I’m ready to make the switch from my HP laptop to a Mackbook. I have 3 external hard drives that I use to store pictures and documents. I will need to access these files using MacBook. Is this possible? Or am I stuck using a windows based system forever? What do I need to do to make the switch without losing access to my pictures and documents?
[Re-Titled by Moderator]
It will depend on the drive format. You should be able to see this in Windows’ File Explorer or in the Disk Management app. If they’re formatted as exFAT (common for external drives for comparability, you’re good to go! If They’re formatted as NTFS, which macOS can read, but not write to natively. If that’s the case, you have a few options:
1) Leave them as they are, but understand that they’ll be read-only. You’ll be able to access the files and transfer them onto other disks, but you won’t be able to add anything or make edits.
2) Download a utility onto your Mac that allows macOS to read/write to NTFS.
3) Backup your files and convert the drives to a format that can be read by macOS, such as exFAT, APFS, or HFS+.
Don’t be discouraged! The switch is worth it!
It will depend on the drive format. You should be able to see this in Windows’ File Explorer or in the Disk Management app. If they’re formatted as exFAT (common for external drives for comparability, you’re good to go! If They’re formatted as NTFS, which macOS can read, but not write to natively. If that’s the case, you have a few options:
1) Leave them as they are, but understand that they’ll be read-only. You’ll be able to access the files and transfer them onto other disks, but you won’t be able to add anything or make edits.
2) Download a utility onto your Mac that allows macOS to read/write to NTFS.
3) Backup your files and convert the drives to a format that can be read by macOS, such as exFAT, APFS, or HFS+.
Don’t be discouraged! The switch is worth it!
Mac supports reading and writing ExFAT and reading NTFS disk formats natively, with no added apps.
Once you get your data off the external NTFS hard disk drives, reformat them to a native format.
Maybe move one disk’s data and documents and photos and video contents at a time, for instance. Windows apps and Windows settings won’t be useful, though.
I wouldn’t keep NTFS hard disks around, though you can leave them on a shelf somewhere for a while, until you’re sure you’re using Mac going forward, too.
Assuming your Mac has enough internal storage for all your photos and documents, the external hard disks can then be reformatted and re-used, or — if the hard disks drives are old and small — replaced with current storage.
If the hard disks are two or three times the size of total internal storage on the new Mac, one or two of them can be reformatted and re-used for Time Machine backups, too.
Some internal storage can be recovered if you’re offloading some of your photos to iCloud Photos, too. And you can start using that on your PC now, as part of the transfer.
Links:
How can I access external hard drives on a MacBook?
