Cannot write to Passport Ultra on Mac?

WD External and Portable SSD External SSD for macOS
1

This is my second “passport” device, as I have used one as a “Time Machine” with great success… My new purchase is recognized by my Mac, but is it “read only” mode…

What am I missing ?

Thanks in advance !

2

Is it formatted for Mac? (HFS+) or PC? (NTFS). If the latter, it’ll be read-only unless you’ve installed NTFS support on your Mac…

3

Hi,

Please we aware that you need to back up your data before following these instructions.

The problem is that Mac doesn’t write on NTFS Format Hard Drives. You need to convert it to ExFat if you want to use it on Windows and Mac. You can use the Disk Utility on the Mac (it is on Applications).

  1. Open Disk Utility
  2. Choose MyPassport Disk
  3. Go to the Erase tab and you need to format the disk as ExFat
  4. Accept “Erase”
  5. Choose the type of format you want (Fast or Slow)

It should be ready to be used on Mac and Windows

4

Hi all,

same problem here. When the WD Passport Ultra is connected, Finder recognizes the drive for about 15 secs. Than it disconnects automatically, even before the Disk Utility can be started.
OSX 10.11.3 with WD Pasport Ultra Metal 2Tb.

5

Do you mean you need to back up your data on the hard drive (that you are going to format) or your computer before you format your passport ultra for Mac?

7

Hi,

You need to back up the data stored on the hard drive WD Passport Ultra (if any), since is the one you are going to format. All the data will be deleted after format to ExFat. Of course if the hard drive is new you don’t need to do it.

The hard drive of the computer will not be affected.

Best Regards,

Andres

8

Thank you so much!! I appreciate your response!
I was thinking that but wanted to make sure.

Gloria Imel Seal

9

My Passport for Mac no longer disconnects after I downloaded the drive utilities for Mac which will work on Mac El Capitan here:

10

I’m back n business ! Thanks for the help !

11

I reformatted the drive as Mac OS Extended Journaled, using Disk Utility,
and used DU to encrypt it.
Although I copied the WD-installed files off before reformatting,
I don’t think they have any value to Mac users.
Years ago I used Time Machine for backup, I didn’t like it.
Greatly prefer Carbon Copy Cloner for backup.
I’ve used it for a bunch of years now.
Excellent success-- including that it saved my butt several times–.

12

While formatting the My Passport Ultra 2TB, I get the following options for ‘Erase’ tab under ‘Scheme’ - GUID Partition Map, Master Boot Record, and Apple Partition Map. Which one do I choose? I am trying to format a Windows formatted My Passport Ultra for use on my MacBook Pro with El Capitan 10.11.2 OSX

13

I was wondering if you’ve made any progress. If you’re still looking for solutions, try the following steps:

  1. Check the file system again in Disk Utility: If your external hard drive was previously formatted with Windows NTFS and didn’t get reformatted properly to Mac OS Extended, you won’t be able to write to it. This is because macOS doesn’t support writing to NTFS drives natively unless you use third-party software.
  2. Enable “Ignore ownership on this volume” option:
  • Right-click on your external hard drive on the desktop.
  • Select “Get Info.”
  • Click on the yellow lock icon and enter your admin password to unlock the permissions.
  • At the bottom of the window, tick the box labeled “Ignore ownership on this volume.”
  • Click the lock again to save the changes.
  1. Ensure there’s enough free space on your external hard drive: Make sure that there’s sufficient room on the drive to store new files.
  2. Download the My Passport drive utilities for Mac: You can get them here:
    WD Support - My Passport Downloads

If you need more step-by-step methods to solve the issue, this how-to guide should help: How to fix Can’t Save to External Hard Drive on Mac