If you suspect this is the problem, try checking if Disk Utility can repair any errors with your “external” hard drive. This typically refers to problems with the physical components of your external hard drive, which makes it impossible for the computer to access certain parts of data on your disk. In order to prevent this from happening, make sure you properly shut down your computer before unplugging your external hard drive. This is a very common culprit that can sometimes lead to data corruption as well as the inability for your computer to recognize your external hard drive. There are several causes of read-only error in Macs. I’m here to talk about what causes read-only error and how to change permissions on external hard drive on a mac. You should now be able to access your files without any problems! Type in a password and then click OK to save your changes.Click on “Wi-Fi Options” under your external hard drive name and select “Password Required” from the dropdown menu next to “To computers using”.Under “Share your connection from”, make sure your external hard drive is selected (if it isn’t already) and then check the box next to “Internet Sharing”.Within System Preferences, click on “Sharing”.

Click on the Apple logo in the top left corner of your screen and select “System Preferences”.Plug in your external hard drive to your Mac.Write-Only access: This set of security allows users with this permission level to save changes to the file but they cannot view its contents.īy default, external hard drives have a permission level of “Read-Only access” which means that users who do not own the files on it can only view their properties and make changes. Users with this permission level cannot make any changes to the file. Read-Only access: This set of security is reserved for viewing only. Only the files’ owner (the user who created it) can view or make changes to its contents. These include:Īccessibility: This is the highest level of security. There are three levels of security setting for file permissions. So, the first question you should ask yourself is “What are file permissions?” File permissions are a set of rules that determines who can access files, what they can do with those files, and how secure the files are. The other day I got a call from a business client asking ‘How to change permissions on external hard drive on a Mac?’ What do file permissions mean on a Mac?

Mac external drives read only