Your Mac might be able to access files because it has different settings or permissions compared to Windows.
Your Mac might be able to access files because it has different settings or permissions compared to Windows.
I connected my Samsung 1TB external drive to my Windows PC and it reported needing formatting even though it was already formatted using NTFS with existing files like movies. I ran chkdsk with the /f option, which fixed it temporarily. Later, after a few weeks, I ran chkdsk again but it failed and couldn't format properly. I decided not to touch it again, thinking it was done. Then I planned a hard drive upgrade on my Mac, assuming it could format the drive for backup purposes. When I plugged in the new HDD, all files were present and working fine. However, when I tried to use it for backup, Windows refused to recognize it, while the drive worked perfectly on my PC. Why would the Mac see the files but Windows reject them?
The file wasn't concealed initially and was originally saved on a Windows PC.