Unable to create a new folder on external hard drive

[JohnE121]

I have been a Mac owner for 3 days now and I am unable to create a new folder or move files onto my external drive. I used the disk utility to create and APFS volume which seems to be the preferred type for the newer machines. I set Time Machine up to use this volume and every thing is working fine with it. I decided that I would also like to store some files on this drive. When I used Finder and select this drive the "New Folder" option is unavailable under the Edit menu. Are there additional step I need to perform in order to use this drive for file storage? Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

 

[0128672]

What's needed is to add a volume via Disk Utility to your external drive so that you can use it for non-Time Machine files too.

Here's an explanation from MacWorld:

"You can share the Time Machine container with volumes that aren’t being used for backups. Apple notes in its Big Sur guide on a page describing the kinds of disk formats supported with Time Machine that the backup requires the whole “disk.” This appears to be an error: Apple really means that the disk can only have a single container, which occupies the entire disk. The Time Machine backup, however, takes place to a single volume in that container.

You can’t access the Time Machine volume directly through the Finder and store other kinds of data on it, but Apple states you can add a volume in the same container. This volume will contain regular data, and can be used independently of the volume assigned the Backup role."

(https://www.macworld.com/article/36...atted-drives-but-there-are-a-few-catches.html)

Here's the steps I did to create the new volume:

1. Connect your external drive connected so that you can see it in a Finder window sidebar.
2. Go to Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility.
3. Select your external drive in the list.
4. On the right side of Disk Utility above the graphs, you'll see a Volume +-. Tap on plus to add the volume. You'll be presented with format and size options. I went with APFS and 10GB to test it.
5. The new volume will be created within seconds, and you can close Disk Utility. You should see it mounted in the Finder window sidebar below your Time Machine volume.

From there you can simply drag files to that new volume.

Hope this helps!

 

[JohnE121]

What's needed is to add a volume via Disk Utility to your external drive so that you can use it for non-Time Machine files too.

Here's an explanation from MacWorld:

"You can share the Time Machine container with volumes that aren’t being used for backups. Apple notes in its Big Sur guide on a page describing the kinds of disk formats supported with Time Machine that the backup requires the whole “disk.” This appears to be an error: Apple really means that the disk can only have a single container, which occupies the entire disk. The Time Machine backup, however, takes place to a single volume in that container.

You can’t access the Time Machine volume directly through the Finder and store other kinds of data on it, but Apple states you can add a volume in the same container. This volume will contain regular data, and can be used independently of the volume assigned the Backup role."

(https://www.macworld.com/article/36...atted-drives-but-there-are-a-few-catches.html)

Here's the steps I did to create the new volume:

1. Connect your external drive connected so that you can see it in a Finder window sidebar.
2. Go to Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility.
3. Select your external drive in the list.
4. On the right side of Disk Utility above the graphs, you'll see a Volume +-. Tap on plus to add the volume. You'll be presented with format and size options. I went with APFS and 10GB to test it.
5. The new volume will be created within seconds, and you can close Disk Utility. You should see it mounted in the Finder window sidebar below your Time Machine volume.

From there you can simply drag files to that new volume.

Hope this helps!

That worked! Thank you very much, I really appreciate your help.

 

[Mike49]

This is exactly what I needed. Thank you JohnE121!

 

[iBossMD]

What's needed is to add a volume via Disk Utility to your external drive so that you can use it for non-Time Machine files too.

Here's an explanation from MacWorld:

"You can share the Time Machine container with volumes that aren’t being used for backups. Apple notes in its Big Sur guide on a page describing the kinds of disk formats supported with Time Machine that the backup requires the whole “disk.” This appears to be an error: Apple really means that the disk can only have a single container, which occupies the entire disk. The Time Machine backup, however, takes place to a single volume in that container.

You can’t access the Time Machine volume directly through the Finder and store other kinds of data on it, but Apple states you can add a volume in the same container. This volume will contain regular data, and can be used independently of the volume assigned the Backup role."

(https://www.macworld.com/article/36...atted-drives-but-there-are-a-few-catches.html)

Here's the steps I did to create the new volume:

1. Connect your external drive connected so that you can see it in a Finder window sidebar.
2. Go to Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility.
3. Select your external drive in the list.
4. On the right side of Disk Utility above the graphs, you'll see a Volume +-. Tap on plus to add the volume. You'll be presented with format and size options. I went with APFS and 10GB to test it.
5. The new volume will be created within seconds, and you can close Disk Utility. You should see it mounted in the Finder window sidebar below your Time Machine volume.

From there you can simply drag files to that new volume.

Hope this helps!

This was really helpful for me. Thank you! 👏🏼

 

[Negativvve]

Hello
I didn't have active +-
Ventura 13.2

 

[springmil]

What's needed is to add a volume via Disk Utility to your external drive so that you can use it for non-Time Machine files too.

Here's an explanation from MacWorld:

"You can share the Time Machine container with volumes that aren’t being used for backups. Apple notes in its Big Sur guide on a page describing the kinds of disk formats supported with Time Machine that the backup requires the whole “disk.” This appears to be an error: Apple really means that the disk can only have a single container, which occupies the entire disk. The Time Machine backup, however, takes place to a single volume in that container.

You can’t access the Time Machine volume directly through the Finder and store other kinds of data on it, but Apple states you can add a volume in the same container. This volume will contain regular data, and can be used independently of the volume assigned the Backup role."

(https://www.macworld.com/article/36...atted-drives-but-there-are-a-few-catches.html)

Here's the steps I did to create the new volume:

1. Connect your external drive connected so that you can see it in a Finder window sidebar.
2. Go to Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility.
3. Select your external drive in the list.
4. On the right side of Disk Utility above the graphs, you'll see a Volume +-. Tap on plus to add the volume. You'll be presented with format and size options. I went with APFS and 10GB to test it.
5. The new volume will be created within seconds, and you can close Disk Utility. You should see it mounted in the Finder window sidebar below your Time Machine volume.

From there you can simply drag files to that new volume.

Hope this helps!

OMG, thank you! This did the trick.