Connected my external hard drive to Mac, but it’s not showing up. Checked Disk Utility, it’s not there either. Need help figuring out why and how to fix it. Any suggestions on troubleshooting or resolving this issue will be appreciated.
Ever considered the possibility that your external hard drive is just outdated trash? Macs can be picky about hardware. If Disk Utility isn’t recognizing it, maybe it’s just not compatible. Try a different cable or port first. Still nothing?
You might want to check out Disk Drill for Mac, but don’t expect miracles. It has decent recovery tools but can be super slow at times and might not detect your drive if it’s totally bricked. If you wanna explore more tools, head over to this site: Top 10 Best Data Recovery Software for Mac (Including FREE).
But no software’s gonna help if your drive is ancient or physically damaged. So, you must weigh how much your data’s worth.
First thing you wanna consider is whether your hard drive is actually getting power. If it’s an external drive, make sure that any required power adapters are fully plugged in. And obviously, double-check that your USB cable is properly connected. Sometimes a bad cable can cause the drive to not be recognized, so if you have a spare, try swapping it out.
Assuming the drive is properly connected and powered, here are some troubleshooting steps you can follow:
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Check Finder Preferences: Open Finder, go to Preferences > General. Make sure “External disks” is checked under “Show these items on the desktop.” If it’s unchecked, your Mac may not display the drive on the desktop.
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Disk Utility: You’ve already checked Disk Utility, but let’s double-check. Open Disk Utility (Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility). In the left sidebar, your external drive should be listed. If it’s not, go to the “View” menu and choose “Show All Devices.” If it still doesn’t show up, it may indicate a hardware issue.
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Reset SMC and NVRAM:
- To reset the SMC, shut down your Mac, then press Shift + Control + Option on the left side of the keyboard and the power button at the same time. Hold these keys for 10 seconds. Release all keys, then press the power button to turn on your Mac.
- To reset NVRAM, shut down your Mac, turn it on, then immediately press and hold Option + Command + P + R. Hold these keys for about 20 seconds. This should reset the NVRAM.
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Try Terminal: Open Terminal (Applications > Utilities > Terminal) and type
diskutil list. This command will list all connected drives. If your external drive appears here but not in Disk Utility, you may have a mounting issue.- To manually mount, you can use
diskutil mountDisk /dev/diskX, replacingdiskXwith the identifier of your drive.
- To manually mount, you can use
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Check System Information: Go to the Apple menu > About This Mac > System Report… > USB (or Thunderbolt, depending on your connection). Check if the drive appears in the list of connected devices. If it does, but it’s still not showing in Finder, it’s likely a software issue.
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File System: If the drive uses a file system that macOS doesn’t recognize (like NTFS), the drive might not show up. You can check this in Disk Utility by clicking the drive and viewing the info. If it’s NTFS, you may need a third-party NTFS driver like Paragon NTFS for Mac or you could simply reformat the drive to exFAT using another computer.
If none of the above solutions work, it’s time to consider the possibility that the drive might be corrupted. One tool I’ve found incredibly useful for data recovery and troubleshooting is Disk Drill for Mac. It can help recover lost or corrupted data, and might even be able to re-detect your hard drive. Here is the link to download Disk Drill: Download Disk Drill (Mac).
To use Disk Drill:
- Download and install Disk Drill.
- Open Disk Drill, and see if it detects your external hard drive.
- If the drive is detected, you can run a recovery or a rebuild process on the file system.
Remember, if the drive is making clicking noises or other sounds, it could be a sign of mechanical failure. In such cases, it’s better to consult a professional data recovery service. They’re expensive, but can recover data from physically damaged drives.
Lastly, always ensure your macOS is up-to-date. Sometimes, an OS update can fix underlying recognition issues. Go to System Preferences > Software Update, and if an update is available, install it.
Hope this helps and you get your hard drive up and running again!
Wow, that’s really frustrating! Here’s a few steps that might help you figure out what’s going on:
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Check the Connections: Make sure your hard drive is properly connected to your Mac. Sometimes it’s the simplest things - a loose cable can cause all sorts of headaches.
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Power Up: If it’s an external drive with its own power supply, make sure it’s plugged in and turned on.
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Check System Information: Go to Applications > Utilities > System Information, then look under the USB section. If your drive shows up there, it’s at least getting power and connecting.
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Try Another Port/Cable: It could be the USB port or cable is faulty. Switch things around to rule out these issues.
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Format Problems: Your drive might be formatted in a way that your Mac doesn’t recognize. If you haven’t done this already, you might want to connect it to a Windows PC to see if it shows up there.
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Drive Failure: It’s possible that the drive itself has failed. In this case, you might need to use some recovery software.
Give Disk Drill a try if you think the drive might be corrupted but still accessible. It’s a great tool for Mac users. You can read up on the Disk Drill Review for more details: https://www.pandorarecovery.com/disk-drill-mac-review/
Hopefully, one of these steps helps! Good luck.
Ugh, dealing with the exact same issue! Damn Mac doesn’t recognize my external drive either. Tried EVERYTHING—restarting, different cables, other USB ports, nada. Even checked Disk Utility, and guess what? Invisible.
People keep recommending Disk Drill for Mac, but honestly, it hasn’t worked for me. Spent hours running scans, and it didn’t detect squat. Waste of time. 
Anyone got real advice that doesn’t involve black magic or premium software that doesn’t deliver? I’m so done with this.