Feb 04, 2018 Try mounting from command line using 'mount' command. Need to know a couple of things: device name - get this from a 'diskutil list' command - its something like /dev/disk3s3 or whatever. Is the partition slice for the problematic drive. Aug 28, 2019 Usually, an external hard drive will be mounted automatically on your Mac once you plug it in, and you can access data on this drive. However, this time, your external hard drive is not mounting or recognized by your Mac. It's annoying when you find that you are unable to mount external hard drive on Mac, just like the user below. If the drives still mount on another Mac I would suggest transferring any data off you need on it to the other drive and then Erasing it in Disk Utility to clean off any possible corruption that might stop it from mounting on a new OS. Nov 14, 2019 Mac not formatted to display external drives on the desktop. It could be that your Mac already recognizes the device, but just isn’t showing its icon on the desktop screen. Even if that is the case, the drive will still appear in the left-hand column of the Finder menu under Devices.
Summary: If your external hard drive is not mounted on Mac, you can't access data stored on it. Here is how to fix external hard drives, including external hard drives, SD cards and USB flash drives, etc., not mounting on Mac issue without data loss. You can also download iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac to recover lost data from unmountable external hard drives first.
Usually, an external hard drive will be mounted automatically on your Mac once you plug it in, and you can access data on this drive. However, this time, your external hard drive is not mounting or recognized by your Mac. It's annoying when you find that you are unable to mount external hard drive on Mac, just like the user below.
'I have a 500 GB older HP external hard drive, formatted as macOS Extend journaled on MacBook Pro 2014 and I have been using it to do Time Machine backups. Now after updating to macOS Mojave, this external hard drive just won't mount. The main drive shows in Disk Utility but the backup partition is not showing up. I can't do First Aid as it doesn't show up. Any ideas? Thanks! I need help to recover my important files from this unmountable external hard drive.'
So, this article will give you some information about why your external hard drives won't mount on your Mac, as well as teach you how to fix this disk problem as this table shows.
Tips for fixing external hard drive not mounting issue
Before you go further, there are some tips that deserve your attention. When your disk become unmountable on Mac, you should not go straight to reformat this external hard drive, especially when you have important files on it. This is because reformatting will wipe the data on this drive and cause serious data loss if you don't have a copy of a data backup.
On the contrary, you should stop using this external hard drive right away. The reason for such cautiousness is that any further operation is very likely to overwrite your original files and make them irrecoverable.
Key takeaway: Best software to take note in mac pro.
Now, let's go into details about the external hard drives not mounting on Mac issue.
Why an external hard drive is not mounting on Mac?
You probably go crazy because you don't know why this external hard drive is not mounting on Mac. As a matter of fact, this problem could be caused by many factors, such as damaged file system, virus attack, unsafe ejection or any other improper operations.
Here are some common ones.
But no matter what the reason is, the first and most important thing for you probably is to fix this disk problem.
Basic suggestions on external hard drive not mounting problem
In case you miss anything necessary, you can also have some basic checks as following when you are unable to mount an external hard drive on your Mac computer.
1. Re-plug your external hard drive to another port or try another USB cable. A faulty connection, though it is foolproof, is often the key to fix the external hard drive not mounting issue, in that users always forget to check if the port is wobbly or if the cable is broken.
2. Try a super slow jam. Strange but true, some users found that their external will mount properly when they plug it in exceptional slow motion. However, if they try and plug in the external hard drive normally, the Mac don't recognize the disk.
3. Check your Finder Preferences. When your external hard drive is not mounting on the desktop, you can open Finder, choose 'Preference' (or press Control +, ) and check 'External disks' both in General tab and in Sidebar tab to show your external hard drive on your Mac computer.
How to fix external hard drives not mounting on Mac issue without data loss?
After knowing what possibly makes your external hard drive unmountable, you can set out to fix this issue on your Mac. There are three solutions suggested in this part, and you can try them one by one to troubleshoot this disk problem without data loss.
Solution 1:Manually mount this external hard drive in Disk Utility
If your external hard drive is not mounted on the desktop or in the Finder, you can try to mount it manually in Disk Utility which is a native disk management tool in your Mac. This is one of the easiest solutions, so you can have a bash.
1. Click Go at the upper left of your desktop and go to Utilities, then launch Disk Utility on your Mac computer.
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2. Click on 'Show All Devices' in View option to list or connected drives.
3. Choose the unmountable external hard drive in the left sidebar.
3. Select Mount in the top center of Disk Utility.
However, if you find that your external hard drive is not showing up in Disk Utility, it is very likely that your disk is suffering some physical damage. In this case, you need to send it to a local data recovery service. Mac os x 10.13.1 startup from external usb drive windows 7. But if the Mount option is grayed out but you can see this external hard drive in Disk Utility, you can try another solution then.
Solution 2:Repair this unmountable external hard drive with First Aid
The second suggestion is First Aid in Disk Utility. First Aid is a very simple tool that is built in your Mac, and it is able to detect and repair directory damage and other disk errors. You are advised to run the tool more than once to ensure you are receiving a consistent result. Follow the instructions and you can correct various disk-related errors via this useful software.
1. Go to Utilities and launch Disk Utility on your Mac computer.
2. Select the unmountable external hard drive on the left sidebar.
3. Select First Aid in the top center and click Run.
Solution 3:Fix the external hard drive not mounting issue by reformatting
If your external hard drive still can't be mounted in Disk Utility after you perform First Aid or First Aid failed to repair it, your drive should have some serious errors like file system corruption.
Under this circumstance, many Mac-noobs would choose to search on Google for solutions when Disk Utility can't repair this disk. Most of you are told to reformat this drive. However, it's not a good idea for people who have important files on this drive. It could be precious family photos, valuable work documents, or any other files.
Instead, if you don't have a copy of a data backup in hand, using this step-by-step guide to recover lost data from this unmountable external hard drive is better than format it directly.
How to recover lost data from unmountable external hard drives on Mac?
As long as your external hard drive doesn't have any hardware problem, fortunately, you can retrieve your files with professional Mac data recovery software - iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac with no fuss.
Best external hard drive Data Recovery - iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac
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Tutorial for external hard drive data recovery on Mac with iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac
1. Free download and install iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac on Mac.
2. Launch iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac.
3. Select the external hard drive that is not mounting and click 'Next' button to scan for all lost data.
4. Preview the searching results, choose files you need, and click 'Recover' to get them back.
Note: You need to save the recovered files to another usable drive. By this means, you will not lose them again when you move forward to the steps to fix not mounted external hard drives in the following part.
5. Have a check to ensure you have got all lost data back.
After having successfully restored all data on this drive, you can set out to erase this external hard drive to fix the disk not mounting on Mac issue.
Tutorial to reformat unmountable external hard drives on Mac
1. Launch Disk Utility.
2. Click the icon of your unmountable external hard drive on the left sidebar.
Mac Os X Bootable Usb![]()
3. Click on the Erase button function on the top of the Disk Utility window.
4. Complete the related information (name, format, scheme), then click Erase button to finish reformatting.
After reformatting, your external hard drive will be assigned with a new file system. And you can go ahead to mount this drive on your Mac normally.
Conclusion:
If your external hard drive like a hard drive, an SD card, a USB flash drive, etc. is not mounting on your Mac, don't be panic. Most of the time, you are going to fix this disk problem with the solutions above. Moreover, if you worry about data loss when the disk becomes unmountable, you can use iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac to recover your files first. Remember that, no matter what disk problem you meet, you should perform hard drive data recovery before reformatting the problematic drive.
First we need to check your Finder preferences and ensure external disks are set to mount to your desktop.
With the Flash Drive connected to the USB port of your computer:
1. Click Finder in the upper left corner of the screen and select Preferences
2. Ensure the check box next to External disks is checked
If the Finder preferences are set to mount external drives to the desktop we will need to determine if the USB flash drive is detected by the computer
Hard Drive Not Mounting Mac
1. Double click the MAC HDD
2. Double click Applications 3. Double Click Utilities 4. Select System Information 5. On the left side selectUSB
If you see Flash Drive listed under the USB hub the USB flash drive is detected properly. You can verify is the drive is mounted by Selecting 'Go > Go to folder' from the file menu and typing /Volumes/ (Note: This is case sensitive). This will open the mount point for all drives connected to the Mac computer. You should see the drive mounted here.
If the USB flash drive is not listed under USB hub please verify other USB devices work properly and if possible test the USB flash drive using a different computer.If the USB flash drive is not detected on other computers or if other USB devices are working properly on this Mac then most likely the USB drive is not functional.
If the USB drive appears non-functional per the above troubleshooting, please contact SanDisk support for further assistance with warranty.
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