How to Find External Hard Drive on Mac In Case It's Working but Not Showing Up
Many Mac users rely on external hard drives for file transfer and data backup, and some may struggle to find them after connecting. If you're new to macOS or your external drive isn't showing up on your Mac desktop or Finder, don't worry - this post is here to help. We'll guide you through finding your external hard drive that's not detected by your Mac.
| Workable Solutions | Step-by-step Troubleshooting |
|---|---|
| 1. Find and Locate a Drive |
1. On macOS/Mac OS X desktop...Full steps 2. In the finder application...Full steps |
|
2. External Hard Drive Not Showing up |
1. Repair hard drive error with Disk Utility...Full steps 2. Format hard drive with a recognizable ...Full steps |
Case 1. For New Mac Users - How to Find and Locate a Drive?
New Mac users often struggle with navigating the exclusive design of Apple's products, including the user interface, operating system, and display arrangement. One common issue they face is finding an external storage device they've connected to their Mac. Unlike Windows, where external hard drives can be easily located in the File Explorer under "This PC", Mac users may find it challenging to locate their external storage device, making it difficult to access their files and perform daily tasks.
macOS displays an external drive in various locations, making it easy for users to access. Whether you're new to Mac or just want to understand how your Mac recognizes connected drives, you can find external disks and volumes in several places, including [list locations].
- Tip: How to Connect an External Hard Drive on Mac
- To connect an external hard drive to your Macbook Pro, use the USB cable to connect the drive to an open port on the Mac, usually found along each side. If your drive uses a different connection type, such as Thunderbolt or FireWire, ensure you use the correct port and obtain an adapter if necessary.
Option 1. On macOS/Mac OS X desktop
Once you connect a drive to your Mac, it should appear on your desktop with an icon of a USB or Thunderbolt, indicating that it's ready for use.
Option 2. In the Finder application
The Finder, with a smiley face icon, serves as the gateway to all your files, apps, downloads, and drives on your Mac. Alternatively, you can also find connected devices within the Finder, under the "Devices" section.
Case 2. For External Hard Drive Not Showing up on Mac
Many Mac users may not see their external drive on the desktop or in the Finder app, even if it's properly formatted and connected, suggesting a potential issue that requires a fix to make it recognizable by the Mac.
If you don't see a connected device on your Mac, it can be a serious issue, as you won't be able to transfer files, save data, or make backups. However, unless the hard drive has been severely damaged due to physical trauma, water or fire damage, or is too old or has too many bad sectors, it's likely repairable. By following the basic to advanced troubleshooting steps outlined, you may be able to resolve the issue.
If your Mac can't see the hard drive, try booting from an external drive, resetting the System Management Controller (SMC) and the power management unit (PMU), and running a disk utility to check for errors and repair the drive. If these steps don't work, you may need to reinstall macOS or take further action.
- Try the other USB port on your Mac to exclude the factor of the USB port not working issue.
- Try to connect the external HDD, USB drive or SD card to another Mac computer to see if it's showing up. If it doesn't appear on the other Mac, it could be a problem with the drive itself, rather than the original Mac.
- Remove all other peripherals connected to your Mac, leaving only the external hard drive connected.
- The solution is to reboot your Mac and reconnect the external hard drive several times. This simple process can help resolve any connectivity issues and ensure that your Mac recognizes the external drive.
- To show external devices on the desktop in Finder, go to Finder > Preferences > General tab, and tick the box to enable showing external disks.
70% of Mac users can resolve the issue by applying basic troubleshooting steps, but for those with more complex problems, advanced solutions are available.
Deep Data Recovery for Mac
- Extract data from an inaccessible hard drive on Mac
- Recover lost or deleted files, documents, photos, audio, music, emails, and other data with ease, using effective recovery tools and techniques that can help you retrieve your valuable digital content.
- To access files on an external hard drive that's not showing up on your Mac, try scanning for the drive in the Disk Utility app, which can often help it appear. If that doesn't work, you can try previewing the drive's contents by right-clicking on the drive in the Finder and selecting "Preview Contents.
Fix 1. Repair Hard Drive Error with Disk Utility
If your connected hard drive is not showing up on your Mac, the built-in repair tool "Disk Utility" can be helpful. To troubleshoot, start by running Disk Utility, which can often repair the issue on its own. If not, try restarting your Mac, then reconnecting the hard drive.
Step 1. To access Disk Utility, click on the Finder icon in the dock, then select Applications and click on Utilities, and finally open Disk Utility.
Step 2. There are two situations when you opened the Disk Utility.
- 1. If the Mount option is valid and not grayed out, expand the View option and select Show All Devices. Locate the external hard drive that is currently not visible, then click the Mount button at the top. This should allow you to see the drive in Finder and access its files.
- 2. If the external hard drive is already mounted, you can't use the Unmount option. Instead, go to Disk Utility, select the external drive from the left sidebar, click on First Aid, and then click Run. This will attempt to repair the drive. The process may take some time, and you'll receive a result indicating whether the drive was successfully repaired or if the repair failed.
Fix 2. Format Hard drive with a Recognizable File System
To use an external storage drive on a Mac, it must be formatted with a macOS-compatible file format, such as APFS or HFS+. If formatted with NTFS, the drive will become read-only on a Mac, preventing changes to files.
If your external hard drive isn't appearing as expected, it might be a file system issue. Ensure the drive is formatted with a file system that macOS recognizes, such as APFS, HFS+, FAT, or ExFAT. This should resolve the issue.
Since the hard drive with the wrong file system is not visible on Mac, you'll need to format it to ExFAT, a compatible file system for both Windows and macOS, using a PC or a third-party disk formatting tool.
If you prefer a macOS-You can format your external hard drive to a single file system, such as ExFAT, which can be read and written by both Mac and Windows computers, and then use the Disk Utility's Erase option on your Mac to format the ExFAT hard drive.
Extra Tip: How to Recover Data from Not Showing External Hard Drive on Mac
When you need to format a disk on your Mac, the process will erase all data on the disk in order for the format to take effect. There are several situations where you might require a Mac data recovery solution, often due to issues with external hard drives.
- Format an external HDD, USB flash drive or SD card without backup.
- If your external hard drive is not showing up on your Mac desktop, try restarting your Mac, as sometimes a simple reboot can resolve the issue. If it still doesn't appear, check the USB port and cable connections to ensure they are secure.
- If an external hard drive is detected but not showing files or folders, it's likely due to a compatibility issue, file system corruption, or a problem with the drive's connection. Try checking the drive's file system and formatting it if necessary.
Download Deep Data Recovery for Mac, a tool that may help you recover lost data from a problematic hard drive, allowing you to possibly get back the desired information whenever you need it.
Step 1. Connect your external hard drive to your Mac, then launch Deep Data Recovery for Mac. Choose the file types you want to recover and click "Next" to begin the process.
Step 2. Select the external disk and click "Scan" to let the software search lost files on it.
Step 3. After scanning, all files will be shown in the left panel of the scan results.
Step 4. Select the files you want to recover and click the "Recover" button, but avoid saving the recoverable files to the external hard drive to prevent data overwriting.
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