External hard drives are not only important for their data storing capability but also for their portability function. Whenever you connect your external hard drive or USB to your Mac computer it shows up not only on the desktop but also in the Finder menu on the left-hand side under Locations or Devices.
When external hard drive issue occurs, an external hard drive is not showing files though they still exist. If any important data is in the USB/external hard drive when external hard drive shows up in Disk Management but not File Explorer, you can employ data recovery to retrieve your data before formatting it. Highly fragmented hard drives might mean not all files can be retrieved, but given enough time, most will get there in the end. It can be a time consuming process to piece the bits of files back.
If you have found that the external hard drive is not showing up on Mac then, the problem could be due to various reasons like the external hard drive or USB corruption, faulty USB connector, hidden drive, physical damage to the drive, improper formatting, etc.
Regardless of the reasons for the issue of external hard drive not showing up on Mac, by following the proven methods given below you can fix it with ease.
Best free disc cleaner for mac. Maybe you just picked up a new external hard drive, DVD or CD device, server, or even memory stick to use with your Mac. Being able to see these external devices and their contents is obviously important. And the most convenient place to access them is in the Finder Sidebar. This short tutorial walks you through how to show external drives on. Connect the external hard drive that is not showing files to your Mac. Select the external hard drive, then click Scan to start scanning for lost files. You need to wait for the scan to finish. If you have a large number of files, this could be quite a while. The software will give a real-time list of discovered files. If files in external hard drive disappearing is the result of corrupted file system, you can follow the steps given below to run Check Disk tool. In File Explorer, right-click the external hard drive and navigate to “ Prosperities ” “ Tools ” “ Check ”. After checking, the files and folders on external hard drive might appear.
Here is a complete guide on what to do if Mac does not recognize the external hard drive. And also find out how to safely recover data from external hard drive not showing up on Mac using the Remo Recover tool.
The first and foremost thing to do after your external hard drive doesn’t show up on Mac is to check if the external hard disk is properly connected to the Mac or not. Once, it is confirmed that the external hard drive is properly connected to your Mac, then your Mac will easily recognize the external hard drive and the data present on it or else move on to the next method.
Plug-in the unrecognized external hard drive to a different USB port of your Mac system to check for any hardware issues. It might look like child's play but inserting an external hard disk to other USB port can help you understand whether the issue is pertaining to the hard drive failure or USB cable.
If there is an issue with the USB cable or HDMI cable connecting your external hard drive to Mac then, it is obvious that external hard drive won’t show up. If your MacBook such as MacBook Pro or MacBook Air is having USB-C or Thunderbolt 3 ports then, you need to make use of USB-C to USB adapter to connect the external hard drive to your Mac.
Fixing the damaged USB cable becomes a priority to connect your external hard disk to the Mac system. You can easily figure out the issue by making use of a different USB cable to connect your external hard drive with a Mac computer.
In case, if you still find out that the external hard drive is not showing up on Mac despite using different USB cables then, it can be resolved by changing the preference settings on Mac.
But before you move on to the next method, try to restart your Mac computer once.
Resetting a Mac computer can reboot a few system settings to its default and ensure any issue with respect to it is resolved. To Restart your Mac computer,
Go to the Apple menu and click Restart. (or) Press and hold the power key until a dialog box displays and hit the Restart or press R key.
One of the reasons for Mac not recognizing your external hard drive is due to Show Preference settings. If you have not allowed your Mac to find the external hard disk in the preference setting then, your Mac computer won’t show up external hard disk on the desktop. To allow your Mac to show up an external hard drive, follow the below steps to edit preference setting;
If this setting is already setup or your external hard drive is still not showing up on the Mac desktop after the above changes then, here is what it is recommended for you.
In most of cases, the above-mentioned tips will help you resolve the issue of external hard drive not showing on Mac desktop or Finder menu. Despite performing the above steps if the external hard drive does not show up on Mac then, continue reading the further section.
If you still find your Mac not recognizing hard drive then, try connecting the external hard disk to a different Mac system, sometimes there might be a problem with your Mac computer itself.
(It is recommended to perform this method to run first aid utility to fix external hard disk only after performing the above methods.)
Make use of the Disk utility function to check if your external hard drive is showing up or not and fix some common USB or external hard drive errors on Mac.
With the help of the above method, you can easily repair the minor external hard drive errors to mount it on the Mac computer to access data from it. In case, if the first aid utility fails to repair the external hard drive or SSD, this indicates the following reasons;
ExFAT and FAT32 are the two most common file systems that can be easily supported by both Windows and Mac operating systems.
The only method available to fix this issue of external hard drive not showing up on Mac is to format the crashed external drive on Mac using exFAT, FAT32, HFS+, or APFS, etc. Best mac ftp client 2018.
Note: It is recommended to copy all your external hard drive data by connecting it to you a Windows computer if it is visible on it. In case, if the external hard drive is neither showing up on Widows computer due to severe malfunction. Then, the below method can help it.
Utilize Remo Recover Mac, a specialized data recovery tool designed to recover data from an external hard drive that is corrupt, unreadable, or inaccessible on Mac devices. With the help of advanced scanning algorithms, the tool safely recovers data from external hard drive not showing up on Mac. The tool also supports data recovery of more than 300 file types such as photos, videos, PDF files, audio files, raw-images, excel files, etc. Download this tool now!
Download and install Remo Recover (Mac) software > Launch the tool and click on Recover Volumes/ Drives > choose Volume Recovery > Select the external hard drive to be recovered > click on Advance Scan > Select the files which you want to recover and click Save button to restore the data on any location of your choice.
Before you reformat your external hard drive on Mac to fix the issue of not showing external hard drive on Mac, it is suggested to recover data from it using the Remo Recover Mac tool.
However, by formatting the drive you would lose all the data on the disk. Hence, you would have to recover the data from the drive. Mac open access database. A professional data recovery software like Remo Recover Mac recover files from the external hard drive, it even works with the latest macOS Big Sur.
In most cases, selecting External disks under Show these items on the desktop fixes the issue. However, if the issue is related to the external hard drive corruption then, it requires formatting the drive with compatible Mac file systems like exFAT or APFS.
Remo Recover Mac, not only recovers data from corrupt external hard drive on Mac but also recovers data from formatted internal and external devices like external hard drive, SSD, USB, memory card, etc.
Summary: In this blog, we’ll share different methods to address the ‘external hard drive not showing up on Mac’ issue on macOS Big Sur, Catalina and other lower versions. The methods we’ll cover are:
1. Check USB connectivity
2. Enable visibility of external hard drive
3. Update macOS
4. Repair external hard drive by using Disk Utility
5. Repair external hard drive by using Terminal
6. Erase the external hard drive
7. Replace the external hard drive
Download the free-to-try Mac data recovery software to recover your lost data from external hard drive on Mac.
“Hi friends, when I connected my 2 TB Seagate external hard drive after a long time on my MacBook Air (running on macOS Big Sur or Catalina), the drive did not show up in Desktop or Finder sidebar. This drive has all my important digital memories. Could anyone please help me out to recover my data from the drive? Thanks.”
When you connect an external hard drive to your Mac running on macOS Big Sur or Catalina, the storage drive may not show up on Desktop, Finder, or even on the Disk Utility app due to several reasons.
The next sections describe multiple troubleshooting methods to fix the ‘external drive not showing up on Mac’ issue on macOS.
Your external hard drive may not be connected properly to the USB port present on your MacBook Air, iMac, or Mac mini. Try the following steps:
In macOS Big Sur or Catalina, you need to enable the visibility of external disks. For setting your preferences, do the following:
Try updating your macOS Big Sur or Catalina to fix subtle issues of external hard drive connectivity. But before that, back up your Macintosh HD by using Time Machine to avoid any data loss. Ensure your Time Machine drive is connected to your Mac. Go to Time Machine > Back Up Now. Once the backup is taken, perform the following steps to update your macOS.
When your Mac is not recognizing the external hard drive, use Disk Utility to mount and repair the unrecognized external drive. Steps are as follows:
When Disk Utility can’t repair your external hard drive, use your Terminal application available in macOS to mount and repair the affected drive. Steps are as follows:
In case the external drive’s data is not accessible due to file system corruption, you can still recover the data by using a data recovery software for Mac.
Watch the video—Implementing Stellar Data Recovery Professional for Mac to Recover Unmounted External Drive on Mac.
After recovering the inaccessible data, erase the drive by using Disk Utility to fix any logical issues. Finally, restore the recovered data to the external hard drive.
If your external hard drive is not visible in Disk Utility even if you have chosen the Show All Devices option in the View tab, then the drive may have undergone physical damage. You need to replace the inoperative drive with a new one.
Note: To recover data from a dead hard drive, get in touch with a data recovery service provider.
The blog highlighted common reasons with troubleshooting strategies to resolve ‘external hard drive not showing up on Mac’ issue. To perform any critical troubleshooting process, back up your drive. In case of data loss, do not lose hope. Recover your lost data by using a Stellar Data Recovery Professional for macOS Big Sur, Catalina or earlier. The Mac data recovery software supports a variety of storage devices including external hard drives formatted with APFS, HFS+, HFS, NTFS, FAT, and ex-FAT file systems. The software is available for a free trial.
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