Turning off 'read only'

WD External and Portable SSD External SSD for Windows
1

Hi all,

I have not used my WD elements external hard drive for a while. I have plugged it in to my computer and i cannot edit/add anything as it says “can only read” in Sharing and Permissions. How do i alter this so i can delete old stuff and transfer in some new files?
Thanks in advance.

2

Hi there,

In order to better assist you, please give more detail on the issue you are having like the operating system you are using.

3

Hi,

It is reasonably old, i purchased it in 2010, and last used it in 2012. I have plugged it in to my Mac book air and i cannot import or export anything off the hard drive.
When i click on “get info”, then look under “sharing and permissions”, it says “can only read”. There is no indication on how to turn it back to read and write.

Is there an easy way to do this?

4

Hi @Ryan_O_Connor - There are a number of different things that can cause a drive to read as read-only. When you used the drive last (when it was working) what Operating System were you using? Can you find out how your drive is formatted from Disk Utility? Have you tried with a different USB cable? Have you tried on a different Mac? A Windows computer? What was the result when you connected it to these systems?