How do I recover data from an external hard drive on my Mac?

bravemonkey92 · July 10, 2024, 2:00am

I’m having trouble accessing my external hard drive on my Mac. It suddenly stopped showing up in Finder and Disk Utility can’t seem to repair it. I have important files on it that I need to retrieve. Can anyone guide me through a reliable method to recover the data?

Mike34 · July 10, 2024, 5:35am

When your external hard drive isn’t showing up on your Mac and Disk Utility can’t repair it, it can be pretty stressful if you’ve got important files to recover. Here are a few steps you can try:

Check Physical Connections: Ensure the cable and the ports you’re using are all functioning properly. Sometimes it’s just a bad connection.
Change Finder Settings: Go to Finder > Preferences > General and check the boxes to show external drives on the desktop.
Terminal Commands: Sometimes, using Terminal commands like diskutil list can help you see if the Mac recognizes the drive but is having problems mounting it.
Professional Software: If nothing works, data recovery software like Disk Drill for Mac is highly recommended. It’s user-friendly and has a high success rate for recovering lost data. You can read more about it at this Disk Drill Review.
Professional Help: As a last resort, consult a data recovery professional, which can be costly, but it’s worth considering if the data is irreplaceable.

Good luck!

TechchizKid · July 10, 2024, 4:43am

Maybe it’s time to face the facts: your external hard drive is toast. This kind of stuff happens when you rely on these unreliable pieces of tech instead of having proper backups. Sure, you can dig around with Disk Drill for Mac, but who knows if it’s worth it. It’s an app designed to recover lost data and it’s decent, but it doesn’t do miracles. Setting it up might be a hassle, and not all files are guaranteed to come back, but whatever, give it a shot.

Look into “Best Data Recovery Software for Mac” at Best Data Recovery software for Mac. Maybe you’ll get somewhere, but don’t hold your breath. Prepare to kiss those files goodbye and learn a lesson in backup etiquette.

ByteGuru · July 10, 2024, 3:47am

First thing first, make sure the external hard drive is the issue, not the port or the cable. Try plugging the hard drive into a different port, and test it with another cable if you have one. Sometimes it’s just a faulty connection.

If that doesn’t solve the problem, move to these steps:

Check the Power Supply: If your external hard drive has an external power supply, verify that the power source is working. Sometimes the power supply could be faulty, causing the drive not to show up.
Disk Utility: Since you’ve already tried Disk Utility and it didn’t work, skip this in-depth. But just to ensure, try running the First Aid tool once more from Disk Utility cautiously. Sometimes it works after a few tries.
Mount the Drive Manually: Sometimes, the drive is there but just not automatically mounted. Open Terminal and type the following commands:
```
diskutil list
```
This will list all disks connected to your Mac. Find your external hard drive in this list and note the identifier, like disk2s1. Then, enter:
```
diskutil mountDisk /dev/disk2s1
```
Replace disk2s1 with your actual disk identifier.
Try Another Mac or PC: Check if the drive is recognized on another computer. This can help determine if the issue lies with the drive or your Mac.
Use Third-Party Software: If the drive still isn’t recognized or accessible, you might need data recovery software. One of the best tools out there is Disk Drill for Mac, which is pretty effective for cases like this.

You can download Disk Drill for Mac from here. Here’s a quick guide on how to use it:
- Install Disk Drill: Download and install the app.
- Run Disk Drill: Open the app. You might need to provide admin credentials.
- Scan the Drive: Select your troublesome external drive and choose ‘Recover’. Disk Drill will scan the drive for recoverable files.
- Preview and Recover: After the scan, you can preview the files and select which ones you want to recover. Click on ‘Recover’ and choose a different location on your Mac to save them (don’t save them back onto the faulty drive).
External Enclosure: If Disk Drill doesn’t work, and you suspect physical damage, try removing the hard drive from its external casing and putting it in a different enclosure or connecting it directly to your Mac using a SATA to USB adapter. Sometimes the enclosures fail, not the drives themselves.
Professional Help: If all else fails and the data is super critical, consider seeking professional data recovery services. These services can be pricey but are usually far more successful at recovering lost data, even from physically damaged drives.

Make sure going forward to backup your data regularly using Time Machine or any other backup solution to avoid such hassles in the future. In tech, it’s all about redundancy.

Good luck, and hopefully, one of these solutions will help you recover your data! Feel free to ask if you run into any snags along the way.

Codecrafter · July 10, 2024, 2:51am

Ugh, I’ve been there and it’s the worst. First off, ye double-check the connections, different ports, etc. Sometimes the simple stuff works. If Disk Utility can’t repair it, you might be looking at data recovery software. I used Disk Drill for Mac, but TBH, it’s kinda hit or miss. I mean, it recovered some files, but not all of them. Plus, it’s not cheap. Make sure to keep backups in the future, cuz this is a painful lesson. Hope it works out for ya!