Windows 10 desktop not opening 1TB WD My Passport. Even though it is NTFS and I can read the files on my Mac. When plugged in, file explorer takes a long time to load, some applications won't open, and the computer won't boot into Windows.
Summary
This page outlines a complete guide for you to fix WD My Passport access denied error and answers the most frequently asked questions on why unable to set new owner on My Passport, or how you take ownership of folders on an external hard drive, etc. You can start a data risk-free troubleshooting on access denied My Passport hard drive by using EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard.
WD My Passport access denied
'It seems that I can no longer access my files on WD My Passport external hard drive. I get the error message of access denied. The detailed information is in the screenshot. How to rectify the problem and get into the drive without losing data?'
If you can't access WD My Passport external hard drive due to access denied error, there's a huge possibility that you don't have permission to operate on the drive. It happens a lot in the situation when you connect the external HDD to a new desktop or laptop that requires permission to access data or files somewhere on it.
How to fix WD My Passport access denied Windows 10
![Passport Passport](https://discourse-cdn-sjc1.com/wd/uploads/default/optimized/3X/e/f/efdea5619c11a2e8912ff5302eb4db26bfe9a650_2_690x380.png)
When such an access denied error occurs, you're confronting a serious fact that you can no longer open the drive and view data there. So, it's urgent to find a way to remove the error for normal use.
To obtain permission in order to remove access denied on My Passport, follow the guide carefully:
Step 1. Connect WD drive to your PC, right-click on the WD My Passport external hard drive and select'Properties'.
Step 2. Click the 'Security' tab.
Step 3. At the bottom of the tab, next to 'For special permissions or advanced settings, click Advanced', you need to click the 'Advanced' button.
Step 4. Click the 'Change permissions' button.
Step 5. Click a permission entry so as to add, remove or edit the permission. Add a new user named 'Authenticated User' and click 'OK'. Give 'Full Control' to the newly added user from the permission section.
FAQs - How do I get rid of not being able to grant permission
I hope that the given solution has solved the access denied problem as expected. Just in case some of you are stuck in new issues arising from the access denied error, we collected the most frequently asked ones as examples. You can also find answers accordingly.
1. Add 'Authenticated User' didn't remove access denied error, why?
You need to make sure that you don't encrypt the hard drive with a password. Otherwise, simply use the password so you can easily obtain access to the encrypted hard drive. If it's not the matter of hard drive encryption, you can try the other two workarounds to solve the
- Back to Step 5. This time add a user named 'Everyone' with full control in the Security tab of the Properties window.
- Otherwise, try to clear the read only flag. You need to fix a read-only hard drive.
2. How do I fix folder access denied error on WD My Passport Ultra 1 TB external HDD?
Instead of the hard drive itself, sometimes you received the error message 'You need permission to perform this action' while trying to open a folder on it. As suggested, you need to take ownership of folders like this:
- Right-click on the folder and then click 'Properties'.
- Switch to the 'Security' tab and then 'Advanced'.
- Click 'Change' in the Owner section.
- Click your user name in the Name list and click 'OK'.
- Save all changes to apply permission and security changes.
3. How to recover data from WD My Passport access denied
The reasons behind the 'location not available, access denied' are not limited to the lack of permission, it also indicates that there is some problem with the hard drive that makes the hard drive inaccessible.
Disk formatting the commonly suggested way to repair corrupted file system issues and most of the time it works. But performing disk formatting will result in a total data loss, you shall consider data recovery before the formatting manner. You can feel no hesitate to recover data from inaccessible WD hard drive with the best Western Digital disk recovery software.
EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard, the specialized hard drive recovery software can help WD users access files and folders when My Passport encountered access denied error. Let it help safeguard data whenever WD hard drive detected but won't open.
Step 1. Launch EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard on your computer. Select the hard drive which becomes inaccessible on your PC. Click 'Scan' to let this program scan and find your hard drive data.
Step 2. After the scan, you can preview and check found files on the scanning result window. Click 'Filter' to quickly find a specific type of file. You can preview the file by double-clicking it.
Step 3. Finally, select the items you want to get back and click 'Recover'. Choose a secure location (second hard drive partition on your PC or another external storage device). And then click 'OK' to start recovering all lost data from your inaccessible hard drive.
Time Machine system requirements
Before using Time Machine, you need an external storage solution, sold separately:
- External hard drive connected to a USB, FireWire, or Thunderbolt port on your Mac
- Time Capsule or macOS Server on your network
- External hard drive connected to the USB port of an AirPort Extreme Base Station (802.11ac) on your network
If your backup drive isn't connected using one of these methods, Time Machine might not work. Check with the device manufacturer for compatibility and connection information.
If your setup meets these requirements, but you still can't use Time Machine, check these things:
Check your Mac
- Make sure that your Mac software is up to date.
- Restart your Mac and see if the issue continues.
Check your AirPort base station
- If you're using an AirPort Time Capsule or a drive connected to an AirPort Extreme Base Station, make sure that your AirPort firmware is up to date.
- Restart your base station and see if the issue continues. To restart, unplug the base station from AC power for 5 seconds, then plug it back in.
Check your network connection
If you back up to a server, AirPort Time Capsule, or drive connected to your AirPort Extreme Base Station, make sure that your Mac is connected to the same network as your backup drive. You can select your wireless network from the Wi-Fi status menu.
Check your backup
![My Passport For Mac Won My Passport For Mac Won](https://brain-images-ssl.cdn.dixons.com/2/7/10175272/l_10175272_003.jpg)
If you back up to a server, AirPort Time Capsule, or drive connected to your AirPort Extreme Base Station, make sure that your current Time Machine backup doesn't have any issues that could prevent further backups:
- While holding down the Option key on your keyboard, click the Time Machine menu in the menu bar, then choose Verify Backups.
- If Time Machine finds an issue with your backup, it displays a message with details. Follow the onscreen instructions.
Check your drives
- If you're using a drive connected to a port on your Mac or AirPort Extreme Base Station, make sure that the drive is turned on.
- If you're using a USB hub or a similar device, try connecting the drive directly to your Mac or base station.
- If you're backing up to an external third-party drive, check with the drive manufacturer to make sure the drive's firmware is up to date.
- If you're backing up to an external drive, check the formatting of the drive. Time Machine requires that an external drive be formatted like a Mac startup disk: Mac OS Extended (Journaled) with a GUID Partition Table (GPT). If you select a differently formatted drive for use with Time Machine, your Mac automatically prompts you to erase it for Time Machine.
Reformatting a disk erases all data stored on the disk, so you might want to move important files to another disk first.
If your drive is already formatted correctly, turn off Time Machine, then check it for problems:
- To check the drive of an AirPort Time Capsule, follow the steps to verify an AirPort Time Capsule drive.
- To check an external drive connected to your Mac, open Disk Utility from the Utilities folder of your Applications folder. Then use the First Aid feature in Disk Utility to verify your disk. Do this for your startup disk as well.
You can turn Time Machine back on after your drives are verified or repaired successfully.