By following these steps, you should be able to resolve the "drive has been locked" error and successfully create your bootable macOS media in TransMac. The best free partition tools to clean stubborn drives.
By understanding what causes this error and following these systematic troubleshooting steps, you can quickly resolve the issue and get back to managing your Mac drives from Windows.
DiskPart is a Windows command-line tool that can forcibly remove a drive’s mount point, breaking any lingering lock.
By default, TransMac may open drives in read-only mode for safety. If you need full access, especially when creating bootable drives:
TransMac requires absolute, low-level exclusive access to a storage device to write DMG files or format a drive into the Mac-standard APFS or HFS+ file systems. The error occurs because another process running in the background of your Windows PC has already claimed a handle on that drive. Common culprits include: transmac drive has been locked by another program hot
Another program or Windows itself has flagged the disk as active or in use.
No, the trial version does not lock drives. However, it is restricted to read-only access. This is a common point of confusion, as users may try to write to a drive and see an error. You need the full version for complete read/write functionality.
: Services like OneDrive or Dropbox scan newly connected external media for media backups, locking the partition.
The error "Drive has been locked by another program" indicates that another process on your Windows system is currently using your drive, preventing TransMac from accessing it. This is often a software lock rather than a hardware defect. By following these steps, you should be able
If the drive remains locked, a specific system process is actively gripping the device.
If the error persists, one of the following deeper conflicts is likely occurring.
Your antivirus software or a corrupted TransMac installation can sometimes block disk access.
Download and open (a free Microsoft utility). Click Find in the top menu, then select Find Handle or DLL . DiskPart is a Windows command-line tool that can
Shut down the Windows Disk Management utility if open.
Before diving into solutions, it’s crucial to understand that TransMac operates at a low level. It bypasses Windows’ native file system drivers to read HFS+ and APFS. When Windows (or another background program) claims ownership of the disk—even if just for scanning, indexing, or quick access—TransMac cannot obtain the necessary permissions to write or modify the drive.
Windows File Explorer constantly attempts to read plugged-in devices. If it is stuck trying to understand a Mac-formatted partition, it locks the drive. and File Explorer windows. Unplug the USB drive, wait 5 seconds, and plug it back in.