NTFS to APFS in High Sierra?

[Hoosier317]

I am excited about the potential advantages of converting my current macOS SSD HFS+drive over to APFS when the first public beta arrives, but it has led me to a question.

I have a few NTFS external drives (2x2Tb, 2x4TB...files sizes from 2GB to 35GB) that I have long wanted to convert to a more Mac friendly format, but without data loss. I know that APFS is optimized for SSD, but will it be possible for me to convert NTFS to APFS without data loss? Is it too soon to know at this point?

Thank you!

 

[oatman13]

I am excited about the potential advantages of converting my current macOS SSD HFS+drive over to APFS when the first public beta arrives, but it has led me to a question.

I have a few NTFS external drives (2x2Tb, 2x4TB) that I have long wanted to convert to a more Mac friendly format, but without data loss. I know that APFS is optimized for SSD, but will be possible for me to convert NTFS to APFS without data loss? Is it too soon to know at this point?

Thank you!

You'll need to backup your files and reformat the drive to APFS. There is not a converter from NTFS to APFS.

 

[Hoosier317]

You'll need to backup your files and reformat the drive to APFS. There is not a converter from NTFS to APFS.

So, the same problem I've faced for a few years now. I would either need to back up nearly 12TB of data to a cloud service or buy another external drive just for this purpose. Not really worth the time, money and effort. Thank you for the info.

 

[saulinpa]

What is your action plan for when one of the drives fails?

 

[Hoosier317]

What is your action plan for when one of the drives fails?

...you're assuming I HAVE an action plan. I know, it's a problem.

 

[SoyCapitanSoyCapitan]

I use at least triple disk back ups for these situations

 

[blackdogaudio]

...you're assuming I HAVE an action plan. I know, it's a problem.

Cheap and reliable (I own one) 4TB ext USB 3.0 drive perfect for temp data storage as a transfer device or long-term data storage:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/wd-my-book-4tb-external-usb-3-0-hard-drive-black/5605524.p?skuId=5605524

I used mine as a temp storage device for music until my OWC 2x2TB RAID drive arrived. My WD linked above now serves as a manual backup for the OWC.

 

[LERsince1991]

I would be bricking myself with that amount of unprotected data. If your upload speed is decent I recommend trying Backblaze, yes they are OK with that much data

Also I remember a while ago using paragon (I think) software to convert the file systems of my drives without data loss, perhaps an option is find a converter to a Mac friendly format and then to APFS. However, please backup first, even shifting onto a 'reliable' temp drive is a massive risk let alone converting the file structure.

 

[Hoosier317]

I am now in the process of a cloud backup.

Are there any formats I could convert to (after backup and with large file sizes) FIRST that would then allow me to then convert to HFS or APFS without data loss? Or is my only legitimate option to offload the data and convert with a complete wipe of those drives? I know I can't go straight from NTFS to HFS or APFS.

 

[LERsince1991]

Possibly ExFAT? Not sure though

 

[Phil A.]

I am now in the process of a cloud backup.

Are there any formats I could convert to (after backup and with large file sizes) FIRST that would then allow me to then convert to HFS or APFS without data loss? Or is my only legitimate option to offload the data and convert with a complete wipe of those drives? I know I can't go straight from NTFS to HFS or APFS.

Paragon do a (windows only) converter to convert between NTFS and HFS+ - I have never used it so can't say how good it is, but I do use their NTFS driver for MacOS and found it to be reliable: http://www.paragon-drivers.com/ntfs-hfs-converter/download.html

It's free too, which has to be a bonus