This article is Sponsored Content by Abhishek Dhiman, Stellar Data Recovery
If your MacBook is unable to detect an external hard drive, don’t panic – until you know the root cause and successfully fix it. Irrespective of the cause, your Mac device needs to recognize the external drive first. Only then you’ll be able to securely recover your data. So, let’s find out ways to make an external hard drive accessible on Mac.
In this post, we’ll share some smart options to fix the problem of your external hard drive not showing up on your Mac.
Damaged Port or USB Cable
The first and foremost step is to ensure the cable connecting your external drive to the MacBook is not damaged or loose. Also, take a look at the port connecting both. Hard drive cables or ports often get damaged or lose grip due to frequent usage. As a result, your Apple device fails to recognize the external drive. In either of the conditions, use a compatible cable or replace the existing cable with a new one. Otherwise, get the port issue fixed at the Apple center.
Use Disk Utility to Mount Hard Drive
If your Apple device is unable to recognize the external drive, use Disk Utility to mount the drive, following these steps:
1. Press Command + Space Bar, type ‘disk utility’ in the spotlight search, and press Enter.
2. Select your SSD or External Drive visible in the prompt menu on the left bar. Select it and click on the Mount button on top.
3. The hard disk icon will appear on the desktop. Open it to scan the data stored in it.
Give First-Aid Treatment to Hard Drive
If the external drive still remains untraceable, it probably means that the macOS is able to detect the drive but cannot fix the file system issue. To do so, perform these steps:
1. Launch Disk Utility as suggested earlier, and select your drive. After that, click on First Aid and Run.
2. Wait till the process ends and close the pop-up window.
3. Later, click the Mount button on the top pane in Disk Utility menu. Now, check your desktop; your external drive should show up.
Use Terminal to Fix Minor Hard Drive Flaws
If Disk Utility also fails to repair the issue of your external hard drive not showing up on your Mac, use the Terminal application available in it. It helps macOS to mount and repair the affected hard drive. Here are the steps for it:
1. Go to Finder > Applications > Utilities. Double-click on Terminal to launch the app.
2. At the command line, type diskutil list, and hit Return. Pen down disk# of your external hard drive.
3. Type diskutil mountDisk /dev/disk#, and hit Return.
4. Type diskutil repairVolume /dev/disk#, and hit Return.
5. Once the repair process is over, go to Terminal > Quit Terminal.
Check Preference Settings
Sometimes a minor change in preference setting can create problems in recognizing the external drive in your MacBook. To bridge the gap, ensure that the external drive is selected in the preference settings.
· Go to Finder > Preferences. Select the External Drive check box. The external hard drive/SSD icon will appear on your desktop.
Once either of the options mentioned above helps in detecting the external drive on your MacBook, recover the data stored in it using a professional tool. Invest in reliable software that can retrieve your data without hampering its confidentiality. Stellar Data Recovery Professional for Mac can easily recover Word docs, Excel files, PPTs, PDFs, photos, videos, audio, or emails. The software can restore lost data from formatted APFS/HFS partitions, deleted Mac partitions, and even from crashed or unbootable Mac systems. Learn more about the software here.
Does Professional Data Recovery Tools Cost High?
The answer depends on factors like the volume of data at stake, limited time in hand to recover data, or the external drive not showing up on your Mac. It is better to invest in a reasonably priced tool to avoid losing confidential files or documents that can cost major financial or reputational loss. The choice is yours!
