External hard drive not mounting after Ventura update

Remove Paragon NTFS software as you must have had it previously or you wouldn't have been able to write to the NTFS disks. It likely broke when you upgraded Ventura. You have the option of upgrading Paragon NTFS but it's licensed software. So if you don't need it just remove it entirely.

FORMATTING WILL DESTROY ALL DATA It's easy to reformat a drive on macOS. Open Disk Utility, click View -> Show all Devices. Identify the correct drive you wish to format. Highlight the top most tree-branch listing the hardware name of the disk. Click the Erase button and choose a filesystem.

The APFS filesystem is designed for SSD primarily, while it does work with HDD it will experience fragmentation that isn't possible on SSD. Formatting an HDD to APFS is mostly fine for say Time Machine due to the way APFS snapshots work. I would recommend that you choose HFS+ for an HDD that just holds data.

Copy the data from the NTFS drive over to this newly formatted drive using Finder and drag and drop.

Tip: ⇧ + ⌘ + Period key will toggle hidden files ON/OFF

If you need cross-platform compatibility with Linux, BSD, Windows, macOS, etc. then the filesystem format you want to use is ExFAT.

UPDATE - I updated my Paragon NTFS software and now all drives, regardless of format, mount and are visible on the main screen. I have a licensed version, it just needed an upgrade to handle Ventura 13.3. Took a day to figure out, but all is working fine now. It’s a Paragon problem, not Apple. Yay I’m so happy 😃

FYI,

The reason this works is because Paragon NTFS needs to be upgraded to be compatible with Ventura. Disks formatted with NTFS are intended for Microsoft Windows. macOS can read such volumes but cannot write to them. Paragon NTFS adds the write support. Technically, there is an option to enable macOS read/write on NTFS but it's experimental and shouldn't be trusted. Data could get corrupted, etc. Therefore you need to license Paragon NTFS if you really need to use NTFS formatted drives.

If you don't need to connect this drive to a Windows computer then you don't need NTFS support. You can format the disk as ExFAT and that is completely compatible between operating systems. Or if you have only Macs you can format the drive as HFS+. If the external drive is an SSD you can format it APFS.

But if you are stuck with a large amount of data on an NTFS drive, then you may just need to license the Paragon NTFS software and keep it up-to-date and you might periodically need to pay to upgrade.

Again, if you don't need NTFS then you should probably format the drive as HFS+ for HDD and APFS for SSD. Yes, APFS will work on an HDD but it's not entirely ideal.

There could be a few reasons why your external hard drive is not mounting after a Ventura update. Here are some steps you can take to troubleshoot the issue:

1. Check the connections: Make sure that the external hard drive is properly connected to your computer. Try unplugging it and plugging it back in to ensure a secure connection.

2. Check for updates: Make sure that your computer and the external hard drive have the latest updates installed. Sometimes updates can fix compatibility issues.

3. Restart your computer: Sometimes restarting your computer can fix issues with hardware and software.

4. Check the Disk Utility: Use the Disk Utility tool to check if your external hard drive is detected by your computer. If it is detected, but not mounted, you can try mounting it manually from the Disk Utility.

5. Try another port/cable: Sometimes the port or cable that you are using to connect the external hard drive can be faulty. Try using a different port or cable to see if that fixes the issue.

6. Test the drive on another computer: If none of the above steps work, you can try connecting the external hard drive to another computer to see if it works. This will help you determine if the issue is with the drive or your computer.

If the above steps do not work, there could be a deeper issue with the hard drive itself. In that case, you may need to take it to a professional to get it fixed or try to recover your data.

Hi. Thanks for your insights. I already got it done. This is what I did.

Step 1.

I copied around 600gb data from one of the NTFS WD 4TB to an old 1 TB drive using my old MacBook Pro (Late 2013)

Step 2.

Then Formatted the NTFS 4TB drive to ExFat using my MacBook Pro M1Pro

Step 3.

Transferred the 4TB data on my other NTFS drive to the ExFat formatted 4TB drive using the MB Pro M1 Pro(Took around 16 hours and 20mins for the transfer)

Step 4

Formatted the 2nd NTFS drive to ExFat using my MB Pro M1 Pro

Step 5

Uninstalled the NTFS program from my new MacBook after multiple cross checks whether all my data is safe.

I now can access both my HDDs on write/read mode.

Thanks Again.

I thank you and everyone for your help in this matter. I thought I had lost my Seagate External Drive forever after the Mac Ventura OS 13.3 update around March 30, 2023. I have just updated to the latest Mac Ventura OS 13.3.1 on April 29, 2023 before uninstalling the latest Paragon NTFS mounting software. I found some of pennypoets suggestions helpful. Thank you, pennypoets. Pennypoets was right in having people uninstall the current Paragon NTFS mounting software at this website link

How To Uninstall Microsoft NTFS For Mac By Paragon Software. I found the cut and paste method via terminal the easiest in these instructions. After uninstalling Paragon, just restart your Mac. And then, you'll see your External drive once again. I was so happy and relieved. There's no need to buy any new software from the Paragon software company.

I totally understand your frustration. What you have to do is uninstall your current Paragon software for your external hard drive. The new $19.95 Paragon Software is needed to make your Mac's external hard drive both readable and writable, otherwise it'll be a readable only disk. After installing the software, restart your Mac and then you'll be able to write files onto the external hard drive.

Here’s a helpful website to help with uninstalling the outdated Paragon NTFS software and getting the current software for your Mac.

https://kb.paragon-software.com/article/4500

Hope it helps you. 😊

I had a new SSD, formatted by Disk Utility, while running Monterey on MacBookPro (M1-Pro, USB-C to USB-C) . Did one Time Machine backup.

Updated to Ventura ( and firmware too ?) now doesn't recognize that the drive is even plugged in.

Booted to recovery (i.e. no OS ) and Disk Utility does not see it!

Works fine on another MacBook Pro (early 2015, running Monterey, USB-A to USB-C)

Apple care suggested a very unlikely idea: connect drive to USB-C to USB-A cable and USB-A to USB-C cable and that WORKS!

Say What!! Really I don't believe it but it does work!!

Perform these actions to start using the latest NTFS for Mac version for your hard drive:

1. Uninstall the currently installed version as described here:  How To Uninstall Microsoft NTFS For Mac By Paragon Software
2. If you were using NTFS for Mac 14, you can remove it in System Preferences - NTFS for Mac - Settings - Uninstall, or using NTFS for Mac 14 DMG.
3. Reboot your Mac
4. Download and install the installation package
5. Seagate: http://ftp.paragon.eu.com/support/att/OEM/NTFS-15.10.593.dmg

(If the download doesn't start, please right-click the link as select Save link as).

FYI

While macOS can read NTFS Windows volumes. It cannot write to them by default.

Paragon NTFS is 3rd party commercial software that enables read/write for NTFS volumes. 3rd party software may require updates when macOS upgrades. You should check to ensure such software is compatible with the latest macOS release as vendors frequently need some time to catch up to a recent Apple update.

If you are using an external drive to trade files with Windows, consider formatting a partition as FAT32 or exFAT as this file system is very cross-platform and will work on most any operating system from Windows, macOS, Linux, BSD, Unix, etc. In many cases, NTFS is overkill offering features most people won't need such as ACL's, etc.

It worked for me too even tough after reinstalling the paragon software it would only let me mount the disk in "read only mode"

activating the free trial allowed me to write on the disk as well

so I guess that after this 10 day free trial we'll have pay to be able to write on the disk as well.

I have used the paid version of NTFS for Mac for years. This mounting issue for NTFS drives only occured for me after updating MacOS to Ventura 13.3.1 (April 7, 2023), not Ventura 13.3. I uninstalled the old version, downloaded the new version, and re-installed, and now it works fine. Thanks for the thread.

After update to Ventura 13.3.1 (a) external WD (5Tb) drive would no longer mount ntfs partition. (partitioned to apfs 3Tb and ntfs 2Tb. I followed the instructions from previous post to uninstall NTFS for Mac, rebooted, reinstalled from provided link to version 15.10.593. The ntfs partition now mounts but is read-only. Because it's read-only I can't run First Aid from Disk Utility. The ntfs partition is fine as I can access and write it from Windows 10 on BOOTCAMP. Any ideas?

After upgrading to Ventura 13.3.1 my USB 5Tb WD My Passport 2628 Media that came with Paragon NTFS for Mac was no longer writable. I contacted Paragon support and was immediately provided with a Request ID. A week went by and I didn't hear from Paragon so I contacted support again, referencing the Request ID. The same day I received an email with instructions to completely remove the existing NTFS for Mac and a link to the correct WD version (not the Seagate version) of the software. ALL GOOD. Read and Write restored. What I don't understand is why people without the problem are commenting in this forum. You are not helpful, you're only mouthy.