Mac Doesn T See External Hard Drive

Mac computer doesn't recognize external hard drive may also caused by the dead USB port. If your portable hard drive doesn't connect with Mac computer properly, of course, the it won't show up. Partition Issue. If the box is checked, move on to fix the external hard drive not showing up on Mac. Mount the Drive in Finder If you think the drive works fine, let us see if we can manually attach it to macOS. Hi, all my USB drives and external hard drive are not being recognized after updating to MacOS Catalina. They cannot be mounted as well using Disk Utilities. I'm using MacBook Pro 2015. Please help to address this issue asap. Make Sure It's Plugged In and Powered On. I know, I know, but hear me out: just because you.

1. Mac External Drive Not Showing
2. Pc Won't Recognize External Hard Drive
3. External Drive Won't Mount Mac

By Nathan E. Malpass, Last updated: August 8, 2020

I use an external hard disk drive in order to save most of my pictures, videos, and music. I store my documents in my external hard drive too. The problem right now is I'm connecting my external Hard drive on my MacBook Pro but it's not showing up. How do I fix this?

~External HDD User

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Part I: Why isn't my external hard drive showing up mac

You might be panicking right now because your external hard drive cannot be recognized by your Mac device. But you really don't have to go crazy.

Most likely, nothing has happened to your files within the external Hard drive. All of it will still be intact within the storage device. But, whatever the reason may be, you simply cannot access these data.

Lucky for you, there are methods you can implement in order for your Mac device to recognize the external Hard Dick Drive and keep you back on your feet. Let's get started on why your external hard drive or flash drive isn't showing up on your Mac device.

Part II: Reasons For Disk External Hard Drive Not Showing Up On A Mac Device

There are cases wherein you plugged your external hard drive or flash drive on your Mac and the device cannot recognize it. This could be caused by a broken cable or a faulty USB port. Before you delve into some methods for troubleshooting your system, you should begin with the basics first.

First, you have to make sure that the external hard drive is really plugged into the device. It might not be plugged properly. After which you have to notice the structure of your USB connector. Is it damaged? Is it misshapen? Ensure that the cable is in perfect condition. There might be exposed wires or it might be frayed.

If you plug your external hard drive into an outlet, you should try a different one. It might be the wall outlet that's faulty. You can also try using another USB cable. The USB cable might be broken even though it's not obvious or physically damaged.

You can also opt to plug the external hard drive to another Mac device. If it works on other Mac devices, your USB ports on the previous Mac might be broken. There might be cases wherein your hard disk drive is formatted to work on Windows computers.

That's why you should test it out on a laptop or computer with Windows in it. It might be possible that your external hard drive is formatted to work on Windows PCs and not on Mac devices.

Another thing you can do is to simply turn off your Mac device and turning it on again. Simple rebooting can do wonders on your Mac. You can also try to reboot USB drives.

First, turn off your Mac device, after which, restart it. While in the process of restarting, hold the keys CMD + P + R + Option. Release the said keys when a sound comes up and the screen flashes. Then, let your Mac devices boot itself up as it normally would.

If you have done everything that we have listed above-- inspected your device visually, tested the external hard drive on different power outlets, cables, and computer devices, and implemented various systems-- and nothing happened, then it's high time to follow our guide below:

Part III: Methods To Help Your Mac Device Recognize The HDD

There are different ways to let your HDD show up within your Mac device. The first thing would be to modify the settings of Finder. The next would be mounting the external HDD on your Mac device and so on. Let's get started with the first one:

Method 01: Modifying Settings Of Finder

There is one common reason why Mac doesn't display or recognize an external hard drive. The reason we're stating here is the state wherein the Mac device' system is not set up to actually show external hard drive within its Desktop.

This can be fixed easily by following the steps below:

1. Launch a Finder window.
2. Visit the Preferences.
3. After which, visit General.
4. Make sure that the feature External disks are activated.

But what if it doesn't work after you have done this? Well, the next thing you should do is to mount the external hard drive manually on your Mac device.

Method 02: Manually Mounting Your External Hard Drive Within The Mac Device

If Mac still doesn't recognize the external hard drive you plugged into it, the next thing you should do is to force it to recognize the said storage item. Here are the steps you should follow:

1. Go towards System Preferences.
2. Visit Disk Utility.
3. Examine if the external hard disk drive is shown on the sidebar towards the left.
4. Select the hard drive and make sure it is highlighted.
5. Choose Mount. Now, the external hard drive should be seen within the Finder window under Devices.

Again, what if forcing your Mac drive to display external hard drive doesn't work? Well, the next step is to utilize First Aid.

Method 03: Running First Aid Through Your External HDD

Mac has a built-in utility called First Aid. This is utilized for the verification and repairing of a wide variety of issues especially with those that are related to apps and files that are corrupted. It also fixes issues with regards to startup and of course, external hard drive.

The steps below are for one type of issue. This issue is with that of a hard disk drive that is displayed on your Mac but doesn't give you access to data. First Aid would be the tool you would use if you have to fix this issue. Simply follow the steps below:

1. Visit System Preferences.
2. Launch Disk Utility.
3. Make sure the external hard drive is highlighted or selected.
4. Press First Aid.
5. Choose Run. This will now start the process of diagnosing the Mac for any issues and fixing the corresponding problems.

If your attempt to fix this problem with First Aid is a success, your hard disk drive would now be available for mounting. If this doesn't work again, you should try the option below:

Method 04: Removing Incompatible Or Conflicting Applications

Did you experience the problem of not having an external hard drive show up just recently? If it was okay a few days before (just a couple of days), then the problem might be with an application that is in conflict with it.

Think about it. Have you downloaded and installed apps just recently? These might be culprits. What you can do is to uninstall or remove these programs one by one.

Connect your hard disk drive towards your Mac device after you uninstall each program. Check out which app is causing conflict.

You can simply delete these applications by utilizing Launchpad. Or, for a very simple process, you can drag these apps towards the Trash Bin. However, we do not recommend each of the two methods.

It's because of the fact that even when an app is deleted, leftovers and associated files are still kept intact in your system. These leftover files might be the ones preventing you to access the hard disk drive. Mac shortcut screenshot window.

What we do recommend is for you to useFoneDog's Mac Cleaner. It has a module called Mac Uninstaller that you can use to uninstall applications without leaving any leftover behind. Here are the advantages and the steps to use the tool:

* It gives you the ability to make your Mac device perform faster by freeing up more space within the said device.

* It scanning mode is very powerful and helps locate duplicate files, system files, junk files, unnecessary applications, clutter, etc.

* It gives you the ability to clear up junk files. It helps you locate and remove duplicate files. It helps you find and clear up similar images. It helps you delete large files and old files. The Mac Cleaner helps you delete unnecessary applications without leaving any leftovers behind. Plus, it helps in securing redundant searching history. Finally, it helps in the management of extensions, shredding of files, and cleaning of browsers.

* All of the features of the Mac Cleaner can be implemented with just a few clicks.

* Scanned results of the Mac Cleaner can be sorted on a variety of factors including date, time, size, etc.

* The Mac device status is displayed by the device including disk usage, CPU status, memory usage, etc.

* It helps you locate and detect files that are identical. Thus, more space is freed up within your device because no two files are exactly the same. Redundancy is removed within your device.

Here's how to use FoneDog's Mac Cleaner step by step (The following screenshots are under dark mode on Mac):

Step 01 - Download the tool.

Step 02 - Launch it within your Mac device. The main interface will show a variety of the device' system status.

Step 03 - Select Uninstaller, the tool under the ToolKit module. Thus, please click the ToolKit icon and select Uninstaller.

Step 04 - Press Scan button. The tool will now do a comprehensive scan of your device.

Step 05 - Once the process of scanning is complete, click View. This will allow you to check scanned results.

Step 06 - Choose a particular application. In this case, Uninstaller will begin to remove the application you select by clicking the Clean button.

Step 07 - Confirm the cleaning operation.

Mac External Drive Not Showing

Step 08 - Wait until the cleaning process is finished.

Note that you simply have to select the Mac Uninstaller tool on Step 03. Select the module Cleaner to scan for unwanted files and clean them afterward.

1. Go towards System Preferences.
2. Visit Disk Utility.
3. Examine if the external hard disk drive is shown on the sidebar towards the left.
4. Select the hard drive and make sure it is highlighted.
5. Choose Mount. Now, the external hard drive should be seen within the Finder window under Devices.

Again, what if forcing your Mac drive to display external hard drive doesn't work? Well, the next step is to utilize First Aid.

Method 03: Running First Aid Through Your External HDD

Mac has a built-in utility called First Aid. This is utilized for the verification and repairing of a wide variety of issues especially with those that are related to apps and files that are corrupted. It also fixes issues with regards to startup and of course, external hard drive.

The steps below are for one type of issue. This issue is with that of a hard disk drive that is displayed on your Mac but doesn't give you access to data. First Aid would be the tool you would use if you have to fix this issue. Simply follow the steps below:

1. Visit System Preferences.
2. Launch Disk Utility.
3. Make sure the external hard drive is highlighted or selected.
4. Press First Aid.
5. Choose Run. This will now start the process of diagnosing the Mac for any issues and fixing the corresponding problems.

If your attempt to fix this problem with First Aid is a success, your hard disk drive would now be available for mounting. If this doesn't work again, you should try the option below:

Method 04: Removing Incompatible Or Conflicting Applications

Did you experience the problem of not having an external hard drive show up just recently? If it was okay a few days before (just a couple of days), then the problem might be with an application that is in conflict with it.

Think about it. Have you downloaded and installed apps just recently? These might be culprits. What you can do is to uninstall or remove these programs one by one.

Connect your hard disk drive towards your Mac device after you uninstall each program. Check out which app is causing conflict.

You can simply delete these applications by utilizing Launchpad. Or, for a very simple process, you can drag these apps towards the Trash Bin. However, we do not recommend each of the two methods.

It's because of the fact that even when an app is deleted, leftovers and associated files are still kept intact in your system. These leftover files might be the ones preventing you to access the hard disk drive. Mac shortcut screenshot window.

What we do recommend is for you to useFoneDog's Mac Cleaner. It has a module called Mac Uninstaller that you can use to uninstall applications without leaving any leftover behind. Here are the advantages and the steps to use the tool:

* It gives you the ability to make your Mac device perform faster by freeing up more space within the said device.

* It scanning mode is very powerful and helps locate duplicate files, system files, junk files, unnecessary applications, clutter, etc.

* It gives you the ability to clear up junk files. It helps you locate and remove duplicate files. It helps you find and clear up similar images. It helps you delete large files and old files. The Mac Cleaner helps you delete unnecessary applications without leaving any leftovers behind. Plus, it helps in securing redundant searching history. Finally, it helps in the management of extensions, shredding of files, and cleaning of browsers.

* All of the features of the Mac Cleaner can be implemented with just a few clicks.

* Scanned results of the Mac Cleaner can be sorted on a variety of factors including date, time, size, etc.

* The Mac device status is displayed by the device including disk usage, CPU status, memory usage, etc.

* It helps you locate and detect files that are identical. Thus, more space is freed up within your device because no two files are exactly the same. Redundancy is removed within your device.

Here's how to use FoneDog's Mac Cleaner step by step (The following screenshots are under dark mode on Mac):

Step 01 - Download the tool.

Step 02 - Launch it within your Mac device. The main interface will show a variety of the device' system status.

Step 03 - Select Uninstaller, the tool under the ToolKit module. Thus, please click the ToolKit icon and select Uninstaller.

Step 04 - Press Scan button. The tool will now do a comprehensive scan of your device.

Step 05 - Once the process of scanning is complete, click View. This will allow you to check scanned results.

Step 06 - Choose a particular application. In this case, Uninstaller will begin to remove the application you select by clicking the Clean button.

Step 07 - Confirm the cleaning operation.

Mac External Drive Not Showing

Step 08 - Wait until the cleaning process is finished.

Note that you simply have to select the Mac Uninstaller tool on Step 03. Select the module Cleaner to scan for unwanted files and clean them afterward.

Now, if you have gone through every installed application in your device and still nothing works, it might be because your hard disk drive has already crashed.

Or maybe, it can be completely broken. What you have to do in cases like these is to use a utility called Disk Drill. This tool will help you rescue your files.

Method 05: Disk Permissions Repair

Disk permissions are very important in keeping your files safe and secure. Every single file and folder within your Mac device has permissions associated with it. But sometimes, these permissions can become messed up.

You won't even realize it. These messed up permissions can lead to a big problem. You can actually fix this on your own using a tool for repairing permissions.

Part III: Conclusion

External hard drives can be great for storage. If it is not showing up on your Mac device, you could try out our guidelines above for you to fix it.

The best thing, though, is to back up your data all the time to avoid losing files. Finally, you can use FoneDog's Mac Cleaner to uninstall programs and applications using the Mac Uninstaller Module.

It helps you get rid of applications without leaving any leftover files behind.

Summary :

Sometimes, you might find that some files are not showing up in the external hard drive. In the following contents, we will discuss about the possible causes and solutions, as well as an effective and reliable way to recover data for the external hard drive.

Problem – Files Not Showing in External Hard Drive

Although external hard drives have brought as great convenience in daily life and work, there are chances that they might fail to display some of their files or even seem to have lost them completely, despite the disk capacity in disk properties being shown as utilized.

You will be able to tell that it is indeed your files utilizing that space in the external drive if you have a general impression of how much space your data occupies.

But here is the problem - people sometimes find their files not showing in external hard drive and get anxious; they are afraid of losing the important files forever. What is really happening when this issue is present? Can you fix it or rescue the missing data here?

I will answer those questions for you. Now, let's start with rescuing files missing from external hard drive with MiniTool Power Data Recovery.

When data recovery is done, I will explain the possible causes for files not showing problem and then give corresponding solutions. In the last section, I am going to help you know more about the external hard drive you use.

Recover Data from External Hard Drive

When you finally discover that some files are missing from external hard drive or even a partition in it is damaged/lost, you must conduct data recovery on external hard drive right away.

In this case, please stop writing any new data into the external hard drive and then follow the operations below to recover data with MiniTool Power Data Recovery easily. This software will light the hope of data recovery as long as the external hard drive is not physically damaged.

3 Steps to Recover Data from External Hard Drive

When you find that some useful files not showing in external hard drive are actually lost, please adopt MiniTool Power Data Recovery immediately.

Then, follow this tutorial to recover data.

Step 1: connect the external hard drive to computer. Launch MiniTool Power Data Recovery, and then choose Hard Disk Drive.

Step 2: select the target external hard drive from the right side and click on the Scan button.

Step 3: during the scan, you can see more and more files being found by the software. Now, you can browse them one by one to check the ones you need and then choose a safe location to store them by pressing the 'Save' button. After that, click on the OK button to confirm your selection. Soon, the data you choose will be recovered to the appointed location.

When you can confirm that all data you need are recovered successfully to another device and all the existing files have been backed up, you can choose to format the external hard drive in order to use it again. Additionally, you may follow the methods given below to try to fix the current external drive.

How to fix when external hard drive stops working?

A relatively comprehensive analysis & fix plan about external hard drive not working issue are given here to help people get out of trouble.

Why Can't See Files in External Hard Drive & How to Solve

I find files missing from external hard drive become a frequently discussed issue in many forums. So there must be some ideas that catch the point.

Based on this, I decide to make a list of the possible reasons and useful suggestions for users to refer to. Here, I have summarized 4 main causes as well as the solutions in Windows 7 through internet searching and actual operations.

4 Causes That Can Be Fixed Directly in Windows

1. The files are hidden.
2. There are file system errors.
3. The 'CheckedValue' is suffering from virus infection.
4. The mirror image in memory is damaged.

Possible cause 1 – the files are hidden.

Sometimes, the files are not really missing from external hard drive; they're just hidden and not being shown. Here are 4 solutions to unhide them.

Solution 1:

1. Type cmd to the search box and press Enter.
2. Right click on the cmd.exe and select Run as administrator.
3. Input DIR/A x:-s (x refers to the drive letter of your external hard drive). The meaning of this command is: list the non-system files in x: drive.
4. If this command returns nothing, it means your folder has been marked as protected system files, and then you can refer to the second solution.

Fl studio mac producer edition. Solution 2: check whether the files are endowed with system property.

1. Run control folders, or go to Control Panel and Appearance and Personalization.
2. You can see the window Folder Options.
3. In view tab, check show hidden files, folders, and drives and uncheck Hide protected operating system files (Recommended).
4. Then check whether the files/folders are there.

Solution 3:

1. If your files keep missing from the external hard d drive, run cmd and press Enter key.
2. Then, if the hard drive letter is O:, you should enter this command: attrib -h -r -s /s /d o:*.*.
3. Finally, check if the real files will be showed.

Solution 4:

If all solutions above failed, try the following process which is most complex:

1. Run cmd.
2. Type the location of the external hard drive. Example: 'd:', 'e:', 'f:', etc.
3. Type dir /ah. You will now see the files/folders with hidden attributes.
4. Type attrib [name of file/folder] -r -a -s -h.
5. You should repeatedly type dir /ah after un-hiding some files/folders so you know if the files/folders are now appearing or hiding.
6. Finally check your external hard drives, all data should be there.

Please note:

• If you're going to unhide files, you should type the whole name plus the expanded-name. Example for file named party: attrib party.jpg -r -a -s -h.
• If you have folder names with 6 characters or more, type the first 6 characters followed by '~1'. Example for folder named birthday: attrib birthd~1 -r -a -s -h.

Possible cause 2 – there are file system errors.

In some cases, the files may be not showing in external hard drive because the file system is corrupted or because it doesn't contain a recognized file system. At this time, you had better recover data from external hard drive firstly.

Here's how to confirm:

1. Right click on the external hard drive.
2. Choose Properties.
3. Select Tools tab and click on the Check now button.
4. Check Automatically fix file system errors from the pop-up window.
5. Click on the Start button to begin and wait for the process.

Possible cause 3 – 'CheckedValue' is suffering from virus infection.

Here's how to fix:

1. Run Regedit.
2. Then, follow this route in Registry Editor: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorerAdvancedFolderHiddenSHOWAL.
3. Check whether the data value of CheckedValue is 1.
4. If NOT, delete CheckedValue, create a new DWOR in the blank and rename it as CheckedValue. After that, modify the value data as 1.

Possible cause 4 – the mirror image in memory is damaged.

Sometimes the mirror image in memory is damaged and the operating system does not respond a timely refresh, which happens by chance.

How to fix: restart the computer and then reconnect the external hard drive to check if the actual files are shown.

That's all for the solutions. In fact, each solution has helped many users get rid of files not showing in external hard drive problem, and I also hope they are helpful for you.

2 Cases for Missing Files from External Hard Drive

But what's the real story? How exactly did they disappear? These kinds of questions are all over the internet. The following mentioned examples are just a drop in the bucket.

Case 1:

I have a problem with my external hard disk. I saved some school documents on my drive. When I got to the school computer to copy my home task, then I noticed all my folders went missing, except ones that are not in folder. I still have my used memory, but can't see my folders. Please help me!shegzy4 from Makeuseof

Case 2:

Hey guys I have a problem with my external hard drive .. 2 days ago I've bought a new laptop and when I plugged my hard drive into it to install some games I found that it doesn't contain anything except 2 files. Also it shows 900 GB used space and this means that my old files are still there. So please help me return them back because I need them. By the way I've tried showing hidden folders and everything in folder options.Sarooo from Tomshardware

Faced with such confusion, most users behave like ants on hot bricks, while some users skillfully find that if they try to type the path or address of a specific folder, it opens. However, typically you have stored large numbers of files and folders in the external hard drive and you cannot remember all names of folders…So any better idea?

Learn More about External Hard Drive

Different from internal hard drive, an external hard drive is a portable storage device that can be attached to a computer via USB, eSATA, or Firewire. External hard drives typically have high storage capacities and are often used to back up computers.

Having our videos, pictures and other large files copied to an external hard drive is a safe way to back up things. Besides, external hard drive is always acting as a data storage medium and transmission medium, thus you don't have to carry on computers with you everywhere.

External Hard Drive Becomes a Necessity in Modern Life

External hard drive enjoys many advantages when compared to other storage devices, so they are getting more and more closely to our daily life. Today people are accustomed to bring an external hard drive with us in case of data transmission, such as to deal with working paper between office and home.

By using external hard drive, you can avoid the network requirement, the uploading and downloading process, and time. But, if your families share one computer with you at home, there will be a big risk of data loss. So backing up important data to external hard drive becomes a wise choice.

During the process of using external hard drives, you will inevitably encounter some difficulties, 'external hard drive doesn't appear in My Computer' and 'files not shown in external hard drive'. I have laid my emphasis on the second issue in this post.

Characteristics That Make External Hard Drive Popular

External hard drives usually have the following advantages in common:

• Small volume: an external hard drive is usually several inches in size, such as 2.5 inches, 3.5 inches in common.
• Large capacity: external hard drives always adopt large capacity and the unit is always Terabyte.
• High speed: external hard drive connected via Firewire usually works at high speed, which makes it rather easy to transfer data between computer and external hard drives.
• Portability: since external hard drives have small volume, it is available to carry them everywhere.
• Easy to use: external hard drive is very easy to handle. It can be applied in both Windows & Mac and will be automatically detected in a few seconds. Then you can use it like internal hard drive.
• Lower cost per GB: the price of external hard drive is getting lower and lower due to proven technique. Normally you only spend several cents per GB on an external hard drive.

Bottom Line

I have noticed 'files not showing in external hard drive' is a frequently asked question in many forums. Carbon copy mac clone. Therefore, in this post I have summarized almost all feasible solutions for users who have got a headache on this issue.

Remember, external hard drives today have become indispensable medium for us to deal with data backup, privacy protection, data transmission, and so on, so you need to pay more attention to the operations you have made during the usage to avoid unnecessary trouble.

What's more? Once something unlucky happens and leads to serious data loss, you should stop all operations and turn to reliable solutions quickly, so as to ensure the largest possibility for data recovery.

Pc Won't Recognize External Hard Drive

Files Not Showing in External Hard Drive FAQ

External Drive Won't Mount Mac

1. Open File Explorer the way you like.
2. Select View from the menu bar.
3. Click Options and choose Change folder and search options.
4. Go to the View tab and look for the Advanced settings area.
5. Check Show hidden files, folders, and drives and click OK.