Mac OS Can I use windows External HDD and SSD on Mac os?

S

solo_wing

Level G
Hi All,
So I have one external 1tb hdd ( western digital) and samsung t5ssd which I have been using with my windows laptop frequently .

I just got Mac mini and planning to use them with mac too.
Will it work properly? is it safe to use ? Will it create any issue with both drives if I use them on both os ?

I dont want disk drive errors and end up losing my data.
Thanks.
 
solo_wing said:
Hi All,
So I have one external 1tb hdd ( western digital) and samsung t5ssd which I have been using with my windows laptop frequently .

I just got Mac mini and planning to use them with mac too.
Will it work properly? is it safe to use ? Will it create any issue with both drives if I use them on both os ?

I dont want disk drive errors and end up losing my data.
Thanks.
Click to expand...
You can use the terminal to do it. Once done, it works.

It's the last method used in this article. I have personally used it on my Mac Mini

toolbox.easeus.com

Easy Ways to Mount NTFS on Mac | How to Mount NTFS Drive on Mac

As some user complained, their NTFS formatted external hard drive can not mount NTFS on mac. In this article, we will show you the effective ways to mount NTFS drive on mac and enable the read-write mode.
toolbox.easeus.com toolbox.easeus.com
 
mallik said:
You can use the terminal to do it. Once done, it works.

It's the last method used in this article. I have personally used it on my Mac Mini

toolbox.easeus.com

Easy Ways to Mount NTFS on Mac | How to Mount NTFS Drive on Mac

As some user complained, their NTFS formatted external hard drive can not mount NTFS on mac. In this article, we will show you the effective ways to mount NTFS drive on mac and enable the read-write mode.
toolbox.easeus.com toolbox.easeus.com
Click to expand...
Thanks for sharing the info.

Luckily the ssd I got does not have much data and I think can easily dedicate it to mac completely.
Even if these methods work there is risk of me running into disk error and then will be forced to format.

I am surprised though that even SSD)/hdd are not as simple as plug and play to transfer between mac and windows .
 
I kept my external HDD permanently connected to Mac mini for 6 months. There is no issue you just need to format it in FAT32 or EXFAT. NTFS is read only. I found no problem in connecting a NTFS drive to MAC or iPad pro. You cannot write any files but read only modes work fine.
 
Tried using windows ssd with mac.

Got installed perfectly but will not read also.

Don't want to open another thread on this topic but I am now thinking of using Apple iphone x to transfer data( videos and pics saved on windowlaptop) between window and mac.

Is there a wireless way to transfer data quick between apple iphone and Mac mini?
 
solo_wing said:
Tried using windows ssd with mac.

Got installed perfectly but will not read also.

Don't want to open another thread on this topic but I am now thinking of using Apple iphone x to transfer data( videos and pics saved on windowlaptop) between window and mac.

Is there a wireless way to transfer data quick between apple iphone and Mac mini?
Click to expand...
Between iPhone and MAC mini, you can use airdrop. It is a bit unreliable but does the job for quick transfers. For large files especially MKV files you can use VLC media player. You can also connect your drive directly and copy all data to MAC without any issue. You won't be able to write any files if the drive is formatted in NTFS though. FAT32 and EXFAT is the way to go if you want to use both Windows and MAC.
 
powervgx said:
Between iPhone and MAC mini, you can use airdrop. It is a bit unreliable but does the job for quick transfers. For large files especially MKV files you can use VLC media player. You can also connect your drive directly and copy all data to MAC without any issue. You won't be able to write any files if the drive is formatted in NTFS though. FAT32 and EXFAT is the way to go if you want to use both Windows and MAC.
Click to expand...
Thanks .
All drives are formatted to NTFS only.
So that might creating the issue.
Generally it should atleast read the ssd but woh bhi nahi ho reha.

The idea is to use mac only for editing and work . And lot of my GoPro footage etc are on drive and windows laptop so getting them to one place is looking like a big task ahead.
 
Just format the external drive using the Mac while specifying exFAT. This is most cross-compatible solution for your own drives.

However if you want to write to other people's drives (which might typically be NTFS formatted) then you need to install NTFS drivers on Mac. Else NTFS is read-only on Mac by default.

Lastly if you want to use the Mac's built-in Time Machine backup software then you need a drive that is formatted in APFS (preferred) or HFS+ (older). Such a drive won't be Windows-compatible.

As for wireless transfers, I use Airdrop or AirDroid but those are typically slow and unreliable. Wireless is suitable only for the odd file or photo, not for whole directories and sub directories of files.

The modern solution is really to get a NAS and use that to store your important stuff (or offload large media files) on the local network. Your old HDD can also plug into the NAS.
 
Just so to share..hdd seems to be working fine but SSD has issue as mentioned above( even got hang)

Manage to transfer (test) 1 video from windows to mac with hdd . Flawless.
 
solo_wing said:
Thanks .
All drives are formatted to NTFS only.
So that might creating the issue.
Generally it should atleast read the ssd but woh bhi nahi ho reha.

The idea is to use mac only for editing and work . And lot of my GoPro footage etc are on drive and windows laptop so getting them to one place is looking like a big task ahead.
Click to expand...
Are you trying to edit the footage from external drive because it involves both read and write operation and it won't work if the drive is formatted in NTFS. If you are just importing the files and the files are stored locally in MAC's internal SSD then it should work but I haven't tried that. I used to copy all my files to the iPad pro for video editing and in case of a MAC, my external drives were formatted in EXFAT.
 
powervgx said:
Are you trying to edit the footage from external drive because it involves both read and write operation and it won't work if the drive is formatted in NTFS. If you are just importing the files and the files are stored locally in MAC's internal SSD then it should work but I haven't tried that. I used to copy all my files to the iPad pro for video editing and in case of a MAC, my external drives were formatted in EXFAT.
Click to expand...
No just for transferring to internal SSD of mac and then edit them in Davinci.

Hdd works fine...external SSD was not even reading but it was reading fine on windows just to check if ssd is okay.
 
I checked a similar T5 SSD formatted in NTFS, which does work when plugged in to a Mac.

The Mac is using the latest OS 12.5.1, and I had to use an adapter cable (white cable in the pic) to convert the USB-A to USB-C.

If you fire up Disk Utility on the Mac, can you see the SSD in the "External" section?

If no, can you try rebooting, using a different cable, or different USB port?

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