Check if the file system of the external HDD is recognisable: The reasons behind for not showing up. Many factors can lead to the problem of external hard drive not showing up in Windows or Mac like: Drivers on Windows are outdated, the power supply is insufficient, USB outlets or hard drive is damaged, partition problem, bugs in the file system, or any issue in partition. But good news is that you can troubleshoot all these issues. Joined Apr 29, 2006 Messages 4,560 Reaction score 366 Points 83 Location St. Somewhere Your Mac's Specs iMac 27' 3.4 GHz, 256 GB SSD, 2 TB HDD, 8 GB RAM. HDD, hard disk drive, is the basic storage device in computer. Especially the external hard drive is very convenient for users to carry data along with them. Yet, some Mac users said that the external hard disk is not showing up when connected to the computer. In this essay, we will analyze this situation and tell you how to solve the problem. Here is the fix for External Hard Drive Not Showing Up on Mac issue. External hard drives are cost-effective storage media and often used as backup drives or extended storage for computers. Once an external hard drive is plugged into a Mac through the USB port or a USB hub, the Mac will show its icon and name on desktop, in Finder and in Disk.
- 1. Windows 10/8/7 Backup
- 2. Backup Computer/Laptop
- 3. External Drive
by Anna SherryUpdated on 2020-09-29 / Update for Windows Tips
The external hard drives can easily store data up to several GigaBytes. That is why they are widely used by students, entrepreneurs, and other employees to store important files and access them later. But sometimes, when you plug an external drive into your Mac or Windows, it is unrecognized, or don't show up. It can be very frustrating if you don't know how to fix this issue.
However, many users have reported that they lost important data while trying to resolve this issue. So, this article will present some easy methods to fix the issue of hard disk not detected and also to recover lost data using third-party software.
Why Is External Hard Drive Not Showing Up Mac?
Many factors can lead to the problem of external hard drive not showing up in Windows or Mac like:
Drivers on Windows are outdated, the power supply is insufficient, USB outlets or hard drive is damaged, partition problem, bugs in the file system, or any issue in partition.
But good news is that you can troubleshoot all these issues.
How to Fix External Hard Drive Not Showing Up Mac and Windows 10?
So, it you are encountering any of the above issues, following paragraphs will help you deal with this problem.
General Methods for Both:
1st: Check the Device Plugging in Properly
First of all, make sure the external device is plugged in properly. Many times, it is connected loosely and users face the issue of toshiba external hard drive not showing up on Mac/windows.
2nd: Examine Cable's Quality to Fix External Hard Disk Not Detected
Sometimes, there is an issue with the power cable of the drive. Best free mac productivity apps. When you connect the drive to Windows or Mac and its light doesn't turn on then there is an issue with the cable.
So, try to use another cable to examine if the issue of seagate external hard drive not showing up windows 10 persists.
3rd:Switch to Another USB Port to Solve Hard Disk Not Detected
A Windows or Mac has more than one USB ports. Most often, one of them is damaged. So, try to plug in the USB in any other port to solve the issue of seagate external hard drive not showing up windows 10.
4th: Using Another Mac/Windows
If Seagate external hard drive flashing but not showing up then it can be a possibility that all the ports of your Mac/Windows are not working, that is why you should use connect external drive into another Mac or windows.
5th: Make Sure Support the Drive Format
To make sure that your computer supports the external drive in Windows:
- Press Windows + X buttons on your keyboard and type ‘disk management'and press Enter.
- It will open a window bar showing all the internal and external drives. Check if if the name of your external drive exists here.
If you don't see the problematic external drive in the list, it means the system might not support the drive format.
Similarly, to check the format in Mac:
- Go to Apple (in the toolbar), then select About this Mac and go to Storage and see if the external drive is shown here or not.
Useful for Mac
1st: Change Your Preferences on Mac
It can happen that an external hard drive not showing up on mac desktop screen but your Mac has already detected it. In such a scenario, you have to change system preferences ( basically settings) on Mac:
- Choose Apple menu > System Preferences > and then select the preferences you want to set.
Useful for Windows:
1st: Troubleshoot the Disk Management
A very useful method of fixing this issue is by troubleshooting the hardware. To do that:
Go to the Control Panel and search for the Troubleshooting icon and open it.
Now click on the Hardware and Sound option and from the left panel, select Hardware and Devices option and then click on Next. The windows will automatically troubleshoot the issue.
2nd: Fix the Driver Issue
Often, drivers for external drives are not working properly on your Windows and you have to check and fix them by:
- On your keyboard, press Windows + X keys and
- select Device Manager from the pop-up menu and
- then click Expand Disk drives option.
Here, right-click on the external drive that is not working and from the three available options i.e., Update driver, Uninstall device, and Properties according to the issue and complete the process by following the steps on the prompt screen.
How to Recover Data When External Hard Drive Files on Mac/Windows?
Many users lose data from the external drive while trying to fix it or it may also crash unexpectedly on your Mac/Windows resulting in data loss.
But Tenorshare 4DDiG for Mac Data Recovery helps to recover all types of lost files from the external drive back to your Mac. So, to retrieve the lost data on Mac, follow the below guideline:
After installing UltData-Mac, open it on your Mac and select a location ‘External Drive' on your Mac where lost files were present. Then click Scan to begin the process.
Now, the software will search for all the deleted files from the external drive and show them on the screen.
Here, select the files you want to restore, and click Restore and choose a location on your Mac to save the recovered files. Don't select the same external drive from where you lost the data.
Similarly, if you are using a Windows and want to recover the lost files from an external device to your computer, then Tenorshare 4DDiG for Windows Data Recovery empowers you to recover any kind of lost data. To do so: Slot machine free coins.
Download and launch 4DDiG for Windows Data Recovery on your computer and select the external drive where lost files were present and click on Scan.
It will take some time to scan the drive and show all the deleted or lost files on the screen.
Now, check the files you want to restore and click Recover and then select a location on your computer to save the retrieved files.
Conclusion
To conclude, many times it happens that your external hard drive is not showing up in mac but with above-mentioned fixes, you can easily troubleshoot this issue by yourself. Also, if you have lost data from external drive, then you can easily recover it back using Tenorshare 4DDiG for Windows Data Recovery or Tenorshare 4DDiG for Mac Data Recovery. Its user-friendly interface helps users to easily recover any volume of lost data on Mac/Windows.
FAQs about External Hard Drive Not Showing Up on Mac/Windows
Reasons for External Hard Drive Is Not Showing Up Mac
Some common reasons for hard drive not showing up in Mac are;
- Drivers on Windows are outdated
- power supply is insufficient
- USB outlets or hard drive is damaged
- partition problem
- bugs in file system
- or any issue in partition
How Do I Fix My External Hard Drive Not Showing Up on My Computer?
You can fix this issue by many methods like:
- Check the Device Plugging in Properly
- Exam Cable's Quality to Fix External Hard Disk Not Detected
- Switch to Another USB Port to Solve Hard Disk Not Detected
- Using Another Mac/Windows
- Make Sure Support the Drive Format
- Troubleshoot the Disk Management
- Fix the Driver Issue
- Change Your Preferences on Mac
Nov 23, 2020 • Filed to: Answer Hard Drive Problems • Proven solutions
While the external hard drive connected to the Windows computer or Mac, and the device did not show up. How to fix external hard drive not recognized? Don't worry, in this guide we will show you the best solution to fix the hard drive not recognized problem.
This problem will cause by some partition issues: the external hard drive partition got damaged, the file system got crashed, the drive errors in Windows computer, or the dead USB ports. You can try the hard drive on another computer or connect it with other USB ports. If it does not get working, you can follow the next solution to fix the external hard drive not recognized on Windows computer and Mac, and you can recover lost data from external hard drive with Recoverit Data Recovery.
Part 1. How to Fix External Hard Drive Not Recognized on Windows
In windows, this problem can be because of partition issues, dead USB ports, driver windows conflicts, file systems, dead or outdated drivers. Here are the steps you can follow to fix this issue in case of USB flash or external hard drives:
Step 1You might be plugging in the USB cable in a dead USB port. Unplug your external hard drive and plugin it in some other USB ports. Now, see if it is present there in the My Computer window. If not, follow step 2.
Step 2Now, look for the external drive in the Disk Management Window. For this, click Start and then click Run or press windows key + r, press enter after typing diskmgmt.msc in the Run dialog. This will open the Disk Management Window. Now, look for the external disk in this window. In this window, you can find your drive even if it is not recognized because of no partition. If you cannot find the drive in the Disk Management window then you can go for step four.
Step 3If it is not recognized by plugging in some other port or it is not visible in the Disk Management Window, then there might be some issue with the external drive. Check it on some other computers. Now, follow step 1 to step 3 in that computer in case the external drive is not recognized. If the problem exists with another computer also then something is wrong with the drive, otherwise follow step 5:
Step 4If it is working in some other systems but not in yours, Windows is having some problem with the drivers. To diagnose a driver problem, open the run dialog by pressing Windows + r and type 'devmgmt.msc'? Now press enter. Expand Disk Drives and look for a device having a yellow exclamation mark. This yellow exclamation mark indicates a problematic driver. Now, right-click on that device and read the error message after selecting properties. This issue can resolve in the following two ways:
- Click on the update driver button for installing updated drivers.
- Uninstall the driver and restart your computer. After restarting, the Windows will automatically reinstall and reconfigure the driver.
Now, plug in the external drive again or follow step 6 if the drive is still not recognized.
Step 5Problem in partitioning and formatting can also be a cause of this issue. Partitioning and file system issues can be fixed by using Windows Disk Management tools. To create a new partition, right-click inside the unallocated space and select New Simple Volume. You can create a new partition by following onscreen instructions. Sometimes, your drive is formatted with the ext4 file system of Linux, NTFS file system, HFS Plus file system, or FAT32 file system which is not recognized by your Windows. Reformatting of the drive can resolve this issue. For this, right-click on the partition, select format, and then select the file system. Here, it is important to know that all files in the drive will be deleted. Therefore, copy your files in some other systems before proceeding.
Video Tutorial on How to Fix External Hard Drive Not Showing Up
Part 2. How to Fix External Hard Drive Not Recognized on Mac
Like Windows, Mac also detects an external drive automatically. If it doesn't, follow these steps:
Step 1 First of all, look for the external hard drive in the finder window. For this, click on File and then click New Finder Window. Now, look for the drive below the remote disk.
Step 2 If the external drive is not there, make sure that the USB cable is properly plugged in the external hard drive and the port.
Step 3 Sometimes, the drive is connected but not mounted. To mount a drive, open Disk Utility and look for the drive in the list. If it is there, check below it. Now click on the mounting button to mount it. Open a Finder window to see if the drive is mounted or not.
Step 4 If you still cannot find it in the finder, it might not be getting enough power. Single USB ports can provide only 5 V. In that case, make use of USB cable having one USB connection for the external HD and two for Mac. This will supply the power required by the external hard drive.
These steps for fixing an external hard drive not recognized on Windows and Mac are suitable for external hard drives of all capacities and manufacturers. However, if still the issue is not resolved, you can avail of professional help.
Part 3. The Best External Hard Drive Data Recovery Software
http://hgiovpi.xtgem.com/Blog/__xtblog_entry/19240562-gran-turismo-4-ntsc-iso#xt_blog. While the external hard drive got damaged and did not detect on the computer, after you fix the problem, you should your data back. We will introduce the best external hard drive data recovery to help you retrieve data back. Recoverit Data Recovery Software is a powerful data recovery program, it can help you recover data from external hard drives easily and effectively.
Recoverit External Hard Drive Recovery Software
Recoverit Data Recovery is the best external hard drive recovery program, it can easily and effectively help you recover lost or accidentally deleted files from the hard disk drive, or another external storage device: USB drive, flash drive, SD card.
Steps on How to Recover Data from External Hard Drive
Download and install Recoverit Data Recovery on your computer. Launch Recoverit Data Recovery and follow the next steps to perform external hard drive data recovery on a Windows computer, if you are a Mac user, you can download Recoverit Data Recovery for Mac to go on.
External Devices Not Showing
Step 1. Connect your external hard drive to the computer, select it while the disk detected on the program.
Step 2. The external hard drive recovery software will start scanning the device to searching the lost files.
Step 3. In minutes� all recovered files will display on the result. You can preview photos, videos, music, Word, Excel, PPT, and PDF. Select your files and click the 'Recover' button to restore.
When the external hard drive got damaged, you can try to fix it with the solution mentioned above. Also, get your data back with Recoverit Data Recovery in simple steps. Download and try it for now.
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External Hard Drive Not Showing Up Mac
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