

You won't be able to erase files from your external hard drive.Ĭonnection problems are one of the most common reasons your Mac won’t allow deleting files and folders from your external hard drives. Your Mac would experience issues as a result of format incompatibility. Other formats, such as NTFS, are not directly supported by Mac. External hard drive contains an unsupported file system, like NTFS.įor managing and storing files, Mac supports the HFS (Hierarchical File System) format. The problem will continue if permissions are not granted.Ģ.

Permission issues could be another reason you can't delete files and folders from your external hard drive. The permission settings on your Mac define who has access to your files. To help you identify the cause of your error, below is the compiled list of reasons that prevents you from deleting files or folders from an external hard drive. When you cannot delete files or folders from an external hard drive on Mac, you should always focus on why the error occurs. Why Can't I Delete a File or Folder from External Hard Drive on Mac Because there are specific causes of this error, once the cause is identified, you can use a solution relevant to that cause. The best practice is to find out the actual cause of why the can’t delete files error is triggered in the first place. Unless the cause is identified, you must avoid formatting the drive as solutions can fix it without formatting.
#Securly remove files from mac full
Full stepsīut, before you jump on to try our methods, there are certain dos and dont's that you must hold to when facing this error.Ī common mistake that Mac users make when they can’t delete files/folders from an external hard drive is they format their drive. Right-click to delete or drag files to Trash. Full stepsĭelete or Remove Files/Folders from External Drives on Mac Reconnect external hard drive to Mac >Change USB port. Enable Mac to Delete or Remove Files/Folder from External Hard Drive
