How to Fix Mac Not Seeing External Drive

How to Fix Mac Not Seeing External Drive. Do you have an external drive that your Mac doesn't see or doesn't know how to talk to? We have some tips to make them friendly again.

Ah, external hard drive – our Macs' trusty companions, faithfully storing our ever-growing collection of cat videos and memes.

But what happens when your Mac suddenly acts like it's never seen your hard drive before?

Have no fear as I will guide you through the digital jungle to fix things when your Mac isn't seeing your external drive.

'Am I the one you're looking for?' – Understanding Why Your Hard Drive Is Missing

Your first step needs to be to make sure your external drive isn't just playing hide and seek. In other words, it could be that your Mac sees the external drive fine but hasn't mounted it for some reason.

Observation: This guide doesn't apply to network drives, but we've got help for you if that's the type of hidden drive on your Mac.

To check if the drive is mounted, you will need to launch the trusty Disk Utility tool.

How to search for missing hard drive in Disk Utility

• Open Spotlight, type Disk Utilityand press Turn back.

• If your external hard drive appears here, you're in luck. First, click To assemble.
  
• If the drive does not mount, click First aid to give it a little TLC trying to fix it.
  
• Try mounting the external drive again. If it still fails, read on for more troubleshooting tips.

Your hard drive may be playing hide and seek for a few reasons. If it appears in Disk Utility and is mounted, you may just need to tell Finder to show it for you.

How to Make Finder Show External Drives – How to Fix Mac Not Seeing External Drive

This is another easy fix, assuming it's to blame. You just need to change your Finder preferences to show external drives.

• Open Finder by clicking your Mac's smiley face in the Dock or just clicking an empty spot on your desktop.

• In the left corner of the menu bar, click Finder > Settings.

• At the In general guide, make sure External disks are checked if you want the drive to be displayed on your desktop.
  
• If you want to see the external drive in the Finder sidebar, click the button Side bar guide and be sure to check out External disks under Locations.
  

Hopefully you will see your external drive after these steps. If not, continue reading.

Troubleshooting stubborn units that refuse to come out of hiding

If using Disk Utility to mount or repair the drive doesn't help, and it's not a matter of your Finder preferences, we have a few more issues that could be at play. These are usually easy to fix, but first you'll have to narrow down what's happening.

• Power play: Your external drive requires power, which is drawn from the USB or Thunderbolt port to which it is connected. If your hard drive isn't getting enough power, it will take a nap instead of working. You can test this by connecting the drive to a different USB/Thunderbolt port on your Mac or to a powered USB hub.

• Cable capers: A sneaky cable could be pretending to be connected when it's just sitting there. Try replacing the cable and this may solve the problem.

• Format gaffes: Maybe your hard drive speaks Windows (NTFS), while your Mac only understands macOS (HFS+ or APFS).

• Direct Drama: Your hard drive may be going through a phase, also known as corrupted or simply faulty. If it is corrupted, trying first aid listed above should help.

Let's look at the formatting issue first. If that external drive came from the Windows world, there's a good chance it was formatted as an NTFS drive.

How to reformat your external drive to be Mac compatible

Fortunately, even if the drive is formatted as something your Mac can't read, you can reformat it to be Mac compatible.

• First, if there is data on the external drive that you need to save, back up those files to a Windows computer.

• Then connect the drive to your Mac again and launch Disk Utility.

• Click the drive in the sidebar and click To switch off. You can also right-click on the drive and choose To switch off in the contextual menu.
  
• In the Delete dialog box, click the drop-down menu next to Format. If you want to swap the drive between Mac and Windows, choose ExFat for the format. Otherwise, you can use APFS, macOS Extended, or any other format you want.
  
• If desired, give your external drive an appropriate name. When finished, click To switch off.

If everything is fine with the external drive, it should appear on your Mac from now on. If it previously contained data, eject the drive and plug it back into your Windows PC to restore those files.

Bonus Tips for Pesky External Drive Problems

Sometimes, unfortunately, the steps above don't help. However, there are a few more options to check out.

• Power Check: If your drive needs more power, try a USB-Y cable. This type of cable allows you to connect your unit to two USB ports at the same time, doubling the power it receives. You should also check the unit's external power supply to see if it has one.
• Reset NVRAM: For older Macs, resetting NVRAM can be like a mini spa day for your Mac's memory. Do this by restarting your Mac and pressing Command+Option+P+R as soon as you hear the startup sound.
  • If your Mac has Apple silicon (M1, M2, etc.), a simple restart will resolve this. No keyboard shortcuts needed!

Final Thoughts: Embrace the External

Having an external hard drive is like having a digital attic – great for storage, but sometimes a little difficult to access. If your Mac is giving your external hard drive or SSD the silent treatment, remember, it's not you, it's the technology. With a little patience, a few cable movements and a few clicks, you'll have them chatting like old friends in no time!