Hello to all crazy Mac lovers. Hope you will be having a delightful time with your mac. This is your very own Steve Sadiq with another very common issue that people are facing. Yes, it’s very common. Many people have asked me to provide them with the solution of “External Hard Drive not showing up on Mac”. Yes, I fully agree to this thing that Mac is the most refined and sophisticated gadgets on planet earth. No one can deny the security systems and the delicacy and reliability of the Mac.
But the point that should have to be kept in mind is that of course, MacBook is also a machine. Errors are part and parcel of daily use and to solve the errors, we are here to provide you complete Guide so that you will have an ease of mind that if you will have any kind of issue in using your MacBook, iPhone or another mac devices, we are also there to help you in fixing the issue of APPLE Products.
External Hard Drive not showing up on Mac
We are going to share with you the easiest methods to fix the problem of the external hard disk not showing on Mac. I have been searching on the web to collect the data and to know what issues most people face on Mac so that I’ll provide a solution to those issues. While searching for that I have found that the majority of people were facing the issue of “External Hard Drive not showing up on Mac”
A number of Mac users usually face the issue of External Hard Drive not showing up on Mac. Are you one of these users? Now there is no need to worry about this. We have brought for you simple methods to fix this common problem mac doesn’t display external hard disk.
Through solutions provided in this article, you will find more methods about How to Control External Hard Drive not showing up on Mac.
But before we’ll move to the possible solutions, it is necessary for you to identify the cause of the main problem (what are the causes of External Hard drive not showing). Here are some main causes related to this problem by discussing below:
Causes of External Hard Drive not Showing up on Macbook
There can be multiple causes of Hard Disk not showing on mac. Let’s try to find out the possible causes of HDD not showing up on mac.
- Misfunctioning of any Mac software
- The physical breakdown in any section of the hard drive.
- Damaged Cable
- Circuit failure.
You just need to check the following thing
- Properly check the drive is plugged in.
- Have a look at the USB connector.
- Carefully monitor the cable.
- Try replacing the Cable.
- Must test the external hard drive in another Macbook.
- Also, check the external HDD on the PC or another laptop.
- Try rebooting the Mac.
Other methods are given below.
Here are many problems which appear time to time in any type of the program linked with the hard drive not working efficiently or IOS is trying to resist the use of the hard drive cause due to the reason of some type of external attack on your Mac. (V Good)
Therefore we will discuss every possible and approachable solution to fix the problem “External hard drive not showing up on Mac”.
How to solve the problem – Easy fix “External hard drive not showing up on mac”:
As we have discussed already problems causes either due to misfunctioning of any physical part or due to any misfunctioning of an internal system.
Therefore we have categorized these problems as:
- Fix hard disk not showing up Issue Caused due to the external problems.
- Secure checking of cables and other connection should be necessary.
- In many cases, the users have evaluated that their External Hard Drive not showing up on Mac due to poor connection and other problems in cables and the hard disk drive.
Possible Solutions to External Hard disk not showing on Mac
1. Fix hard disk mounting Issue Caused by External Problems
One possible issue can be that either your cable would be damaged. Therefore have a careful look at the cable of your hard drive either it’s fine. You can check this by borrowing the cable from a friend or by testing your cable on some other hard drive
2. Poor power supply
It is awkward to listen but it is the major problem of malfunctioning of cables. if the proper power supply is not available then it ‘ll cause in the functioning of Hard drive.
Therefore if the drive is powered through an external USB Cable then you should check your cables so the power supply of hard disc would not be interrupted.
Old designed power supplying cable cannot fulfill the power supply requirement for the Hard Disc Drive. Therefore try to use a new power supply cables to eliminate the problems in your Hard disc Drive of your Mac. We recommend that you should use a USB 3.0 supporting cable to connect drives to your Mac
3. Breakdown of power supply Cables/Ports:
Ejection of cables in a harsh manner from connectors and ports may be the most important reason for the breakdown of cables which will ultimately cause the dysfunctioning of your Mac System. same in the case of folding of cables inappropriate manners can cause cable damages and malfunctioning of entire systems.
This also acts as a barrier to the power supply. Hence, your drive fails to perform the proper function and ultimately ends with the improper functioning of your External hard drive not showing up on Mac.
The simple solution is to use a new power cable with more recent functions and made with more modified materials.
Internal Problems causes – Or – Causes of an internal issue
Solve the issue of Hard Drive Not Showing up on Mac with the help of 3 possible solutions
- Fix you drive with Mac Disk Utility
- Fix using Apple diagnostic
- Reset your NVRAM
- Change the finder settings
1. Fix your Drive with the help of your Mac Disk Utility.
Mac Disk utility is the program in your Mac system which enables you to check any error and fix it with the help of troubleshooting system.
Here we are discussing the solutions and different methodologies in stepwise manners to identify the problem and fix it with the help of Disk Utility to fix the external hard drive not showing up on Mac.
Step By Step Guide
Step 1:
Open Disk Utility after navigating:
Finder > Application> Utility.
Step 2:
Select your external hard drive and then select first aid option. Select Run to proceed the first aid diagnostics.
Step 3:
After completing the process your drive is ready to mount according to your Mac.
Run Mac diagnostic to fix any hardware issue.
2. Run Mac Diagnostic to resolve the hardware issues
You can run Apple Diagnostics to encounter any hardware issue.
Easiest Preventive Measures in case of fixing the problems:
- It is advised to disconnect all the external devices except keyboard, mouse and other related devices.
- Reboot your Mac or you can power on your Mac if it is power off.
- Press and hold D button on your keyboard. Hold the button until you would ask to choose a language.
- After selecting your language, it will display a progress bar stating “checking your mac”.
- After completing the diagnostics you will be able to diagnose the errors and fix them in your Mac.
3. Reset your NVRAM:
What is NVRAM:
It is the combination of both Dynamic and static RAM. It is helpful to retain the information in your Mac while power is turned off.
Therefore it is necessary to follow these steps to reset your NVRAM:
Step 1:
Reboot your Mac.
Step 2:
Carefully press these four keys in a sequence i.e. command, option, P and R button.
Step 3:
After realizing the keys, your Mac will restart and hopefully, your drive will show up.
Reboot your Macbook
The last option is to simply reboot your MacBook and then try connecting your Hard Drive.
4. Change the Finder Settings
One of the most common reasons for Mac not recognizing external hard drives is due to the system not being set up to display hard drives on the desktop. There’s a simple fix for this:
- Open a Finder window.
- Go to Preferences > General.
- Check that the External disks option is enabled.
If your Mac is not recognizing a USB or external hard drive after this, you’ll have to try mounting it manually.
Concluding Thoughts:
The error “External Hard Drive not showing up on your Mac” is a common error that the majority of Mac users face.
Therefore, it is suggested that you should carefully use any external device with your Mac. In most cases, we ourselves create this error because of the improper handling of external hard drives.
Always try to properly eject or connect your drives which improves the handling as well as the shelf life of the ports and cables. In such cases and most of the time, this error causes the improper functioning of the external components of your Mac.
Therefore try to fix the error by using methods to fix external problems as we have already discussed. And if this error cannot be sorted out or fix with the help of these methods then try to use methods to fix internal problems given in the Mac tools.