Tuxera NTFS 2023.1 — macOS

One feature people ask about before installing Tuxera NTFS is the timestamp fix in version 2023.1. That update corrected a problem where files copied to NTFS volumes could get the wrong date or time stamps. For anyone moving files between a Mac and a Windows PC on a regular basis, that is the kind of detail that matters.

What Tuxera NTFS actually does

Tuxera NTFS is a file system driver. It gives macOS read and write access to NTFS drives, which is something the Mac cannot do on its own. That means external USB drives formatted on a Windows machine will work normally when plugged into your Mac — you can copy files to them, edit documents directly, and move them back to the PC without reformatting.

Works with Windows in a virtual machine

People typically want to know if it works with virtual machines. It does — you can work with files when Windows runs in a VM on the same Mac. Another question is whether it is meant for frequent drive swapping. Yes, that is exactly the use case. If you regularly move drives between a PC and a Mac, Tuxera NTFS makes the exchange straightforward. The driver runs on both Intel and Apple Silicon Macs, and it supports macOS back to OS X 10.9.

Adjust the default Tuxera NTFS preferences

After you finish the standard installation and activate the driver, take a moment to check the Tuxera NTFS preferences. The control panel lives in System Settings (or System Preferences on older macOS versions) under the Tuxera NTFS entry. The default settings work fine for most people, but a few adjustments can save trouble later.

Turn on the option to mount NTFS volumes automatically. This saves you from having to manually mount a drive each time you plug it in. If you work with multiple external drives throughout the day, it is one less step to think about. You can also set a preferred mount point if you want the drives to appear in the same place in the Finder every time.

The caching settings are worth a look. Tuxera NTFS uses write caching by default, which speeds up file transfers. The trade-off is that if you unplug a drive without ejecting it first, you risk data loss. If you tend to pull drives out in a hurry, disable write caching. The transfer speed will be slightly slower, but the drive will be safer.

Another setting I change early is the volume repair option. Tuxera NTFS can check and repair NTFS volumes, similar to what Disk Utility does for Mac-formatted drives. I enable the automatic check on mount so the driver looks at the volume's health before I start working with files. It catches small issues before they grow.

NTFS drives appear in Finder like any other volume

Tuxera NTFS integrates at the system level, so it works with nearly everything you already use. When you plug in an NTFS drive, the Finder shows it just like any other external volume. You can drag files in and out, open documents from it, and save files directly to it from any application — no extra steps required.

Time Machine will not back up to an NTFS drive by default, and that is by design. NTFS is not a native macOS file system, so Apple's backup software skips it. If you need to back up to the same physical drive, format a separate partition as Mac OS Extended or APFS for Time Machine and leave the rest as NTFS for Windows use.

Spotlight can index NTFS drives if you want it to. Open the Spotlight privacy settings in System Settings and add the NTFS volume, then remove it again. That forces Spotlight to re-index the drive. It works, but indexing a large NTFS drive takes a while, so only do it if you frequently search files on that volume.

If you use Windows in a virtual machine through Parallels Desktop, VMware Fusion, or VirtualBox, Tuxera NTFS handles the file exchange side. The Mac sees the NTFS drive, and the VM accesses it through the shared folder feature. You can edit a file on the Windows side and save it to the same drive the Mac can read — no need to copy files back and forth.

Eject NTFS drives properly every time

• Eject drives properly every time. This is the most important habit to build. NTFS is a journaled file system, but macOS does not handle it the same way it handles APFS or HFS+. Use the Finder's eject button or drag the volume to the Trash. Pulling the cable without ejecting can corrupt the file table, and repairing an NTFS volume takes longer than repairing a Mac volume.
• Test with a small file first. Copy a text file or a small image to your NTFS drive, open it from the Mac, edit it, and save it back. Then move the drive to a Windows PC and check that the file opens correctly. This confirms the driver is working and the timestamp fix in version 2023.1 is applying correctly to your setup.
• Name the drive something short. NTFS supports long file names, but older Windows systems and some USB devices have trouble with spaces or special characters in the volume name. A single word like "Transfer" or "WorkDrive" avoids those issues.
• Keep a backup of the registration key. The official updates do not remove activation, but if you replace your Mac or reinstall macOS, you will need the key again. Store it somewhere safe outside the Applications folder.

Fix incorrect timestamps on copied files

The drive mounts but shows as read-only

This usually means the NTFS volume has errors or was not unmounted cleanly on the last use. Open the Tuxera NTFS preferences and run the repair tool on the drive. If that does not help, plug the drive into a Windows PC and run chkdsk /f from a command prompt. The Mac's Disk Utility cannot repair NTFS volumes, so Tuxera's tool or a Windows machine is your only option.

Files copy slowly compared to a Mac-formatted drive

NTFS on macOS is never going to match the speed of APFS or HFS+. The driver translates file system calls between the two systems, and that adds overhead. If the speed is noticeably worse than usual, check whether write caching is turned off in the preferences. Also, avoid using a USB hub that shares bandwidth with other devices — plug the drive directly into the Mac's port.

The drive does not appear on the desktop

First, check Finder preferences under General and make sure "External disks" is selected. If it still does not show, open Disk Utility and look for the drive there. If Disk Utility sees it but the Finder does not, the volume may need to be mounted manually. In the Tuxera NTFS preferences, you can set the drive to mount automatically. If the drive is not listed at all, try a different cable or port before assuming the driver is the problem.

Time stamps on files are wrong after copying

This was the bug fixed in version 2023.1. If you still see incorrect date or time stamps, make sure you are running the latest version. You can check the version number in the Tuxera NTFS preferences panel. If you updated from an older version, a restart may be required for the fix to take effect on volumes that were already mounted.

Corrects date and time stamps on file transfers

Version 2023.1 had one focused fix: it corrected a problem with incorrect date or time stamps on files copied to NTFS volumes. Before this update, people moving batches of photos or documents from a Mac to an NTFS drive would sometimes see creation dates shifted by hours or days. After the update, the timestamps match what the source file shows. For anyone who relies on file dates for organization — photographers, writers, accountants — this fix makes Tuxera NTFS reliable for day-to-day transfers.

There were no major interface changes or new features in this release. The installation process, system preferences, and driver behavior remain the same as the previous version. If you were already using Tuxera NTFS, the update is a straightforward replacement that fixes a specific annoyance without changing anything else about how the driver works.

For users on older macOS versions back to OS X 10.9, the driver still runs without issues. The update did not drop support for any system or architecture, so Intel and Apple Silicon Macs are both covered.

• Fixed an issue that could cause incorrect date or time stamps for files copied to NTFS volumes.

• macOS OS X 10.9 or later
• Intel or Apple Silicon