Fix Guide: External Drive "Read Only" on macOS Sequoia

Symptom: You connect an external USB-C or Thunderbolt drive to your Mac running Sequoia, and you can see files but cannot move, delete, or edit them.

Why this happens

macOS Sequoia has updated its NTFS and exFAT mount controllers. Some older drives with slightly corrupted file systems are now mounted as "Read Only" to prevent data loss, even if they worked fine on Sonoma.

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Fix 1: Check Permissions (Free)

1. Right-click the drive on your desktop or in Finder.
2. Select Get Info.
3. At the bottom, check Ignore ownership on this volume.
4. If it's locked, click the lock icon and enter your password first.

Fix 2: Run First Aid in Disk Utility

If the drive is read-only due to a "dirty" filesystem bit:

1. Open Disk Utility.
2. Select your external drive.
3. Click First Aid and then Run.
4. Once completed, unmount and remount the drive.

Recommended Tool: NTFS for Mac

If your drive is NTFS formatted, Sequoia's native support is limited.

- Get Microsoft NTFS for Mac by Paragon Software for full read/write access to NTFS drives with high speed and reliability.