If you are encountering this error, here is a review of the solutions ranked by effectiveness:
Sometimes TransMac struggles to overwrite a drive that contains an active NTFS partition. Formatting the drive to a neutral format first can break the lock. Open in File Explorer. Right-click your USB drive and select Format . Change the File System dropdown to exFAT or FAT32 .
Windows might be restricting TransMac’s access to the hardware. Right-click the shortcut. Select Run as administrator . 3. Use Windows Disk Management to "Offline" the Drive Transmac Drive Has Been Locked By Another Program
If you cannot resolve the lock, many users find success with balenaEtcher , which often handles drive locking more effectively when flashing DMG or ISO files.
A lightweight utility that integrates into the right-click menu. If you are encountering this error, here is
: Right-click the TransMac icon (on your desktop or in the Start Menu) and select "Run as Administrator" . This is perhaps the single most effective fix. For a permanent solution, right-click the icon, select Properties → Compatibility tab → check "Run this program as an administrator" .
The Windows Search service automatically indexes newly connected drives so you can search files faster. This indexing process can lock the drive right when TransMac needs it. Press to open the Run dialog box. Type services.msc and press Enter . Scroll down the list to find Windows Search . Right-click Windows Search and select Stop . Right-click your USB drive and select Format
Type select disk X (replace X with your actual USB drive number) and press Enter. Type clean and press Enter.
This error appears when you try to perform an operation (like restoring a DMG, formatting a drive, or writing an image) and Transmac informs you that it cannot access the drive because some other software on your Windows PC has an exclusive lock on it.
This process deletes all data on the selected USB drive. Ensure you select the correct drive number.