Have you ever come across the problem that Mac does not recognize external hard drive? Believe it or not, it is common with this operating system. But it has a solution.
If you want to know the reasons why this situation can happen to you, and the solutions to try to fix it, keep reading because we are going to talk about all of it.
Why Mac Doesn't Recognize External Hard Drive
Actually, there are many reasons why Mac may not recognize the external drive. Some are silly, but others not so much.
For example, the most common that usually occur are the following:
- There is a problem with the data cable: You know that they often break if you are not careful and even if they are fine on the outside, the internal cables may have broken and hence there is no real connection between the external drive and the computer.
- A problem has arisen power transmission.
- The hard drive is broken. Or damaged. Be that as it may, Mac detects that his status is not correct and that is why he does not recognize it.
- The hard drive is NTFS formatted. Did you know that macOS system cannot read this format?
- good system, good the file partition is damaged. This is related to the fact that the external drive is broken or damaged.
- The disk has a virus. One way to protect yourself is by preventing Mac from reading that disk so as not to be infected by viruses.
What to do if Mac does not recognize the external drive
As you can see, there are quite a few reasons why Mac can get stubborn and tell you that there is no external drive when in fact you have connected it. However, there are some solutions that can help you fix it. Do you want to know which ones?
Check the status of the computer
It's not nonsense. USBs, when used a lot, deteriorate. In fact, you may even have problems with them stopping working (first one and then the others fail).
If that is the case and you have connected the external disk to one of them, it is normal that it does not recognize it because that USB port is damaged and does not work. So try to try others.
Check the external drive
If you can't get it to read it, why don't you check the external drive? Check that it does not have any blows, that it is open or swollen, or that the connection with the cable is bad (for example, that you plug it in and it comes loose or is loose). All that will only make it not work correctly.
Do not forget to check the cable either and, in any case, try to have a spare one in case this is the problem.
Disk utility
In the Mac Launchpad you have a disk utility section. It is a tool that allows you to see information about all the storage units you have, whether they are internal ones that are part of the computer, or external ones that will be connected to it.
If the external disk comes out in light gray, it will indicate that it could not be mounted. But it can also tell you that it's okay even when an error has occurred.
In this same tool you also have one called "First aid". It will help you to check the operation and is capable of solving small problems. So if you have difficulties, maybe you can fix it like this.
Reboot the computer with the external drive inserted
Actually, before restarting it, what we would recommend is that you turn off your Mac. Then, if you kept the external drive connected, disconnect it and reconnect it (yes, with the computer turned off).
Once you make sure that everything is ok, the next thing you can do is turn it on.
Sometimes this nonsense works, and at least you'll have enough time to back up the external drive and scan it for any issues.
Bus Terminal
Mac has a "Terminal" like Linux. It is actually the MSDos type program where, through codes, you can access the computer in a more "professional" way. It is not for everyone, but in the case of checking the status of your external drive, or even accessing it, it can be worth it.
To do this, you have to go to Finder / Applications / Utilities / Terminal.
There, write:
diskutil list.
Click Return.
Try to find what is the code of the external hard drive (it will put it to you with the command that you have put. Now write:
diskutil repairVolume /dev/disk#
Being disk# the code of that external disk. Hit Return.
Once it's done, close the terminal and see if you can access the disk now.
Format the disk
This is one of the last solutions that we can recommend And it is because you will lose all the information that may be on that disk. So before doing so, we recommend that you test if it is possible to access that disk with another operating system (Windows, Linux...). If so, you can save the information.
In case you cannot, or the information is not important, you could always format it.
To do this, go to Disk Utility and select which one you want to format. At the top you will see the Delete button. Click there and a window will appear. In it you can change the name of the unit and, importantly, set the format to be ExFAT. Finally, hit delete again and wait for it to finish.
Restart the Mac SMC
In case you don't know, the SMC refers to the system management controller and is the one that calculates the low-level functions of the Mac.
This can sometimes cause problems with external drives, so we recommend you try the following:
- Turn off the computer.
- Press the power button and simultaneously press Shift, control and Option. Do not stop squeezing them until 10 seconds have passed.
- Now let go and Start the computer to test if your Mac reads the external drive.
As you see, there are many ways to fix Mac not recognizing external hard drive. Here you have met a few so that you do not give up at first and try various options to at least get access to the disk and save the information you need. Has it ever happened to you? Could you solve it? We read you in comments.