

    • Mac OS Extended (Journaled) if you only use Macs.

    • ExFAT if you need the drive to work on both Macs and Windows PCs.

  5. Click Erase.

Once completed, your drive will be completely empty and fully ready for your new backups.

If you do not want to reformat the drive, you can install a third-party utility called an NTFS for Mac driver, which bypasses Apple’s built-in limitations, allowing your Mac to fully read, write, and delete files on Windows-formatted drives without erasing any data. Once installed, your WD drive will function normally, and you can delete old files, copy files from Mac to the WD drive and save new changes instantly. Related blog - Fix Mac Unable to Write to an NTFS Drive