

You can see hidden files for further authorizations. Thus, you can edit preference files to access the read-only Mac external hard drive. The wrong commands can make an external hard drive read-only and cause many other unexpected errors on Mac. Just read and take measures to fix your corrupted external hard drive. How Do I Make External Hard Drive Read and Write on Mac without Formattingįirstly, you need to figure out the question Why is my external hard drive read-only on Mac? Here are common reasons that cause Mac external hard drive read-only problems.

Ownership of the folders or the drive (as an administrator) and give yourself full rights.

To fix this problem with the folders/frive, take Here's how to change folder permissions in Vista: You need to be an administrator or the owner to change permissions (and sometimes being an administrator or even an owner isn't enough - there are ways to block even them from access (though a smart administrator knows these ways and can get around them -īut usually shouldn't because they were denied access usually for a very good reason).
Here are the types of permissions you can have: To see your permissions, right click the folder/file, click on properties, and check out the security tab.Ĭheck to see what permissions you have by clicking on your username (or user group).
