Seagate Backup Plus NTFS Driver For Mac Uncertain You Need It

You’ve plugged in your Seagate Backup Plus drive. And then you’ve tried to copy your documents onto your Backup Plus.

But your Mac says no.

And won’t do it.

Your Mac says your Seagate Backup Plus drive is read only.

What now?

Why Is My Mac Telling Me My Seagate Backup Plus Drive Is Read Only?

Seagate sells many external hard drives under the Backup Plus brand name.

Some are sold with something called a NTFS file system on them. The Backup Plus Slim and Backup Plus Portable used to come with HFS+ already installed.

If you had a HFS+ version of the Seagate Backup Plus you wouldn’t have seen the message.

Because your Mac would see and use a HFS+ type drive. Just as it would use its own internal drives.

You’ll get the ‘Read Only’ Message with an NTFS type drive.

Why?

NTFS is a type of file system that a Windows PC uses. Your Mac can see the drive. Copy files, photos, music off the drive. But it can’t update any documents. Or write documents, or photos or music. In fact it can’t write anything to the drive.

What do you do?

Options For Using Seagate Backup Plus NTFS For Mac

You have two main choices. And which one you choose depends your planned use of the Seagate Backup Plus drive. And how you feel about your Mac operating system skill level.

Option 1. Use the free Seagate Backup Plus Paragon driver

Option 2. Reformat your Seagate Backup Plus drive to something your Mac can read. And can write too, update documents and paste files to the drive.

What Is The Seagate Backup Plus Paragon Driver?

It is a piece of software you install on your Mac.

The NTFS Paragon driver translates for your Mac. It allows your Mac to write in NTFS to the Seagate Backup Plus.

Understand it doesn’t change the drive. It is still NTFS. The Paragon driver allows your Mac to write onto the drive so that to your Mac it’s not ‘Read Only’ anymore.

Plus Points For Using The Seagate Paragon NTFS Driver On Your Mac

You can install it. Use the driver. It’s free for your Seagate Backup Plus Ultra Touch. It’s easy to use.

You can paste documents, photo’s music, read and write files to the Backup Plus drive.

Your Mac can ‘see’ the Backup Plus just as it would ‘see’ a HFS+ drive.

The Paragon software writes your files to the Backup Plus drive in NTFS. And this means that if you want to put the drive onto a Windows PC the PC can see your files on there.
Without any special software.

And you’ll find the Paragon software useful if there are files already on the drive. Files put there by a Windows PC. You can use those files on your Mac.

You’ll find the Paragon NTFS driver a good solution if you use the Seagate Backup Plus drive on a Windows PC the most. And you only need to access files from your Mac sometimes.

Minus Points For Using The Seagate Backup Plus NTFS Driver For Your Mac

You won’t be able to use the Seagate Backup Plus as a drive for a Time Machine backup.

You’ll need the right version of the Paragon software your Mac operating system. And this means that when Apple releases a new version of Mac OS you’ll need to wait for a compatible version. And when the compatible version of the software is available you can upgrade to it then

It’s a piece of software you need to keep track of.

If you want to use your Backup Plus drive on a friends Mac. Or on a Mac at work, that Mac will need to have the Paragon software on it too.

The Paragon software from Seagate is free. But it only works on Seagate supported drives. It will not work with other NTFS non Seagate drives.

If anything happens to your Mac and you need to reinstall the operating system. You’ll need to reinstall the Seagate Backup Plus NTFS Driver for Mac. You need it installed and have it working before you can use the files on your Backup Plus drive.

Seagate Backup Plus NTFS Driver For Mac Verdict

If you’re going to use your drive the most on a Mac, you may as well set it up so your Mac can write to it. You do this by reformatting the drive to HFS+.

If you’re using the drive ad hoc and your main use is on a Windows PC then the Paragon driver is a good solution.

Sharing the drive fifty fifty with a Windows PC? Then it is worth considering reformatting the drive to ExFAT. That way both your Windows PC and your Mac can freely write to the drive without the need for extra software.

If you’re interested in reformatting your Seagate Backup Plus NTFS to either HFS+ or to ExFAT, take a look at my article here on the site. You’ll find out how there.

How Do I Get The Seagate Backup Plus NTFS Driver For Mac?

On Your New Backup Plus Drive

The good news is that you can download the Seagate Backup Plus Paragon driver for your Backup Plus Ultra Touch drive.

1. Connect the Backup Plus drive to your Mac.

You will see the Backup Plus drive Icon on your desktop.

2. Double click on the drive icon and a new Finder window will open up.

Now you’ll see the files already installed on the drive from Seagate.

3. Double click on the Start_Here_Mac file.

4. A browser window will open and ask you to register your new Seagate Backup Plus drive for warranty. Complete your name and email address. You’ll need to agree to the Terms of Use.

Click Next

5. The next screen is where you download the Seagate Backup Plus NTFS driver for Mac.

6. Click on the download button.

The software will download to your Mac. You can if you wish download extra Seagate software for your Mac. Or dismiss the browser window.

7. Go to your downloads folder and double click on the NTFS_for_mac.dmg file. This starts the install of the software on your Mac.

8. You will need to enter in your administration password and allow the driver on your Mac.

The driver will be available for you to use after a restart.

Seagate Backup Plus NTFS On Mac Install YouTube Video

Take a look at this 1 minute 52 second video from Seagate Technology. It goes through the steps I’ve described.

TookKit for MacOS – First Time Setup

Video Credit : AskSeagate

For A Used Seagate Backup Plus Drive

As long as the drive wasn’t reformatted on a Windows PC you should still have the Seagate files on there.

But if they have been deleted you can always download the software direct from the Seagate site.

Here is a link to the Seagate Paragon NTFS driver for Mac OS download page.

Other Seagate Backup Plus NTFS For Mac Frequently Asked Questions

1. What Mac Operating System Versions Does The Seagate NTFS Driver For Mac Support?

Mac OS 10.7, 10.8 and above.

You can check the latest supported Mac OS’s at Seagate here.

2. I No longer Use The Seagate Backup Plus’ NTFS Software. How Do I Delete It?

Uninstalling the Backup Plus NTFS software on your Mac is easy.

Use the Seagate Paragon NTFS driver link for Mac OS just above. To install the downloader. When you run the install software you’ll get to the page where you can click on the option to Uninstall NTFS for Mac. Click there and you’ll uninstall the software.

For Earlier Mac OS Releases Like Monterey or Big Sur or Earlier

Open System Preferences on your Mac. You can do that by searching with spotlight search. You can find spotlight search at the top of your desktop.

Then type in system preferences.

Double click on the Paragon icon.

Go to settings and select uninstall.

You can find more help on the Seagate site here.

3. I Want To Use Other NTFS External Hard Drives On My Mac

The Paragon driver from Seagate will only work with their external drives.

And you may have other NTFS drives from other manufacturers you want to use on your Mac. The Paragon NTFS driver for Mac is available to buy direct from the Paragon site.

You can find it at this link here.