This is because of faulty wiring in the hard-drive enclosure, either the USB wiring, or if it plugs into an outlet, the power wiring. Try it with another computer (try windows), and if it doesn't.
- Select Disk Drives from the list of hardware; Press and hold (or right-click) the USB external hard drive with the issue, and select Uninstall. After the hard drive is uninstalled, unplug the USB cable. Wait for 1 minute and then reconnect the USB cable. The driver should automatically load; Check for the USB drive in Windows Explorer.
- Find “External disks” under “Devices”, and then check this item. Then your connected external hard drive will appear in Finder. Show external disks on the desktop. You can also fix external hard drive not showing up by making your Mac to show mounted drives on the desktop. Go to Settings - Finder Preferences.
- If it is not appearing there, it could be because the disk has not yet been initialized. Or, it could be a problem with the device is causing it not to be recognized correctly.
- First, see if it appears in Disk Utility. If it appears but is not mounted, you can select the mount option which should mount your disk. Then, click on the Apple logo in the top left corner and select about my Mac. It should appear under storage. Also try going to the system report under the overview tab.
After you connect a removable disk through the computer’s USB port or SD card slot, the Mac OS will read the drive and mount it on the desktop, in Finder, and Disk Utility. The Mac OS always enables you to have the most convenient access to open the disk and manage files on it. Apple logic plugins.
However, people may not go as quickly as you expect. MacBook Air/Pro may not show up the external hard disk at all. One the one hand, the disappeared disk icon makes it inconvenient to open the drive. On the other hand, the disk might be corrupted and result in data loss or difficulties in file transfer.
After reading the article, you will learn:
- Why the MacBook doesn’t recognize the external hard drive
- How to make the MacBook detect the external hard drive
- Solving external hard drive not showing up problem
- An easy way to recover data from the unrecognized external hard drive
1. Why is the MacBook not recognizing my external hard drive?
The recognition process of an external device contains two parts – hardware and software. Any problems in either of the two parts will end up with the macOS doesn’t detect and recognize the external hard drive.
We summarize four common reasons:
- The USB port/USB adapter/USB cable is broken.
- The external hard drive is physically damaged.
- The incompatibility between the file system of the external hard drive and the Mac OS.
- The file system/partition table/other core information on the external hard drive is corrupted.
2. How to make the MacBook detect my external hard drive?
The very first step of solving the problem is to check the hardware conditions of the connection and the hard disk itself.
a) Use a different USB port/adapter/cable
After plugging and unplugging for multiple times, the USB/port/adapter/cable may get worn out or become wobbly if you have spare ones, the go-ahead to use them.
b) Reboot the MacBook
If you didn’t eject an external drive safely before you attach another one to the MacBook laptop, the computer might believe the USB port is still unavailable. As a result, the MacBook may not accept another external drive. Then you need to restart the computer and reconnect the external hard drive to it. After rebooting, the OS will release the USB port to the external hard drive.
c) Connect the external hard drive to another computer
If you are sure that the USB port/adapter/cable is all good and you have restarted the MacBook, but the problem stays unsolved, try to find another Mac or PC to see if the external HDD can be detected. Did you ever drop the external hard drive? If you did, the disk might suffer physical damages that prevent it from working correctly. Let it go and get a replacement.
3. Solving the external hard drive not showing up problem
Sometimes, your external hard drive is recognized by macOS, but it doesn’t show up on the desktop or in Finder. It makes you feel your external HDD is not known. To see if that is the case you come across, go to verify a few settings.
Go to the top menu bar where the Apple logo is and click on “Finder.” Select “Preferences,” and you will see four tabs on the top. Tick “External disks” under “General” and “Sidebar” tabs. Then the MacBook is set up to show up the external hard drive on the desktop and in the Finder.
If all settings look useful to you, the removable hard disk not showing up problem might result from the incompatibility between the file system and the MacBook, or the corrupted file system of the external hard drive. Cinemagraph pro 2 7 1ed dmg 2019. To make the external HDD work properly on MacBook, you need to erase it in Disk Utility. A small reminder: the erasing will deleted all your data.
4. An easy way to recover data from the unrecognized external hard drive
Many people probably won’t realize that they are facing a threat of data loss until they are. Fortunately, professional and reliable data recovery software are at your service. They are very efficient in restoring the essential pictures, videos, documents, and other files from the unrecognized external hard drive.
5. A final note
When the external hard drive suddenly becomes unrecognizable on Mac, don’t be panic because you can fix the problem by merely correcting the hardware connections or reformatting the disk. You may find more information about the unrecognized external hard drive on Mac in this post.
Time Machine system requirements
Before using Time Machine, you need an external storage solution, sold separately:
- External hard drive connected to a USB, FireWire, or Thunderbolt port on your Mac
- Time Capsule or macOS Server on your network
- External hard drive connected to the USB port of an AirPort Extreme Base Station (802.11ac) on your network
If your backup drive isn't connected using one of these methods, Time Machine might not work. Check with the device manufacturer for compatibility and connection information.
If your setup meets these requirements, but you still can't use Time Machine, check these things: Jprofiler 10 1 1 – java based applications software.
Check your Mac
Seagate External Hard Drive Software
- Make sure that your Mac software is up to date.
- Restart your Mac and see if the issue continues.
Macbook Pro Not Recognizing Seagate External Hard Drive
Check your AirPort base station
Hard Drives For Macbook Pro
- If you're using an AirPort Time Capsule or a drive connected to an AirPort Extreme Base Station, make sure that your AirPort firmware is up to date.
- Restart your base station and see if the issue continues. To restart, unplug the base station from AC power for 5 seconds, then plug it back in.
Check your network connection
External Disk Not Recognized On My Mac
If you back up to a server, AirPort Time Capsule, or drive connected to your AirPort Extreme Base Station, make sure that your Mac is connected to the same network as your backup drive. You can select your wireless network from the Wi-Fi status menu.
Check your backup
If you back up to a server, AirPort Time Capsule, or drive connected to your AirPort Extreme Base Station, make sure that your current Time Machine backup doesn't have any issues that could prevent further backups:
- While holding down the Option key on your keyboard, click the Time Machine menu in the menu bar, then choose Verify Backups.
- If Time Machine finds an issue with your backup, it displays a message with details. Follow the onscreen instructions.
Check your drives
- If you're using a drive connected to a port on your Mac or AirPort Extreme Base Station, make sure that the drive is turned on.
- If you're using a USB hub or a similar device, try connecting the drive directly to your Mac or base station.
- If you're backing up to an external third-party drive, check with the drive manufacturer to make sure the drive's firmware is up to date.
- If you're backing up to an external drive, check the formatting of the drive. Time Machine requires that an external drive be formatted like a Mac startup disk: Mac OS Extended (Journaled) with a GUID Partition Table (GPT). If you select a differently formatted drive for use with Time Machine, your Mac automatically prompts you to erase it for Time Machine.
Reformatting a disk erases all data stored on the disk, so you might want to move important files to another disk first.
If your drive is already formatted correctly, turn off Time Machine, then check it for problems:
- To check the drive of an AirPort Time Capsule, follow the steps to verify an AirPort Time Capsule drive.
- To check an external drive connected to your Mac, open Disk Utility from the Utilities folder of your Applications folder. Then use the First Aid feature in Disk Utility to verify your disk. Do this for your startup disk as well.
You can turn Time Machine back on after your drives are verified or repaired successfully.