An external hard drive makes data sharing easy between two systems, as you just have to disconnect it from one system and connect with the other one, but what if it does not show up on your system all of the sudden?
Many Mac users have reported this issue multiple times and the common fixes for the same are listed below.
But not only fixes, but we have also shared the methods for recovering data from the corrupted hard drive using mac data recovery software, the reasons why this problem occurs, and some frequently asked questions that will give you a clear view of the situation.
So without waiting further, let’s straight away jump into the next section of the article.
Why can’t my Mac detect my external hard drive?
Possibility 1
Since you must be thinking Why external hard drive cannot work on Mac but works on windows, the possible reason is the system format. Since Apple has its entirely different ecosystem, it uses different system formats such as:
- Mac OS Extended – macOS 10.12 and previous versions
- Apple File System (APFS) – macOS 10.13 and later versions
- MS-DOS (FAT) and ExFAT – these formats are compatible with windows systems also.
If you are connecting an external hard drive to the Mac system for the first time, and the partition of the external hard drive is not supported by mac, then the possibility of the hard drive not showing up on mac is due to an incompatible system format. This can be easily fixed, we’ll tell you later.
Possibility 2: Loose Connection
Another possibility can be a loose connection which prevents the data to transfer from the external hard drive to the system, thus, cutting the source of power. In such cases, the best way is to replace the cable.
Possibility 3: Corrupted Hard drive
The 3rd possibility could be hard drive failure, or a corrupted hard drive, in this case, an internal issue or physical damage can cause issues with the drive. But not to worry as we will be sharing the method to recover all the data from a corrupted drive.
3 Ways to Fix External Drive That is Not Connecting
- Get A New Cable
The first and foremost fix is to get a new cable. We know that this sounds like a suggestion, not a fix, but seriously, many people don’t even think about changing their USB cables unless it breaks into two pieces.
If your external drive supports thunderbolt ports, USB-C ports, and the USB-A port then try all of these cables and choose the best one, we recommend a thunderbolt cable, anyway. In some cases, the port of the drive or the laptop can be damaged, so before visiting the service center for port change, make sure you try every port on the drive and macbook.
- Change partition format (system format)
As discussed above, system format can also be a reason why external drive does not show up on macbook. We’ll guide you on how to change the file format, and before following the process, make sure you back up all the data somewhere safe.
To change the drive format:
- Connect the drive to the macbook using a cable.
- Now launch disk utility manage by pressing the space bar and CMD at once, and then type “disk utility” and the program will be launched.
- You can now select the drive that you wish to format, by selecting the drive name on the left sidebar.
- Once done, click on erase which will remove all the data from the drive.
- Now you will see the partition named untitled, select it and click on erase.
- Make sure you select Exfat as it is compatible with macOS as well as windows.
- That’s it, you can now see the drive in finder as well as access it easily on your Mac device.
3. Reset NVRAM
To reset NVRAM, follow the steps below:
- Restart your Mac device.
- Now immediately press Option, Command, P, and R for at least 20 seconds and wait until you see the boot screen for the second time.
Once this is done, check whether the external drive shows up or not.
Recovering Data from Corrupted Hard Drive
In case none of the methods work for you, there are possibilities that your hard disk has been corrupted. Since it is corrupted, recovering the important data from it is the need of the hour.
With the help of Recoverit, we will guide you on how to safely recover the lost/corrupted data from external storage. But first, let us see what is Recoverit.
An Overview of Recoverit
Recoverit as the name suggests is software that helps you to recover lost and corrupted data. The software is developed by Wondershare technologies and has helped more than 5 million people around the world to recover data from PC, Mac, and external storage.
The best part about Recoverit is the user interface, which is easy to use that even a non-tech-savvy guy can use it without having to go through a series of youtube videos. Furthermore, the recovery takes only three steps to get back the lost data.
That being said, we should now take a look at the key features offered by Recoverit followed by a brief guide on how to use it.
What Features does Recoverit offer?
Recover files and folders
With Recoverit, you can recover over 200 types of files and folders that include videos, images, audio, documents, outlook archives, and more. Therefore, you can recover any type of file with any extension easily, no need to change software for different extensions.
Recover data from different devices
The next key feature of Recoverit is the support for external devices. It supports a variety of devices such as USB flash drives, memory cards, cameras, sd cards, internal and external hard drives, computers, laptops, and various other storage media.
Easy to use
The best part is that it is easy to use and is friendly for a nontechy person. The user interface is clean and less cluttered with useless features.
What’s new in the latest version?
The latest version that is version 9.6 has introduced support for the latest M1 chip and T2 MAC security, which encrypts the files and startup boot files, a part of apple’s security.
You can try Recoverit for free, which allows you to see the lost files and preview them, but to recover them you will be needing a license key, which can be purchased from here.
How to Use Recoverit?
The process to recover data using this software is pretty easy. Follow this brief guide to know how to recover the lost data files.
- Download the software from the official website.
- Install the software on your macbook and launch it.
- Now connect the corrupted hard drive to the system, and wait until it is scanned by Recoverit.
- Once done, you can see the list of the files that were deleted and also preview them.
- If you have the licensed version, you can restore them in your system.
Conclusion
With that being said, mac devices can sometimes have issues with external devices for which we have mentioned the possible fixes. But at times, it is the external hard disk that is corrupted.
Therefore, we have listed down all the possible fixes along with mac data recovery software, that is, Recoverit, which can help you to recover all the lost data files easily.
We hope this article helped you.
Stay updated with all the insights.
Navigate news, 1 email day.
Subscribe to Qrius
