Before you are led to the introduction of free NTFS for Mac, here is some background information in case you don't know.

Grant Full Read-Write Access to NTFS Drives on Mac. By default, macOS Disk Utility can mount NTFS drive in read-only mode, so you cannot write to NTFS-formatted drive from your Mac. Microsoft NTFS for Mac by iBoysoft can mount NTFS drive in read-write mode and enables NTFS file system read-write compatibility on your Mac, try free for 7 days.

You can read Windows NTFS drives on Mac. But Mac can't write to NTFS drives, including create, edit, copy, paste, delete, or transfer files on NTFS drive on Mac desktops and laptops. Do you know why?

We know that the NTFS file system built into Mac cannot write NTFS drives by default, it can only read NTFS drives. Hasleo NTFS for Mac is a free software primarily designed to help users full access to NTFS drives in Mac, with it you can mount, unmount, read and write NTFS drives easily, safely and seamlessly in macOS & OS X. To full access (mount, read and write) the BitLocker-encrypted. Ntfs driver for mac free download - Paragon NTFS for Mac, iBoysoft NTFS for Mac, Paragon NTFS for Mac Special Edition, and many more programs. Microsoft NTFS for Mac by Paragon Software is the best such software solution: reliable, fast, and now affordable as well Fast, seamless, and easy to use, Microsoft NTFS for Mac by Paragon Software is required for those who need to write to Windows volumes. And now it’s more affordable than ever. MacWorld, USA 2016, macworld.com. NTFS-3G is a free and open source read and write file system driver for NTFS that enables your Mac to effortlessly write files to a NTFS formatted drive. In other words, NTFS-3G is designed to give your Mac the ability to write to NTFS partitions and mount them as native parts of the operating.

NTFS is a file system developed by Microsoft, the competitor of Apple. NTFS is used by default on Windows platform, especially for system drive. Additionally, if you use Boot Camp to create a Windows partition on your Mac, you will find you can't mount BOOTCAMP partition with read-write access either. Up to now, Mac operating systems, including macOS Catalina/Mojave/High Sierra/Sierra and Mac OS X El Capitan, only provide NTFS read support but deny NTFS write support.

You know the business, but for users, is there any way to let Mac write NTFS drives? Can you make the NTFS drive fully compatible with macOS or Mac OS X? Sure. The easiest method is to use NTFS driver for macOS software.

If you are looking for a totally free NTFS for Mac software, there are four options: Mounty for NTFS, NTFS-3G, FUSE for macOS and SL-NTFS.

Top 4 NTFS for Mac free software

Some Mac users may have upgraded to macOS Catalina and are digging around for an NTFS driver for macOS 10.15. But it's hard to find a Free NTFS for Mac that supports macOS 10.15 yet. Fortunately, iBoysoft has upgraded their software iBoysoft NTFS for Mac to be compatible with macOS Catalina.

If you are using a Mac running macOS 10.14 and earlier, you can try the NTFS for Mac below and share NTFS drives between Windows and Mac.

1. Mounty for NTFS

Mounty for NTFS is completely NTFS for Mac free software to enable write ability to NTFS drives on your Mac. It has simple design to help users mount NTFS drives with write support on Mac.

As a free utility, Mounty for NTFS does have some highlights:

1. Totally free.
2. Fast download and installation because it is less than 1MB.
3. One-time installation and no additional driver needed.

But Mounty for NTFS dose get complaints because:

1. The write speed to NTFS drive is rather slow.
2. It can't mount the NTFS formatted drives in read-write mode automatically.
3. It can be unstable and fails to mount NTFS drives.
4. It can cause data loss problems.
5. It doesn't provide tech support.
6. The software is not compatible with the latest macOS Catalina or Mojave.

2. NTFS-3G

NTFS-3G is an open-source project from Tuxera, so the public can download this NTFS for Mac free software to write to Windows NTFS drives on your Mac computers

Set aside its advantage for being free, NTFS-3G is complained a lot because of its poor performance. Some main drawbacks of this free NTFS for Mac are listed below:

1. Complicated installation. You have to know how to use Terminal or have already downloaded FUSE for macOS, Homebrew or Xcode.
2. Poor usability. Users have to use the software by command lines in Terminal instead of an interface.
3. Poor compatibility. NTFS-3G only supports macOS 10.12 or earlier. It doesn't support the latest macOS 10.15 and macOS 10.14.
4. Slow write speed. The file transferring is noticeably slow.
5. Tuxera stops maintaining this utility.
6. No technical support. As freeware, no technical support is available when issues occur.

3. FUSE for macOS

FUSE for macOS (was OSXFUSE) is another open and NTFS for Mac free software that can enable write support to NTFS drives on Mac. In fact, FUSE is a file system extension that allows user to read and write disks with the formats that are not fully supported by Apple.

FUSE for macOS is worth trying because:

1. It is free of charge.
2. It is compatible with Mac operating system from Mac OS X 10.6 to macOS 10.14.
3. Multiple languages are available.

As a free NTFS for Mac, FUSE for macOS has some obvious limitations:

1. It can be unreliable sometimes such as file size being reported as 0 bytes.
2. It has no technical support when issues occur.

4. SL-NTFS

SL-NTFS means Snow Leopard NTFS. As a matter of fact, writing to NTFS drive on Apple is possible since Mac OS 10.6 without any third-party NTFS driver, but the NTFS writing support is disabled by default. Therefore, SL-NTFS is used as an interface on the Apple NTFS driver to enable writing to NTFS drives on Mac.

Free Ntfs Driver For Mac Western Digital

As a NTFS for Mac free app, SL-NTFS has some pros as followings:

1. It is free.
2. It is simple to install.

However, SL-NTFS has some cons to prevent people from using it.

1. It has limited access to a large number of files and a large volume of data.
2. It can't enable NTFS write on some NTFS external hard drives.
3. It can cause conflicts if you have another NTFS enabler installed.
4. It has no technical support.

Generally speaking, despite of being free, those NTFS for Mac free software have various flaws, making them very risky to use.

If you are afraid of using a risky free NTFS utility for Mac, there are two cost-effective alternatives for you. Even though they are not completely free, they can provide a lot of merits that NTFS for Mac free software on't have.

Best NTFS for Mac software

NTFS for Mac free software can be troublemakers because of their low write speed, poor compatibility, no technical support, etc. Nevertheless, you don't have to pay a fortune to get enough reliability, stability and simplicity from a cost-effective NTFS for Mac - iBoysoft NTFS for Mac or iBoysoft Drive Manager.

1. iBoysoft NTFS for Mac

iBoysoft NTFS for Mac is an ultimate NTFS for Mac solution in macOS and Mac OS X that can easily help you mount NTFS volumes on Mac desktops and laptops as regular drives in read-write mode.

iBoysoft NTFS for Mac has quite a few advantages you can take into account:

1. It can mount NTFS volumes in read-write mode automatically.
2. It can unmount and eject NTFS volumes with one click.
3. It can repair NTFS file system errors.
4. It can erase NTFS volumes for data cleanup.
5. It can reformat other file system (except APFS) into NTFS.
6. It is fully compatible with macOS 10.15/10.14/10.13/10.12 and Mac OS X 10.11/10.10/10.9/10.8.
7. It is easy to install and use.
8. Free technical support is provided.

2. iBoysoft Drive Manager

Another great alternative to NTFS for Mac free software is iBoysoft Drive Manager. It is a handy Mac tool that can enable full read-write access to NTFS drives on Mac and help manage multiple external drives/network drives with one click.

iBoysoft Drive Manager is a great replacement of a free NTFS for Mac because:

1. It is extremely affordable and offers 7-day free trial.
2. It is fully compatible with macOS 10.15/10.14/10.13/10.12 and Mac OS X 10.11/10.10/10.9/10.8.
3. It is fast to write to NTFS drives and transfer files between NTFS drives and Mac.
4. It is easy to install and use.
5. It provides lifetime free upgrades.
6. Free technical support is provided.
7. Besides powerful NTFS writing support, it can manage external drives and map network drives as local drives in the Finder.

If you want to know any disadvantages that iBoysoft Drive Manager might have, I would say the only one should be - it is not free. But it is really cheap compared with other commercial NTFS for Mac programs, such as Paragon and Tuxera.

We also provide a table to help you find the most preferable NTFS driver:

Now, you have a few options in your hands. If you don't care the risks and want to try out the free NTFS for Mac programs, generally speaking, Mounty for NTFS and FUSE for macOS are better ones. However, if you care about the reliability, technical support and NTFS write speed a lot, or you are specifically looking for an NTFS driver for macOS Catalina, Mojave or High Sierra, iBoysoft NTFS for Mac is your best choice.

People also ask

Q: Is NTFS for Mac free

A: There are four NTFS for Mac free software:

1. Mounty for NTFS
2. NTFS-3G
3. FUSE for macOS
4. SL-NTFS

Q: How can Mac read NTFS for free?

A: By default, macOS Disk Utility can mount NTFS drive in read-only mode.

Q: What is the best NTFS for Mac?

A: There are three best NTFS for Mac software:

Free Ntfs Driver For Mac Mojave

1. iBoysoft NTFS for Mac
2. Paragon NTFS for Mac
3. Tuxera NTFS for Mac