Why Is an External Hard Drive Not Showing Up on Mac [macOS 13/12/11]

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Jaden· Answered on Apr 16, 2024

Because the external hard drive is formatted in an unsupported format by macOS, such as NTFS, HFS+, or another, your external hard drive cannot be read on a Mac. Thus, the most frequent problem is improper drive formatting. You'll need to use Disk Utility to format your drive differently in this situation. Other causes could be a wrong power source, a defective cable, or a corrupted or damaged drive.

Another potential explanation for the external drive's failure to be detected by your Mac is a frayed or loosely attached USB cord. To resolve the problem, replace the cable. If your Mac cannot recognize the external hard drive, try carefully plugging it in. Older external drives with USB 2.0 ports have a design issue that necessitates a slow connection.

The file system issue is the most apparent cause of your external hard drive's detection but unable to be opened. If your industry is experiencing similar problems, you can use First-Aid to attempt a self-healing solution and regain access to your files.

The First-Aid utility will examine the disk for faults and make any necessary repairs afterward. It aids in the verification and repair of several problems connected to startup HD and external drive troubles. Your files should be recoverable if you can use Disk Utility to repair the hard drive or SanDisk SSD not showing up on Mac.

First-Aid can be used on an external hard drive by:

• Activate Disk Utility.
• You can look it up using Spotlight or Finder - Go - Utilities.
• To launch diagnostics, choose your external hard drive, go to the First-Aid page, and click "Run".

You will need to recover data from a damaged disk drive if you follow all the steps to fix the external hard drive not showing up on your Mac and your dream is broken or formatted with a file system that the Mac cannot read.

The most effective Mac data recovery software, EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac, can help. Powerful enough to recover deleted files from camera cards, external hard disks, USB drives, and Macs that have been lost or misplaced for a long time.