NTFS for Mac 12: OS X 10.10 – Yosemite; OS X 10.9 – Mavericks; OS X 10.8 – Mountain Lion; Mac OS X 10.7 – Lion; Mac OS X 10.6 – Snow Leopard. MacOS 10.15 Catalina support: Current Microsoft NTFS for Mac by Paragon Software version (15.5.106) supports macOS 10.15 Catalina. It can be downloaded from our web-site, or from MyParagon. If one NTFS partition is mounted than everything is OK. But when two or more NTFS partitions are mounted (e.g. NTFS partition of internal disk and external NTFS disk, or two NTFS partitions on internal disk) then only administrator users on windows machines has write access to files or folders that were written on Mac machine.

Positives

• Allows Mac to Windows communication
• Essential for writing files on NTFS drives
• Decent write speeds
• Additional features previously accessible through Disk Utility only
• Easy-to-understand user interface

Negatives

• Unusual NTFS driver enable/disable feature
• Paid major updates

If you’ve ever tried to open a Windows file on a Mac – or vice versa – then you’ll already know the frustratingly impossible task that this is, especially if you’re using the drive format NTFS or New Technologies File System. Founded by a group of MIPT students in 1994, Germany-based software company Paragon Software Group develops hard drive management tools such as partition managers, boot managers, backup software and system duplication software alongside a driver for Mac that bridges the gap between Mac and Windows devices. Paragon NTFS for Mac promises read/write access to any version of Windows NTFS drives in your macOS for as low as $14.99 if you purchase the five-license pack. But before taking out your credit card, there’s up to 15 days for you to decide whether this is a worthy investment thanks to the available free trial. Or, if you jump on the deal and buy a license, your purchase will be protected by Paragon Software Group’s 30-day money back guarantee.

Full Interoperability Between a Mac and a Windows PC

Apple and Microsoft developed operating systems using different languages for writing files onto drives. Apple uses HFS+, also referred to as Mac OS Extended or HFS Extended. During WWDC 2017, however, Apple announced that with macOS High Sierra, the default file system for Macs is changing to the new Apple File System (APFS), a file system optimized for flash and solid-state drives. Since the introduction of Windows NT 3.1, Microsoft has used NTFS.

The problem is macOS lacks native support for NTFS: you can read data from drives formatted with the Windows NT file system, but cannot write to it. Just remember that moment when your friend brought their external drive to copy over the movies you promised, and you didn’t understand why you couldn’t drag and drop the file onto it.

Paragon NTFS for Mac Menu Bar

NTFS External Hard Drive Mounted

Paragon NTFS for Mac Release License Prompt 2

Paragon NTFS for Mac solves this problem. Just like its competitor, Finland-based software developer Tuxera, Paragon installs a low-level file system driver based on Paragon UFSD (Universal File System Driver) technology, which was specially developed to bridge incompatibility between Windows and macOS by providing full read/write access to any version of the NTFS file system (Windows NT 4.0, 2000, XP, 2003, Vista, 7, 8 and 10).

Successful installation will prompt a restart, and then the Paragon effect takes place: it displays a simple and easy-to-understand application window, which can be laupanched through the Preferences pane, from the Applications folder or by typing “Paragon NTFS” into Spotlight. To continue using the software, you’ll need to either activate it by logging in to the MyParagon Customer Portal or via Facebook.

Features

Double-clicking on the icon opens up the app management interface, where you’ll see the physical and virtual volumes attached to your Mac, including mounted DMG images. The application window has two sections: volumes and operations. The latter is where you’ll find options such as mount/unmount, verify, erase and startup. Mounting and unmounting is available for any volume or image except the macOS system drive currently in use.

Just like the macOS native app, Disk Utility, Paragon NTFS for Mac has a verify option, enabling users to verify and fix errors on supported file systems. Since the repair requires unmounting the drive, as is the case with a startup drive, be sure to avoid using it with that disk. If you notice any issues with the startup drive, you should use Disk Utility to fix it in Recovery mode.

The “Erase” option allows users to reformat the attached volume into file systems supported by macOS, while clicking on the startup option will let you select a system startup volume.

Mounting NTFS Drive in Read-Only Mode

NTFS External Hard Drive Mounted

The “Ignore Ownership” (for NTFS drives) option is disabled by default to allow anyone to access data on mounted NTFS volumes, but you can select it to restrict access to a specific user or group.

Since a writing action occurs even when you read a file by default on NTFS files systems, the feature called “Last Access Time” will keep a record of the last time a folder was opened, read or changed. To keep this default feature enabled, tick “Save Last Access Time” on the mounted NTFS volume.

There are additional features that should come handy, too, such as “Dirty volumes processing”. We talk about a dirty NTFS volume if the system suffered a power interruption, an aborted restart or forced shutdown. Paragon NTFS for Mac will check and repair dirty NTFS volumes before mounting them. Of course, the feature can be disabled, but this isn’t recommended.

Enabling NTFS Write Mode

Alongside the “Uninstall” option, Paragon NTFS for Mac will give you quick access to enable or disable the installed driver. However, you need to click on the lock – which will prompt you for an administrator password – to toggle it on or off, though admittedly the situations where you would want to disable it are very limited since you can mount the NTFS drive as “read only” if needed.

There is an unusual feature due to the level of control that Paragon Software has. During our testing we noticed that if an NTFS drive was mounted while the driver was enabled, disabling the drive didn’t prevent writing to it. This is despite the fact that disabling the driver should prevent the user from writing files to any NTFS volume.

You will need to unmount the NTFS disk and then remount it for the setting to take effect. In our testing we were unable to write to the external NTFS drive after doing so, and the same goes for the other way round, too. If you mount an NTFS drive with Paragon NTFS for Mac disabled, the drive will become a read-only volume, and you will need to remount it again after enabling the driver.

This ‘feature’ aims to act as an emergency exit for worst-case scenarios, such as having an opened file with changes while the driver is disabled for some reason. This is possible due to the limited access permission to the data that Paragon has on volumes. To enable write mode on an NTFS disk, Paragon provides a low-level API for a Virtual File System. VFS is the link between the macOS kernel and a concrete file system. Since all original access permissions belong to macOS, even disabling the Paragon NTFS for Mac driver leaves writing to an NTFS formatted volume possible.

Paragon NTFS for Mac Speed Test

As advertised, the driver gives users read/write access to any version of Windows NTFS drives in your macOS, but the write speed still compares with the native macOS file system. Along with the built-in SSD of the MacBook Pro (late 2016), we used two external drives to put the Paragon NTFS for Mac to the test: an 8GB Kingston flash drive and a 1TB Seagate Backup Plus 5400 rpm drive.

In our testing we used two methods: copying a 4.11GB MKV file from Mac to NTFS, and the free Blackmagic Disk Speed Test software. We used a late-2008 iMac equipped with SSD to test the software.

NTFS Pen Drive Speed Test

Tuxera Driver: NTFS Flash Drive Speed Test

iMac's Native Read/Write Speed Test

We were able to copy the movie file on the Kingston drive in 9 minutes and 13 seconds, while the same files took 2 minutes and 27 seconds to copy onto the Seagate drive.

In the Blackmagic Disk Speed test, Paragon NTFS for Mac enabled 9.1MB/s write and 35.2MB/s read speeds on the Kingston pen drive. The Seagate drive showed different speeds: 28.2 MB/s write and 36.5MB/s read speeds. Testing the native read/write speeds of the iMac with the same software gave the following results: 89.5MB/s write and 266.4MB/s read speeds, and this changed to 1321.3MB/s write and 2272.9MB/s read speeds on our MacBook Pro (late 2016). Both the read and writing speeds of the NTFS formatted volume of the MacBook Pro matched that of the native HFS+ of the MacBook Pro’s internal SSD (PCI-E): 1318.2MB/s write and 2397.0MB/s read.

But there’s also an Easter egg that hardcore Mac fans will love: while it is copying a file to the NTFS drive, Finder displays January 24 1984 10:00 as “Date modified”. That was the date Apple co-founder Steve Jobs took to the stage to show off the very first Macintosh in a live demonstration.

Pricing

Paragon NTFS for Mac retails for a flat fee per license per software version. This includes free updates for registered users and free online support for the lifetime of the version. Enabling write access to an NTFS drive will cost you $19.95 for a single Mac license. Buy five, and you’ll get the best value price: only $14.99 per license.

But you don’t have to show the money until you are 100% convinced that this is what you need. Paragon Software offers a 10-day trial (which can be expanded by up to a further five days by sharing the software link with your Facebook friends). Combine this with the 30-day money back guarantee and you have plenty of time to make a final decision.

• All features
• For 1 Mac Only
• 30-day money back guarantee
• –

• All features
• For 3 Macs
• 30-day money back guarantee
• –

• All features
• For 5 Macs
• 30-day money back guarantee
• –

Also, if you already own a previous version of Paragon NTFS for Mac, there are a few upgrade options available:

• Owners of a commercial license of Paragon NTFS for Mac (not a free upgrade license) receive a Free upgrade to the next version of NTFS for Mac.
• Owners of a Free Upgrade license of Paragon NTFS for Mac receive 50% discount on the license price.
• If you own a version that’s two versions older than the current one, you’ll get 30% off on the license price when upgrading.

Paragon Software accepts credit card payments from all of the major payment networks, Visa, Mastercard, American Express and JCB, as well as PayPal and wire transfer.

Customer Service

If you have any questions related to activation, the software’s features, or you just want to submit your feedback, then there are a few options available: in-app contact, a support forum and a knowledge base. Paragon Software recommends creating a MyParagon account to register the product and receive support via the forum. For activation-related issues, you can contact customer support by clicking in the top-left of the app and selecting “Contact Support”. As you hit the “Send Feedback” button, the backend system will create a ticket for your issue, which you can view online in your MyParagon account. Just don’t expect a speedy response.

Customer Support Requests Listed in MyParagon Account




Also, you can always turn to the support forums with your question, or read the knowledge base for frequently asked questions. Paragon also offers remote support: using TeamViewer a support engineer will connect to your computer to fix the problem manually or to collect data.

Bottom Line

Is Paragon NTFS for Mac worth the price? Definitely. Anyone using Boot Camp or dual boot on their Mac (macOS and Windows) will find this software useful. Also, for those dealing with NTFS-formatted volumes frequently, this driver is a worthy purchase since it allows communication between the two platforms. While the slow write speed would benefit from being improved by Paragon Software, it is something that can be lived with, especially when considering that the competing Tuxera software offers no better writing speeds. Without this type of software you cannot write on an NTFS volume on Mac, meaning it will be almost necessary in these situations. And if Paragon deals with the enable/disable NTFS driver bug, it will be reliable software for regular daily use.




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Microsoft NTFS is one of the primary file systems of Windows. If you work on a Mac computer and need to read or write files from HDD, SSD or a flash drive formatted under Windows, you need Microsoft NTFS for Mac by Paragon Software.

Write, edit, copy, move and delete files on Microsoft NTFS volumes from your Mac! Fast, seamless, easy to use. Mount, unmount, verify, format or set any of your Microsoft NTFS volumes as a startup drive.

New! Ready for macOS 11.0 Big Sur

Write files to Microsoft NTFS drives on your Mac

Can’t write, copy, edit or delete files on Microsoft NTFS-formatted drives from your Mac? It’s because macOS has limited support for Windows volumes — that is, you can only read data, but can’t write or delete anything. Microsoft NTFS for Mac by Paragon Software provides blazing fast, unlimited read/write access to Microsoft NTFS hard drives, SSDs or thumb drives formatted for Windows computers!

• A no-brainer upgrade for those installing macOS 10.14 Mojave, Paragon NTFS for Mac remains the best cross-platform utility money can buy, especially now that it plays nice with Apple’s new dark mode.

  MacWorld US, Editors’ Choice 2018
  www.macworld.com

• Whether you’re a hardcore Boot Camp user or just need to occasionally write to Windows-formatted media, this update keeps things working at peak performance…

  MacWorld US, Editors’ Choice 2018
  www.macworld.com

• Running a Mac and having NTFS formatted external disks, you definitely need NTFS for Mac. It is well priced <…> and enables read and write access to your NTFs drives no matter what size.. The speed at which you can read and write the data on these drives is the best of any competitor if there really is one. Anyone who needs to use Mac and Windows computers, needs this app for easy data transfer. The interface is best of any application found, and the application itself offers additional drive tools for taking full control. The latest version also supports Mojave and APFS format to complete a perfect application. It is without real competition and deserves a full 5 star award. This utility makes your external storage usable on any computer system Windows or Mac. So your data remains interchangeable and is fully adapted for macOS MOJAVE.

  MacSoftReview
  www.macsoftreview.com
  September 2018

• Microsoft NTFS for Mac by Paragon Software is a great upgrade to an exceptional cross-platform utility that’s easily worth the money, especially if you own the previous version 14, in which case this one’s free.
  The user interface is tastefully designed, with buttons for mounting, unmounting, verifying, or erasing the selected volume. Dual-boot users also have the option to reboot into a compatible mounted Mac or Windows startup volume. There’s even a lovely color-coded space indicator like the one introduced with Mac OS X El Capitan, displaying content by Audio, Video, Apps, Images, and Other categories.

  MacWorld, USA, August 2017,
  macworld.com

• Microsoft NTFS for Mac by Paragon Software, the excellent third-party file system driver that enables writing to Windows-formatted volumes at native speeds.

  MacWorld, USA, June 2017,
  macworld.com

• 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

• A very specialized product that does its job in a very unobtrusive way. You just install it and it works. When you plug an NTFS disk into your Mac, it just mounts on the desktop like any other disk, and when you copy a file to it, it just works, no muss, no fuss. This utility is also invaluable if you find yourself in a situation where you need to format a disk as NTFS, and it performs this task with an equal lack of drama

  Apple Press, DVMUG

• Microsoft NTFS for Mac by Paragon Software is an essential installation for anyone working with Macs and PCs, as it helps to break down the barriers that exist between the two operating systems

  Mac World UK,
  macworld.com

• It’ll install cleanly and easily on macOS 10.12 Sierra and “just work”, so it’s a good option

  How-to-Geek

• Microsoft NTFS for Mac by Paragon Software does exactly what we expect from it, by offering a seamless NTFS disk management. It’s good performances even allow working directly on the Windows partition, including for heavy applications such as video or photo processing.

  mac4ever.com

• WOW….Ive been struggling with the whole MAC/Windows NTFS issue for some time and have a number of external drives that I need to swap between Mac/PC all the time. I’ve always had a headache with NTFS drivers etc. I bought and downloaded your Microsoft NTFS for Mac by Paragon Software today and WOW. Amazing. Everything just works. Brilliant product. Worth every penny. Thank you.

  Robinson Philip

• It is pretty fast with NTFS transfers (slightly slower than OSX extended partitions obviously) and I’ve never had any problems mid-transfer or anything. For me, it’s always done what it said on the box, and now with V14 it’s got El Capitan compatibility, so no complaints here. If you’re looking for a way to have plug-and-play NTFS drives on your mac, there really isn’t a better alternative to Microsoft NTFS for Mac by Paragon Software. Highly recommended for all Mac users!

  M. Doyle

• If you have a Mac and you need to access volumes that are formatted NTFS, this is the best solution out there. Why Apple hasn’t just baked in support for NTFS after all these years still remains a mystery. I’ve been using Microsoft NTFS for Mac by Paragon Software for several years now and have never had any problems with it.

  H. Jaynes

Blazing Fast

Microsoft NTFS for Mac by Paragon Software is up to six times faster than any of its closest commercial competitors!

Fully Compatible

Supports macOS Big Sur
and older macOS
See Specifications

Powerful Features

Safe data transfer, hassle-free work, easy to use, seamless user experience

How it Works

Simple as 1-2-3

Install

Download and install Microsoft NTFS for Mac by Paragon Software onto your Mac.

Done!

Microsoft NTFS volumes connected to your Mac are available in the Finder.

All operations just a click away!

If you need more than just a blazing fast and reliable Microsoft NTFS driver, our lightweight menubar and full-featured Microsoft NTFS for Mac by Paragon Software apps are always at your service.

Access all of your Microsoft NTFS drives and perform the most common volume operations like mount, unmount and verify.

Quickly restart your Mac in Windows from the menubar (assuming it’s installed on your mounted Microsoft NTFS drive).

Seamless User Experience

If you’ve ever used Apple’s Disk Utility, you already know how to use Microsoft NTFS for Mac by Paragon Software. If you haven’t, it will only take a few moments to get acquainted.

Microsoft NTFS for Mac by Paragon Software takes the best of Apple’s Disk Utility and moves it to the next level, augmenting Microsoft NTFS volume operations and advanced mount options.

Mounting is entirely under your control with advanced options

Mount in Read-Only: select this option if you need to access sensitive data without modifying any files.

Do not mount automatically: select this option if you want to manually control access to a volume.

Ntfs For Mac 12

Outstanding performance at blazing fast speed

6x times faster*

*Tested on 2016 MacBook Pro with SSD drive, view benchmarks here.

Fresh review: check out the video review by European Motion Picture Association.

Latest award: 5-star review of the Mojave-ready edition.

Features

Paragon Technology Center

Want to learn more about the technology behind Microsoft NTFS for Mac by Paragon Software? Check out the Paragon Technology Portal!

Frequently Asked Questions

Ntfs For Mac 10.9

Ensure multi-platform access - activate required file system drivers based on your IT park, regardless of OS, in any proportion.

Resources

Ntfs For Mac 10.8

Ntfs For Mac 15