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Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window. Click on the Erase button. The format process can take up to several hours depending upon the drive size. Steps are optional but should be used on a drive that has never been formatted before, if the format type is not Mac OS Extended, if the partition scheme has been changed, or if a different operating system not OS X has been installed on the drive.

MacOS - External Drive NOT SHOWING / NOT REFORMATTING FIX - SPECIAL TUTORIAL & EASY FIX

Nov 27, PM. Note WD is aware of the issue, has posted about it on their website, and are working on finding a fix. The issue would likely be the enclosure, since there shouldn't be an issue with the bare drives. Fixed an issue related to reports of some customers, under certain conditions, experiencing data loss when updating to Apple's OS X Mavericks Thanks for the quick responses I do not have nay software from wd on my mac I also cannot delete data from my HD I have also restarted, have tried to do a SMC restart i think that is what it was called and other things relating to those mentioned.

Verify same on another Mac if you can Your dead external hard drive is likely fine! Great hope for your 'faulty' external HD. What you and most people dont understand logically I see why is that it makes "no logical sense that it will mount on ONE machine and not another" however as per your mention it would be a minor power variance to the SATA card as different slightly between the Mac and PC. Essentially this means new drives are highly prone to failing in the first few months of usage. This is because of very minor manufacturing defects or HD platter balancing, or head and armature geometry being less than perfect; and this is not immediately obvious and can quickly manifest itself once the drive is put to work.

Hard drives that survive the first few months of use without failing are likely to remain healthy for a number of years. Dec 11, PM. I could hear it working and see the white light on but it was NOT showing up in devices but WAS showing up in disc utility. So I went back up to "Modella" and right clicked on the mac track pad that's a 2 finger click and selected "Mount Modella" and in a few seconds that was mounted.

Hope this helps, feel free to share and save someone else the 4 hours it took me to figure this out.


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Now back to editing! Jan 28, PM. Feb 7, PM in response to Ella R. In response to Ella R. Feb 7, PM. Feb 8, PM in response to rajam In response to rajam.

Feb 8, PM. Mar 18, AM in response to rajam In response to rajam. Disk utility doesn't work either and I cannot find my Passport anywhere but the light is on.

How to access an external drive that's not recognized on a Mac

Were you able to solve this? Mar 18, AM. More Less. Communities Contact Support. Sign in Sign in Sign in corporate. Browse Search. Ask a question. User profile for user: Jps Jps All replies Drop Down menu. Employ the handy all-powerful Terminal, which always comes forward with solutions for difficult problems. Console shows if an external drive or any error is detected under the Errors and Faults tab. If no errors show up, then the problem is not caused by the device.

To sum up, there are lots of potential solutions for a Mac not reading an external hard drive. If we were to pick one, Disk Drill seems to be the most well-rounded, offering plenty of customizations and power in an easy-to-use interface. Our newsletter is typed with care for all the Mac-loving app-connoisseurs.

WD My Passport Not Recognized on Mac

Subscribe for a few notes from us each month containing app tutorials, productivity tips, and the latest Mac buzz. Try free. Start with the basics: Check whether the drive is properly plugged in. Faulty cable. Try connecting the same device with a different cable. Damaged USB or flash drive port. It could be a hardware issue with the Mac.

1. Change the Finder settings

Reboot your Mac. Hopefully, some data damage that can be fixed by restarting. Or press and hold the power button and, when a dialog box appears, click the Restart or press R. Incorrectly formatted drive. Not every external drive is optimized for Macs. It could be that you are trying to connect something only fit to interact with Windows devices. See if the external drive shows up here. For more information, go to the same menu option, then select System Report. Mac not formatted to display external drives on the desktop. Even if that is the case, the drive will still appear in the left-hand column of the Finder menu under Devices.

Fix and Repair WD My Passport Ultra Not Detected/Showing Up Error – EaseUS

To do this, shut down or restart your Mac, switch it back on and immediately press these four keys together for at least 20 seconds: Option, Command, P, and R. It should look as though your Mac has started again; if it has, release the keys when you hear the second startup chime. Hopefully, the hard drive has shown up now. Disk Utility is within System Preferences, or you can find it using Spotlight. If it is visible, then click the option to Mount, which should make it visible on the desktop and in the External Drives option in the Finder menu.

From General tab tick External disks to ensure that from now on it shows on the desktop. How to add cloud storages to Finder You can also mount cloud storage as local drive on your Mac. Repair the failed external drives with First Aid If your drive is having problems, you can try to fix them yourself with First Aid and therefore get access to your files.

How to recover data from a crashed drive Thankfully, there is an app for that. Quit all other applications on the Mac, especially those that may be trying to access the external drive e. Click on the external drive that you are trying to recover files from. If it has partitions, you will see all of them. To avoid the external drive being accessed during the recovery process, click Extras next to the drive or drive partition or file, then select Remount Volume As Read Only.

A padlock will appear, protecting the drive during the process.


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Now click Rebuild or Recover next to the file s you are trying to recover. Once the scan is finished - it may take some time if the files are large - a list of files will appeal. Next, click Mount Found Items as Disk button on the bottom-left below the scan results. Saving to the same drive substantially lowers your chances of recovery.

Why isn't My Passport drive showing up on Mac?

Drag them to another location, such as your desktop or a folder on your Mac. Open the files to ensure they have been recovered properly and safely eject the external drive. A few more tips on getting your files back Macs and third-party apps that look after Macs, such as Disk Drill and iStat Menus come with a S.

The external hard drive should show up as Verified.