Summary: This guide introduces three common scenarios in which you might find your WD My Passport external hard drive read-only on Mac. If the WD My Passport read-only on Mac problem is caused by the NTFS file system, installing iBoysoft NTFS for Mac to edit, rename, delete the saved files and transfer files to the read-only WD My passport hard drive.

• Wd Passport For Mac Instructions
• Wd Passport For Mac Won't Mount

This WD My Passport for Mac Portable Hard Drive comes ready to go with your Mac computer. You can take it on the go to store and share your data whenever you like, or use it with Apple Time Machine to setup automatic backups of your important documents, images, videos and more. WD 4TB My Passport for Mac Portable External Hard Drive, USB-C/USB-A - WDBP6A0.; LaCie Porsche Design 2TB USB-C Mobile Hard Drive, Gold + 2mo Adobe CC Photography; Seagate Portable 4TB External Hard Drive HDD – USB 3.0 for PC Laptop and Mac. Window’s Disk Management and Mac’s Disk Utility applications are secure platforms to erase your WD My Passport easily. You don’t require any third-party software to format your WD My Passport with FAT or ex-FAT.

Western Digital is one of the most popular hard drive manufacturers. Its product line covers WD My Passport, WD My Passport Ultra, WD My Book, WD My Passport for Mac and more. Among those external hard drive categories, WD My Passport external hard drives are the most widely used ones. However, many users complain their WD My Passport is read-only on Mac like the user below in WD community.

'I have a WD My Passport 320GB external hard drive that I am trying to hook up to my iMac for the first time. I'm running macOS 10.13. I'm extremely frustrated because this drive is in a read-only mode, and I can't figure out how to change it! Any suggestion to fix this?'

--A user from WD Community

If you are looking for solutions for solving read-only WD My Passport on Mac problem, you have come to the right place. This post will explain three common reasons why your WD My Passport is not writable and corresponding fixes.

Why is the WD My Passport read-only?

Sometimes, the WD external hard drive is read-only on Mac when you just got a brand new WD external hard drive. In other times, it suddenly became read-only after you have been using it for a while. The most common reasons for a read-only WD external hard drive, like WD My Passport, are listed below:

• Your WD My Passport hard drive is NTFS-formatted.
• You have read-only permission to access the WD My Passport hard drive.
• Your WD My Passport hard drive is corrupted.

If you are not sure which reason has caused your WD My Passport external hard drive read-only on Mac, check the scenarios one by one. If you know the reason already, you can jump to the scenario that best describes your situation.

Scenario 1: Your WD My Passport hard drive is NTFS-formatted

By default, macOS can mount a Windows NTFS volume or drive in read-only mode. You can view the files saved on the NTFS-formatted partition or drive but can't make any changes to them. In addition, the WD My Passport hard drive won't let you add any files to it. To check if your WD My Passport is NTFS formatted, follow the steps:

1. Go to Finder > Applications > Utilities > Disk Utilities.
2. Click the WD My Passport (you may have changed its name) at the left sidebar. The file system information will be displayed on the right.

Note: You can also right-click the disk icon at the desktop and choose 'Get Info' to check the file system information.

After having confirmed that the WD My Passport is formatted with NTFS, many people will choose to convert NTFS to APFS (for macOS Catalina, Mojave and High Sierra) or reformat the WD My Passport hard drive to make the WD external hard drive compatible with Mac. In fact, installing an NTFS for Mac driver is a much easier way.

Solution: Install an NTFS for Mac driver to make WD My Passport writable

We will introduce an NTFS for macOS drivers - iBoysoft NTFS for Mac. It can help read and write to NTFS-formatted WD My Passport drives on Mac.

iBoysoft NTFS for Mac: NTFS for Mac driver and more

iBoysoft NTFS for Mac is an NTFS disk management tool. It can manage NTFS drives with NTFS write support. It can easily and effectively mount NTFS drive on Mac automatically in read-write mode. It works with macOS 10.15/10.14/10.13/10.12 and Mac OS X 10.11/10.10/10.9/10.8.

Three simple steps to read and write to NTFS-formatted WD My Passport drive easily.

Step 1: Download, install and launch iBoysoft NTFS for Mac on your Mac.

Step 2: Connect the NTFS-formatted WD My Passport drive to Mac.

Step 3: Write to NTFS-formatted WD My Passport drive after the drive has been mounted successfully.

Besides an NTFS mounter, iBoysoft NTFS for Mac can also open, unmount, eject, erase and repair NTFS volumes. It can list all attached external disks including USB flash drives, SD cards, memory sticks, external hard drives and so on. You can open them with one click. Moreover, you can reformat them to NTFS with iBoysoft NTFS for Mac if you need.

Scenario 2: You have read-only permission to access the WD My Passport hard drive

If your WD My Passport external hard drive is not formatted with NTFS but you have no write permission to it, it is probably because you have read-only permission to access the WD My Passport. Since your WD external hard drive is write-protected, all your write access is denied.

To know your permission to the WD My Passport, follow the steps below:

1. Right-click the WD My Passport disk icon at the desktop and choose 'Get Info'.
2. Check the information at the bottom under the Sharing & Permissions tab.

If you can see the message 'You can only read', then you will understand why you can't write to your WD My Passport drive.

Solution: Change read-only permission on the WD My Passport drive

Follow the instruction below to change permission on the WD My Passport on Mac:

Step 1: Click on the lock icon at the right corner in the Get Info window.

Step 2: Enter password if asked.

Step 3: Check the 'Ignore ownership on this volume'.

Step 4: Click on the gear button and choose 'Apply to enclosed items…'.

Step 5: Click 'OK' when you are asked to confirm the operation.

By now, you have regained the read and write access to the WD My Passport.

Scenario 3: Your WD My Passport hard drive is corrupted

Wd Passport For Mac Instructions

If you are sure that the read-only WD My Passport is not caused by NTFS file system nor read-only permission, another possible cause might be the disk corruption. When an external drive is corrupted, people suddenly have trouble reading or/and writing to the disk. Then you will have to fix the corrupted WD My Passport external hard drive to make it writable again. We will introduce two solutions here:

• Fix the read-only WD My Passport in Disk Utility on Mac
• Reformat the WD My Passport on Mac

Solution 1: Fix the read-only WD My Passport in Disk Utility on Mac

This solution might help you solve the read-only external hard drive problem without formatting. You will utilize a built-in tool on Mac called Disk Utility. It is used to manage internal and external disks on Mac. There is a function called First Aid in Disk Utility that can be used to check for and repair errors on the selected disk or volume.

Here is how to fix the read-only WD My Passport in Disk Utility:

Step 1: Go to Finder > Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility.

Step 2: Select the WD My Passport drive at the left sidebar.

Step 3: Click on First Aid and click on 'Run' to repair the WD My Passport drive.

Step 4: Click 'Done' after the operation completes.

If First Aid fails to repair the WD external hard drive, your disk might be seriously corrupted. You will have to reformat the WD My passport to make it not read-only.

Solution 2: Reformat the WD My Passport on Mac

Reformatting the corrupted disk is the ultimate solution for fixing the read-only WD My Passport drive. Follow the steps below to know how to make the WD My Passport compatible with Mac and PC.

Step 1: Make sure you have a copy of your important files on WD My Passport hard drive, or recover data from the external hard drive with iBoysoft Mac Data Recovery.

Step 2: Go to Finder > Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility.

Step 3: Click on the WD My Passport drive at the left sidebar.

Step 4: Check Click 'Erase' on the top of the Disk Utility window.

Step 5: Input a name.

Step 6: Choose FAT or exFAT as format for convenience because either of them is compatible with both Windows and macOS. Of course, you can choose another file system that best meets your needs.

Step 7: Choose 'GUID Partition Map' as Scheme.

Step 8: Click on 'Erase' button.

You can reconnect the WD external hard drive to Mac again to see if it is writable now.

Conclusion

The external hard drive read-only on Mac problem doesn't happen to WD external hard drives only. It is quite common to see other notable external hard drive brand get the same complaint like Seagate, Samsung, Toshiba, etc. When you come across the read-only disk problem on Mac, the post is always helpful.

Summary: This article analyzes why the WD My Passport for Mac hard drive is not mounting on Mac and how to fix this issue. If you worry about losing data from this hard drive, you can recover data with iBoysoft Mac Data Recovery at first.

Overview of WD My Passport for Mac hard drive

The WD My Passport for Mac hard drive is specially designed for Mac mini computers, iMacs and MacBooks. This trusted portable storage always offers quick and easy way to expand the storage space of your computer and to store a massive amount of photos, videos, music and documents. The WD hard drive comes in some amazing features like cloud storage, password protection with hard drive encryption, and compatiblity with Apple's Time Machine backup software. But the problem is that no matter how powerful this hard drive is, it is possible that this WD My Passport for Mac hard drive is not mounting on Mac computer.

Here is one typical case from apple.stackexchange.com:

My WD hard drive (WD My Passport for Mac) didn't mount on my MacBook Air, not even in Disk Utility. I have 1 TB family photos on this hard drive, which are very precious for me. How to fix WD My Passport for Mac hard drive not mounting error? Any data recovery solution? Thanks a lot!

In fact, this is a common annoyance for many WD customers that the hard drive fails to mount in Finder or Disk Utility. If you are confronted with the same issue and haven't got an effective workaround to fix this unmounted drive on your Mac, check this page and learn why it happens and how to address this disk problem.

Why WD My Passport for Mac is not mounting?

This issue may be caused by various factors, such as virus infection, internal file system errors, sudden power failure, sudden power outage, unwanted interruption during transferring data, etc. For all kinds of reasons, your Mac won't recognize this hard drive and thus this external hard drive won't mount.As a result, you can't open this WD hard drive nor access your important files.

How to fix the unmounted WD external hard drive on Mac?

Step 1: Check whether the WD My Passport for Mac hard drive is set to show up on Mac

Go to Finder > Preferences and confirm if the 'External Disks' under 'Show these items on the desktop' is selected. This will ensure if the external drives connected to this Mac are allowed to show on the desktop.

This operation will show up your WD My Passport drive on the desktop in most cases, but if it failed, you can move to the next point.

Step 2: Check if the WD Mac hard drive is showing up in Disk Utility

You can go to Utility and see if this hard drive appears in the left sidebar. If your WD hard drive for Mac is not mounting but grayed out in Disk Utility, you can right-click and select the 'Mount' button to mount it manually. However, if this external hard drive is corrupted, the 'Mount' button will not be available.

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When these two checks didn't make any difference and the WD My passport for Mac hard drive is not mounting still, you need to check some hardware that get involved in the disk connection. Let's start with the basics by following the steps below.

Step 3: Check the power supply

It's well known that insufficient power supply or damaged USB ports could also lead to hard drive not mounting issue. Therefore, you should make sure the WD My Passport for Mac hard drive is getting the appropriate power. If the drive came with a Y-cable, use both USB connectors. Moreover, do not connect the drive through a USB hub, connect it directly to the Mac. Make sure the power adapter is connected directly to a wall outlet, not to an extension cord.

Step 4: Check the USB cable

Ensure the cable is properly connected to both the drive and computer. Then try connecting your WD My Passport for Mac hard drive with a new USB cable if you can fetch another one.

Step 5: Check the USB port

If the problem still continues, try using a different USB port. Perhaps your Mac has two USB port - the back and front ones. Assuming the external hard drive is plugged in the front USB port, try to insert the drive to the back USB port.

Wd Passport For Mac Won't Mount

Step 6: Check for driver update

If the hardware seems to be OK, let's check the software that related to this disk problem - the driver. A driver is a software component that allows the operating system and a device to communicate with each other. If your driver files go missing, outdated, or turn corrupted due to any virus invasion or invalid operation, the hard drive attached to your Mac will faile to work, resulting in an external hard drive not mounting on Mac.

Step 1: Click the Apple icon and select 'App Store…'

Step 2: Click Update (NOT UPGRADE!) to install a specific update or Update All to install all available updates.

But sometimes, a hard drive is not mounted because of internal disk errors like file system corruption, partition table lost, the directory is corrupted, etc. You WD hard drive will not be recognized by your Mac in these cases. Fortunately, you can fix the hard drive not mounting issue with the native disk repair tool, Disk Utility.

Step 7: Run First Aid to fix WD My Passport for Mac not mounting error

Disk Utility's First Aid is a Mac built-in tool to verify and repair minor problems of a hard disk. Whenever you have troubles with a hard disk, First Aid is your first solution.

Step 1: Go to /Applications/Utilities/Disk Utility/, then click Continue.

Step 2: In the sidebar, select the not mounting WD My Passport for Mac hard drive.

Step 3: Click the 'First Aid' button.

Step 4: Click Run.

If Disk Utility reports that the WD My Passport for Mac hard drive appears to be OK or has been repaired, you're done. Otherwise, you have to retrieve as much of your data as possible.

How to fix WD My Passport for Mac hard drive not mounting error without losing data?

However, if First Aid is unable to fix WD My Passport for Mac hard drive not mounting error, the last solutions is to reformat the hard drive. But reformatting will delete all data stored on the hard drive, and most of the time, many important files are stored on the WD My Passport for Mac hard drive. If you haven't backed up important files, it's high time to recover data from the unmounted hard drive first.

Step 1: Recover data from unmountable hard drive with iBoysoft Mac Data Recovery

As for Mac data recovery, iBoysoft Mac Data Recovery is highly recommended. iBoysoft Mac Data Recovery is a free Mac data recovery software that can easily recover data from not mounting WD My Passport for Mac hard drive, recover data from unreadable hard drive, recover data from unrecognized hard drive, recover data from corrupted hard drive, recover data from unmountable hard drive, recover data from inaccessible hard drive, recover data from uninitialized hard drive, etc. on macOS Catalina 10.15/Mojave 10.14/High Sierra 10.13/10.12 Sierra and Mac OS X 10.11/10.10/10.9/10.8/10.7.

Besides, iBoysoft Mac Data Recovery is also best APFS data recovery software that can recover data from formatted APFS hard drive, recover data from unmountable APFS drive, recover data from unreadable APFS hard drive, recover data from corrupted APFS drive, recover lost data from encrypted APFS volume, recover deleted/lost APFS partition, etc.

1. Free download and install iBoysoft Mac Data Recovery.

2. Launch iBoysoft Mac Data Recovery and select the unmounted WD My Passport for Mac hard drive.

3. Click 'Next' to search for all lost files on this drive.

4. Preview the listed scanning results, choose files we want, and click 'Recover' button to get them back.

Step 2: Fix WD hard drive not mounting error by reformatting

After getting lost files back, you can fix WD My Passport for Mac hard drive not mounting error by reformatting without worrying about losing data.

1. Launch Disk Utility from Utilities.

2. Select the unmounted WD My Passport for Mac hard drive on the left part of the window.

3. Click the 'Erase' on the top of the Disk Utility window.

4. Complete the related information (name, format, scheme, etc.), then click the 'Erase' button.

Conclusion

This article mainly talks about a WD My Passport for Mac hard drive not mounting issue, analyzing why this issue occurs and how to repair this disk error without losing files on this drive. You can also easily recover data from external hard drive with iBoysoft Mac Data Recovery if the drive is corrupted due to virus attack, corrupted file system, power failure, etc.

For any questions or suggestions, please email us below. Thanks a lot!