Windows drives and BitLocker disks,
opened on your Mac
A drive pulled from an old PC, a colleague's external drive, a BitLocker-encrypted USB stick from work—connect it to your Mac and read the files. Unencrypted drives open right away; for BitLocker, just enter the password or recovery key to unlock.
NTFSBitLockerSATA / NVMe enclosuresFree read-onlyLast updated
Which kind of Windows drive do you have?
External drives and USB flash drives
Plug it straight into your Mac. A Mac can only read NTFS; install CrossDriver NTFS to write.
A drive removed from a computer
Connect a SATA drive with a SATA-to-USB cable or enclosure, or an M.2 NVMe SSD with an NVMe enclosure, to your Mac.
BitLocker-encrypted drives
A disk with a lock icon that asks for a password on Windows. You'll need the password, the 48-digit recovery key, or a .BEK startup key.
Open a Windows drive on your Mac
- 1
Connect the drive
Plug in the external drive, or connect the removed drive with an enclosure or adapter cable.
- 2
Open CrossDriver NTFS
The disk appears in the sidebar. For encrypted disks, you'll be prompted to unlock: enter the password, paste the 48-digit recovery key, or choose a .BEK file.
- 3
Browse and copy
The free version opens the disk read-only in Finder so you can preview photos and documents and copy them to your Mac. Most personal files are in Desktop, Documents, and Pictures under Users\YourUserName.
- 4
Write when you need to
Start a 7-day free Pro trial or upgrade to Pro to write in Finder; click "Eject" before unplugging.
Where to find your BitLocker recovery key
Microsoft account
Personal PCs usually back up the recovery key to your Microsoft account; sign in at aka.ms/myrecoverykey to view it.
Printout or file
A printout saved when BitLocker was turned on, or a text file on a USB flash drive.
Company IT
For company-issued computers and USB drives, the IT department usually keeps the recovery key.
Q&A
Can a Mac open a BitLocker-encrypted drive?
Not on its own: macOS doesn't support BitLocker and reports the disk as unreadable. With CrossDriver NTFS (or All in One), unlock it with the password, the 48-digit recovery key, or a .BEK file. The free version browses and copies read-only; Pro can write.
Can the free version open BitLocker disks?
Yes. The free version can unlock BitLocker disks read-only so you can browse, preview, and copy files to your Mac; read-write access requires Pro, which you can try free for 7 days. BitLocker support is included—no add-on to buy.
Removed a Windows system drive and it asks for a recovery key?
A system drive protected only by TPM must be unlocked with the 48-digit recovery key once it's out of the original PC. See above for where to find it.
Forgot the password and can't find the recovery key?
Then it can't be unlocked. BitLocker is designed so that data can't be read without the password or recovery key, no matter which tool you use.
Windows Fast Startup is on and the disk is read-only?
After Windows Fast Startup or hibernation, the disk isn't fully shut down, so CrossDriver opens it read-only first to protect your data. Go back to Windows, hold Shift while clicking "Shut down," then connect the disk to your Mac again to write.
Can I save files straight back to the Windows drive?
Yes. With Pro (or during the 7-day trial), NTFS disks are readable and writable in Finder, and unlocked BitLocker disks can be written to as well.
Related products and guides
CrossDriver NTFS
Read, write, repair, and format NTFS, with BitLocker built in.
Mac can't write to an NTFS external drive
Mac can't write to an NTFS external drive: why, and three ways to fix it.
Mac external drive is read-only
Five reasons an external drive shows as read-only or "You can only read."
CrossDriver Omni
Read and write Windows and Linux disks, all in one app.
Windows drives work on your Mac, too
Download CrossDriver NTFS and open your Windows drive for free.
Download for Mac — Free preview