External disk not showing up on Mac: how to fix it

An external drive is a very useful device: it gives your computer extra storage for important files and lets you carry your data from one place to another. But what do you do when your external drive doesn’t show up on your Mac?

If your external drive is still not recognized, the fault may be physical and every new attempt counts. Before trying again, see how external hard drive recovery works, starting with a free diagnosis.

When this happens, you can’t access the data stored on it. The cause may be the drive itself, the cable or connector, the formatting or something else. But don’t worry: we’ll help you find the cause and get access to your data again.

Read on to understand why this problem happens and how you can solve it.

Why isn’t your external drive showing up on your Mac?

When you connect an external drive to your Mac and it doesn’t recognize it, you can’t access the data. The drive doesn’t even appear in Finder.

So if you want to recover your data, it’s important to know where the problem comes from. Why isn’t the external drive showing up on the Mac?

Let’s look at the main reasons:

Corrupted external drive

Your external drive may be corrupted. This can happen when it is infected by a virus, disconnected without being ejected first, physically damaged or overheated, among other situations. The corruption may affect the whole drive or only part of it.

Physical damage to the external drive

External drives are vulnerable to physical damage. Because they are portable, they are more likely to be dropped or knocked, and they can also overheat or come into contact with liquids.

This can damage the drive and make the data inaccessible. The internal parts can be damaged too: for example, the read/write heads can touch the platters or the circuit board can burn out. If the drive clicks, makes unusual noises or has been dropped, don’t keep plugging it in: turn to a lab.

Faulty USB cable or connector

The problem may also be the cable or connector. If you’re using an old or faulty USB cable, the external drive may not appear on your Mac. In this case, the fix is easy: just replace the cable, with no need to recover the data or buy a new drive.

Problem with the Mac’s USB ports

In this case, too, the problem isn’t the drive: it may be the Mac’s USB ports. A port can be damaged, dirty or not working properly.

Hidden external drive

The external drive may also not appear on the Mac simply because it is hidden. This can be caused by a system setting or, more rarely, by malware. In this case, you need to change the Finder settings so that the drive is shown again.

Incompatible or damaged formatting on the external drive

The external drive may also have formatting problems. If it uses a file system the Mac doesn’t support, or if the file system is damaged, the computer may not recognize it or may have trouble reading the data.

Problems after a macOS Big Sur or Catalina update

Updates released by Apple can also stop the computer from recognizing an external drive and may even lead to data loss. The macOS Big Sur and Catalina updates brought security improvements, but they also caused compatibility problems, as reported by Mac Magazine.

How do I get my Mac to recognize my external drive?

Let’s look at some solutions for an external drive that your Mac doesn’t recognize. Often the problem is simple and can be solved by replacing the cable or changing a system setting. Here’s what you can try before moving on to more complex solutions:

• Plug the drive into another port on your computer. The port may be damaged or not working properly.
• Replace the USB cable. The cable may be damaged, or it may be an older cable that doesn’t support the drive’s data transfer speed.

Some problems are more serious, however, and need to be assessed and solved by specialists. In these cases, you can rely on a company like Bot, with the right equipment and experienced data recovery professionals. Read on to find out what else you can do:

1. Look for the external drive in System Information

If the external drive doesn’t appear on your Mac’s desktop or in Finder, try to find it in System Information. To do this:

1. Go to Applications > Utilities > System Information;
2. Expand the Hardware section to check whether the system recognizes the external drive;
3. Click USB (or Thunderbolt, depending on the connection) and look at the information about the drive.

This way, you can see whether the system recognizes the external drive and shows its details. If it does, the problem may simply be Finder’s display settings.

2. Change Finder’s display settings

To show the external drive, open Finder and follow these steps:

1. Go to Finder > Preferences (Settings in newer versions of macOS) > General;
2. Find the option “Show these items on the desktop”;
3. Select “External disks”. You can also turn on “External disks” in the Sidebar tab so the drive appears in the Finder sidebar.

Another option is to use a keyboard shortcut to show hidden files and folders. In Finder, press Command (⌘) + Shift + . (period) to show hidden folders and files. To hide them again, use the same shortcut.

If these solutions don’t work, try the options below.

3. Repair the drive with Disk Utility on your Mac

Macs include a tool for checking and repairing errors on storage devices, including external drives: Disk Utility. Keep in mind that it writes to the drive, so if the drive makes unusual noises or the data is important and has no backup, it’s safer to recover the data first. Here are the steps:

1. Open Disk Utility and choose View > Show All Devices;
2. In the sidebar, select the external drive’s volume and click First Aid;
3. Click Run and follow the instructions;
4. When First Aid has finished, click Done.

Then check whether Finder recognizes the drive.

4. Reset NVRAM and the USB ports on your Mac

Another possible solution is to reset some of your Mac’s settings related to the USB ports. To do this:

1. On a Mac with an Intel processor, restart it and immediately press and hold Command (⌘) + Option + P + R for about 20 seconds to reset NVRAM (Macs with Apple silicon do this automatically when needed);
2. Then press Command + Option + Esc to force quit any apps that aren’t responding;
3. Connect the USB drive that isn’t showing up. If it still doesn’t appear, click the Apple menu and choose Sleep;
4. After a few seconds, press any key to wake up your computer;
5. Finally, shut down your Mac, disconnect the cable and reconnect it after about 15 seconds.

Check again whether your computer recognizes the external drive. This and the other solutions in this article may solve the problem. If they don’t, or if you want professional help so you don’t put your data at risk, turn to a company that specializes in data recovery.

Bot can help when your external drive doesn’t show up on your Mac, so you can safely regain access to the drive and your data. Our team has handled countless data loss cases and works with the right equipment and software for each one.

Contact us to start recovering your external drive. You can also reach us 24/7 on Instagram and Twitter.