Apple Silicon changed the Mac’s security and driver model. For NTFS, the practical result is simple: reading works out of the box, writing does not.

This guide shows how to check your Mac, mount an NTFS drive for reading, and add safe read/write access if you need it.

First, check your Mac and macOS version

Open the Apple menu → About This Mac. You will see the chip name and macOS version. For a terminal check:

uname -m    # arm64 means Apple Silicon
sw_vers     # product version and build

Mountee requires:

Apple Silicon (arm64)
macOS 26 or later
The 0.2.0 release, verified on macOS 26.6.2 and macOS 27.0.1

If you are on an Intel Mac or macOS 15 or earlier, Mountee is not supported. Use the built-in read-only support or a driver that covers your release.

Mount an NTFS drive for reading (no software)

Connect the drive with a data-capable cable.
Open Finder. The volume should appear in the sidebar under Locations.
Open it and copy files to your Mac.

If it does not appear:

Try another cable or port. Some USB-C cables are charge-only.
Open Disk Utility and check whether the volume is listed.
Run diskutil list and look for an NTFS partition.
On a Mac with limited ports, a bus-powered drive may need a powered hub.

Reading does not require a driver, an extension, or any security change.

Add read/write access with Mountee

Mountee is built for this exact platform: macOS 26+ on Apple Silicon. It uses FSKit, Apple’s user-space file system framework, and bundles the ntfs-3g engine.

Install

Download the current DMG from mountee.app/download.
Open it and drag MacNTFS.app to Applications. This is the 0.2.0 name; the project is Mountee.
Launch the app once to register the file system extension.
In the menu bar window, press Enable File System Extension.
If macOS does not show the app, confirm you downloaded it from the official release. Do not disable SIP or reduce macOS security.

The extension is enabled per user. If two accounts on the same Mac need NTFS access, enable it once in each account.

Mount read/write

Connect the NTFS volume.
Open the Mountee menu bar window.
Choose Mount Read/Write for the volume.

Read-only is the default. Mountee refuses read/write if the volume is dirty or hibernated by Windows. In that case it mounts read-only and logs the reason.

Verify the mount

The volume should appear under /Volumes and in Finder. To confirm the mode:

mount | grep -i ntfs

Look for read-only or read-write in the flags. You can also use Details in the Mountee menu.

Create a small test file, unmount, and remount to confirm writes persist before trusting the driver with important data.

Why Apple Silicon needs a different approach

Older versions of macOS had a hidden NTFS remount behavior that some tools used. That approach is gone on modern macOS, and Apple Silicon Macs cannot run Boot Camp or a Windows partition natively.

The remaining options are:

A user-space filesystem extension such as FSKit. This is what Mountee uses.
A kernel extension or macFUSE-based driver. This is what Mounty 2.x uses.
A commercial driver with a bundled system driver.
No write support, using macOS read-only access.

FSKit keeps the filesystem code out of the kernel, which is better for system security. It also constrains support: Mountee only claims macOS 26+ because that is the platform it builds and validates against.

Apple Silicon security questions

Does Mountee require Reduced Security?

No. Mountee does not install a kext and does not ask you to change Startup Security. macOS stays at Full Security.

Does Mountee require Recovery Mode?

No. Installation is a normal DMG drag-and-drop, followed by enabling the file system extension in the app or System Settings.

Does it require a reboot?

No.

Does Mounty or macFUSE require security changes?

Mounty’s official instructions require trusting macFUSE and the ntfs-3g driver, and a restart is commonly required. Follow the current macFUSE and Mounty documentation for your macOS version. The exact prompts depend on the versions you install.

Older macOS versions on Apple Silicon

If your Mac is Apple Silicon but runs macOS 15 or earlier:

Reading NTFS works natively.
Mountee does not support your macOS version.
Mounty 2.x and Paragon list support for older releases. Check their current requirements before installing.

Do not install a driver that claims macOS 26+ support on an older OS and expect it to work. FSKit APIs and the extension registration model differ.

Troubleshooting the extension on Apple Silicon

If Mountee is installed but the extension will not enable:

Confirm the app is in /Applications, not running from the DMG or Downloads folder.
Launch it once.
Open System Settings → General → Login Items & Extensions → File System Extensions and enable Mountee if listed.
Check the state:

/Applications/MacNTFS.app/Contents/MacOS/MacNTFS --extension-status

If another copy of the app is registered, remove the stale copy and enable again. Details are in Troubleshooting.

If the volume still will not mount, collect diagnostics with Copy Diagnostics and check the NTFS mounting troubleshooting guide.

Frequently asked questions

Can Apple Silicon write to NTFS out of the box?
No. macOS provides read-only NTFS support. Writing requires a third-party driver.

Does Mountee work on Intel Macs?
No. The current release is arm64 only.

Does Mountee work on macOS 15 or earlier?
No. It requires macOS 26 or later. FSKit exists earlier, but Mountee does not claim support for those releases.

Will a Windows NTFS drive work on an M-series Mac?
Yes for reading. For writing, use a supported driver. Mountee supports Apple Silicon generally; it does not distinguish between M-series generations.

How to Mount NTFS Drives on Apple Silicon