Moving files and maps

WD External and Portable SSD External SSD for macOS
1

Hi, i have the passport 4TB for mac. However I can not move files/folders
only copy them. That is tedious. Please advise.

2

Hello jips123,

Your WD My Passport for Mac drive may be in Read Only mode due to which you are able to only copy the data from the drive. You can check refer the steps mentioned below and modify the permissions assigned on the drive.

1.) Right Click on the Drive.
2.) Click “Get Info”
3.) Scroll down and check the Sharing and Permissions.
4.) Change to “Read & Write” permission to all the options showing under Sharing and Permissions section.

If the issue still persists, you can try connecting the drive on different Mac computer to see if it is a Computer specific issue or issue with the WD My Passport for Mac drive.

3

If you cannot move, delete, or modify files on the drive—but can only copy them—the most common reason is that the WD 4TB drive is formatted as NTFS (the standard format for Microsoft Windows). By default, macOS only supports “Read” access for NTFS (viewing files or copying them off the drive) and does not support “Write” access (moving, deleting, or saving changes).

Follow these steps to check your drive’s format:

  1. Select the WD 4TB hard drive and press Command + I on your keyboard (or right-click and select Get Info).
  2. Locate the Format field in the pop-up window.
  • If it is NTFS: This is the cause! By default, macOS can only copy files from it and cannot move or delete them.
  • If it is APFS or ExFAT: The format is fine. Look at the Sharing & Permissions section at the bottom of the “Get Info” window, change your account access to Read & Write, and check the box for Ignore ownership on this volume.

If the drive is formatted as NTFS, you have two options:

  • Method 1: Erase and Reformat
    If the drive contains no data (or the data has already been backed up), open Disk Utility on your Mac, select the drive, and click Erase. Choose either ExFAT (compatible with both Windows and Mac) or APFS (Mac-only) as the format.
  • Method 2: Install Driver Software
    If you do not want to delete your data, you can install third-party software to enable native NTFS read/write and file-moving capabilities on your Mac without needing to reformat the drive.
    Read also - Copy/Move/Import Files from External Hard Drive to Mac