HomeYodot Mac Data RecoveryMac Hard Drive Recovery SoftwareMacBook Do Not Recognize External Hard Disk
“I have a 1 TB Seagate external hard drive that I used to back up my PCs and tried to connect it to my MacBook Pro to transfer the files over from my old computers. But the MacBook won't recognize the external hard drive at all. I cannot find my drive anywhere! I checked all my system preferences and everything seems to be right. Still why am I having this issue? Data present on hard drive is very much important for me, as it contains entire back up of my old PC. So kindly help me out to solve this issue”
This is the general issue which you may face while using external hard drives. No need to panic. First, make sure that external power supply is properly powered on and cables are connected correctly. And check that the drive is accurately plugged in, and hasn't wriggled its way out of the port. Also check for loose, damaged or worn cables. If everything is perfect but hard drive is not detecting then remove unrecognized hard drive from your MacBook > Restart MacBook > Connect hard drive, Open Finder window (File > New Finder Window) and scroll down to Devices. The hard drive should be here (underneath Remote Disc) > If not, check External and Not Showing Up sections in Disk Utility > If the hard drive is present, check whether it is mounted or not? Check underneath it for a volume. (It will be grayed out if it’s un-mounted) > Highlight the volume and click the Mount icon.
Read Case Study: Whooping 94% data recovered from unmounted external drive on MacBook. We hope the blog helped you make your Mac recognized the external SSD. The listed causes of an unrecognized SSD also helped you in pinpointing any issues with the SSD. If you have successfully recognized your SSD on Mac, do share with us in comments. One week ago it worked fine and now my macbook pro will not recognize my external hd. Have turned off and restarted. Unplugged and replugged no avail. Hoping someone can help me as i'm not tech savvy. My Macbook Pro 2013 won't recognise my WD hard drive. I have tested my usb ports with other external drives and there is no issue there. I bought a new cable for my hard drive yet it's still not recognised. The hard drive does receive the power to run and there a no power issues.
Even after trying above steps MacBook is not detecting the drive, then issue might be within external hard drive itself. Mac might be unable to recognize it because of various reasons such as virus infection, improper operating, hardware issue, bad sectors etc.
So now, it’s time to look for reliable external hard drive data recovery Mac as the data present on external hard disk is crucial. You should be enough wise while choosing any such tool. The application which you select should ensure the perfect restoration of your data. So here we are suggesting you the most appropriate and trust worthy software called Yodot Mac Data Recovery.
Retrieve data from external hard drive that’s not recognized by MacBook:
Yodot Mac Data Recovery software ensures trouble-free and safe Mac data recovery from your unrecognized external hard drive. It is the most dependable application for your Mac OS X, as it restores data not only from external hard drive; but also from inaccessible, deleted, formatted, re-formatted, re-partitioned and non-bootable Mac volumes, even in severe data loss conditions. It has ability to retrieve files from trash on MacBook pro. It can regain lost as well as deleted data from HFS+, HFSX and FAT drives and including the latest Mac OS X 10.11 (El Capitan) it supports major versions of Mac OS. Also the read-only feature of this utility keeps the original data intact hence, ensures secure recovery of data.
Procedure to Restore Data from Unrecognized External Hard drive:
- Download Yodot Mac Data Recovery software and install it on your MacBook
- Connect the external hard drive from which you need to restore data and run the application
- Among 'Volume Recovery' and 'Formatted / Re-formatted Recovery' options present in main screen; choose Volume Recovery
- Select the connected hard drive from displayed list of drives
- Select scanning type from “Smart Scan” and “Normal Scan” options
- Select specific file types if you wish, else click on Skip button
- Mark data which you need to recover using either “File Types View” or “Data View”
- Preview and ensure data recovery prior to save
- Browse a destination to save the retrieved data
Suggestions:
- Safeguard your external hard drive from being damage
- Always maintain multiple backup of your vital data
- Handle storage devices with care
Related Articles
- Navigate the best way to rescue data from MacBook failed hard drive with the aid of proficient Mac data recovery softwareKnow how to restore data when hard drive becomes dead on Apple computer by visiting this page.
- Visit this page to know about recovering data from Apple external hard drive on your Mac PCs.Worried about your precious photos and videos, important files and folders on Seagate external hard disk? Then go through this page to get solution.
- Find the required information in this page to restore data from corrupted external hard drive on Macintosh computer.This software shows you the causes of hard drive corruption and the best way to recover files from it.
- This page will let you know how to recover missing dta from crashed external hard drive on Mac OS X.Read this article to know about how to restore data from crashed Apple hard drive on Mac computer.
- Has your Mac hard drive gone dead? Put an end to your worries by downloading Yodot Mac Data Recovery tool.Learn different ways to rescue lost data from external hard drive on Mac OS X system.
- Need to know the sharp and effective way to retrieve data from Mac laptop hard drive, Then! just go through this page.Get to know about recovery of erased or missing data from flash hard drive i.e. SSD on Mac machines by navigating here.
- Read this page and know how easily you can bring back data lost or deleted from Apple hard drive on Mac OS. Photoshop software free. download full version.Want to know on how to recover data from a bad Mac hard drive? Make use of the software mentioned in this page
- Bring back missing or inaccessible data from buffalo external hard drive by following simple steps specified here.Did you lose data from your Mac after hard drive crash? Read this page to learn on recovering files from Mac crashed hard drive.
- Go to this page and discover the way to recover data from dead hard drive on MacBook.If you are thinking to rescue your data from Dell 1TB USB 3.0 portable hard drive, then go through this page to know solution for it.
- Read this page to know more about retrieving your deleted/lost files from eSATA hard disk files on Mac.Searching for a way to get back lost data from FireWire hard drives on Mac? Then read this page.
- Easiest ways to retrieve your data from Mac system after hard drive failure.Recover data from an external hard drive after accidental format or formatted due to any reason.
- Do you want to extract erased or missing data from G-Drive external hard drive on your Mac system? Click here to proceed furtherClick over the page and learn how to get back data from G-Technology G-DRIVE 2TB External Hard Drive without any difficulties
- Use technique provided in this page to regain files lost or disappeared from Mac hard drive that won’t mount.This page contains the prominent solution to regain data from Iomega Helium portable hard drive on Mac system.
- Read this article to perform data recovery from Iomega Mac Companion external hard drive on Macintosh system.Read this page to discover various scenarios wherein data will be lost from Iomega UltraMax desktop hard drive on Mac and know the way to recover lost data.
- Visit this page to get idea recover data from LaCie 1TB Fuel wireless hard drive on Mac computer.Click here to know a better way for recovering data from LaCie Rugged Triple 500GB USB 3.0 external hard drive.
- Carefully read this page and easily extract files from LaCie D2 Quadra external hard drive on Mac system.Read this page carefully to know how to recover data from Lacie Minimus 3 TB external hard drive.
- Lost all your LaCie data due to accidental deletion or format, go through this page to find out on how to get back data in effective way.Navigate through this page to know the smart way for recovering lost data from Lenovo Portable F310S 1TB hard drive on Mac.
- Discover safe and secure way of restoring data from MiniPro 2TB external USB 3.0 portable hard drive on Mac system.Click here to find appropriate solution to get back data from mLogic 2TB mBack hard drive on Mac system.
- Navigate here to find out best method to extract data lost or missing from old MacBook hard drive.Well known recovery program to rescue lost / deleted data from Porsche Design hard drive on Mac OS X.
- Read this page to get back files from Rocstor 1TB Hawker encrypted portable hard drive on your Mac OS X computers.This page provides all the information that is needed by you to restore data from Rocstor Airhawk A9 320 GB portable hard drive on Mac machine.
- Browse here to know how lost data from Seagate Wireless Plus 1TB mobile hard drive is recovered on Mac.Macbook pro 13 vs 15 developer. This page will guide you to recover lost or erased data from 500GB Seagate Expansion external hard drive on Mac computer.
- Read this page and know the best method to restore files from Sonnics 320GB portable hard drive on Mac OS X.Navigate through this page to know the best way to get back files from Sony HD-EG5/B 2.5 inch 500GB portable drive on Mac OS X.
- Navigate here to retrieve data from inaccessible or corrupt Storite 2.5 portable slim external hard drive on Mac OS X.Are looking for recovery application to rescue data from Transcend Information 1TB USB 3.0 external hard drive then click here.
- Visit this page to get proper way to recover data from Transcend Storejet 25M3 1TB portable hard drive on Mac system.Get in to this page to know on how to recover lost / deleted data from Verbatim SmartDisk external hard drive.
- Explore this page to find easiest way to get back files from Verbatim Store n Go USB 3.0 1TB portable hard drive.WD Elements SE USB 3.0 Data RecoveryGo through this web page to get an ideal to extract data from WD Elements SE Portable 1TB portable hard disk on Mac machine.
- By following steps given in this page, you can easily restore data from WD My Book Essential 2TB Desktop HDD.Click on this link and get to know how to perform recovery of data from Western Digital VelociRaptor hard drive on Mac OS.
- Struggling to retrieve data from iMac hard drive? Just navigate here to know about ultimate iMac hard drive recovery tool.Go through this article and get to know the simple yet powerful way to get back files from Iomega portable hard drive on Mac machine.
- Get into this page to know procedure on recovering data from failed MacBook Pro hard drive.This article explains clearly about how to regain missed data from wiped Mac hard drive.
- Click here to find out best way to restore Mac hard drive which does not show up.Did your Mac drive get locked while reinstalling OS? Then you must read this editorial to handle the situation.
- Go through this article and get back your lost or erased data from Macintosh hard drive.Approach to retrieve lost data from Mac internal hard drive is just few clicks away; read complete details here.
- Click here regain lost or deleted data from Maxell 2TB external hard drive on Mac system.In this page you will get appropriate method to restore data from portable hard drive on Mac OS.
- Visit this page to retrieve data from dead WD external hard disk on Mac OS X.Know how to save and restore lost data from Mac hard drive when it fails to boot.
- Click here to know the exact procedure for recovering deleted volume from external hard drive on Mac OS X.Click here to find out best way to restore Accidentally Erased Hard Drive on Mac.
- Navigate through this page to learn about how to recover data from unreadable WD portable hard disk on Mac.Find useful information provided in this page to get back data from old Mac hard drive.
- Obtain appropriate resolution to retrieve all your missing data from Samsung S2 portable hard drive on Mac OS.Unformat Mac hard drive using simple and secure data recovery process provided in this page.
- Navigate here to check out the prominent method for recovering data from 2TB Western Digital portable hard drive on Mac.Need a way to access data from iMac internal hard drive that is not recognized? Make use of Recovery software mentioned on this page.
Time Machine system requirements
Before using Time Machine, you need an external storage solution, sold separately:
External Disk Not Recognized On My Mac
- External hard drive connected to a USB, FireWire, or Thunderbolt port on your Mac
- Time Capsule or macOS Server on your network
- External hard drive connected to the USB port of an AirPort Extreme Base Station (802.11ac) on your network
If your backup drive isn't connected using one of these methods, Time Machine might not work. Check with the device manufacturer for compatibility and connection information.
If your setup meets these requirements, but you still can't use Time Machine, check these things:
Check your Mac
- Make sure that your Mac software is up to date.
- Restart your Mac and see if the issue continues.
Check your AirPort base station
- If you're using an AirPort Time Capsule or a drive connected to an AirPort Extreme Base Station, make sure that your AirPort firmware is up to date.
- Restart your base station and see if the issue continues. To restart, unplug the base station from AC power for 5 seconds, then plug it back in.
Check your network connection
If you back up to a server, AirPort Time Capsule, or drive connected to your AirPort Extreme Base Station, make sure that your Mac is connected to the same network as your backup drive. You can select your wireless network from the Wi-Fi status menu.
Check your backup
If you back up to a server, AirPort Time Capsule, or drive connected to your AirPort Extreme Base Station, make sure that your current Time Machine backup doesn't have any issues that could prevent further backups:
- While holding down the Option key on your keyboard, click the Time Machine menu in the menu bar, then choose Verify Backups.
- If Time Machine finds an issue with your backup, it displays a message with details. Follow the onscreen instructions.
Check your drives
- If you're using a drive connected to a port on your Mac or AirPort Extreme Base Station, make sure that the drive is turned on.
- If you're using a USB hub or a similar device, try connecting the drive directly to your Mac or base station.
- If you're backing up to an external third-party drive, check with the drive manufacturer to make sure the drive's firmware is up to date.
- If you're backing up to an external drive, check the formatting of the drive. Time Machine requires that an external drive be formatted like a Mac startup disk: Mac OS Extended (Journaled) with a GUID Partition Table (GPT). If you select a differently formatted drive for use with Time Machine, your Mac automatically prompts you to erase it for Time Machine.
Reformatting a disk erases all data stored on the disk, so you might want to move important files to another disk first.
If your drive is already formatted correctly, turn off Time Machine, then check it for problems:
Mac Not Recognizing External Drive
- To check the drive of an AirPort Time Capsule, follow the steps to verify an AirPort Time Capsule drive.
- To check an external drive connected to your Mac, open Disk Utility from the Utilities folder of your Applications folder. Then use the First Aid feature in Disk Utility to verify your disk. Do this for your startup disk as well.
You can turn Time Machine back on after your drives are verified or repaired successfully.