Summary: There are several reasons why your Mac won't recognize external hard drive. If you are experiencing external hard drive not mounting in macOS Sierra or High Sierra, read on this post to get potential solutions to this problem. In addition, you can also learn how to recover lost external hard drive data on Mac computer. External hard drives, thumb drives, USB drives, Flash memory cards, and devices like iPod are examples of storage devices that you can connect to your Mac using Thunderbolt, USB, or FireWire cables, or connect wirelessly using Bluetooth. Storage devices (such as external hard drives) can also be available on your network.
Macintosh HD, or the MacBook internal hard drive, is basically the startup drive of most Apple computers. That means if your Mac or MacBook Pro can't mount its startup disk, it is likely that you will experience problems, like your computer gets stuck on the login screen or it does not boot at all. Situations like this can be very annoying, especially if you have critical and important files stored on the 'unmountable' hard drive.
Fret not, because we will teach you what to do if your MacBook Pro won't mount its startup disk. But before we do that, you better have a backup of all your data.
Backup, Backup, Backup!
Before you proceed with fixing the problem, it is best that you back up all your data first. That way, you can easily retrieve or recover your important documents and files in case something goes wrong.
Now, you might be wondering if it is possible to create a backup of your data, especially that your Mac is not even booting. Here's what you should know: your Mac has a built-in Disk Utility, which can be accessed before startup. To use this, follow the steps below:
- Get an external hard drive and connect it to your Mac.
- Switch off your Mac. After five seconds, switch it back on.
- After hearing the startup sound, press the CMD and R keys. Hold them until the Apple logo appears.
- The macOS Utilities window will now appear.
- Choose Disk Utility and hit Continue to proceed.
- You can now start backing up your data using the external drive. Once you have backed up all your data, you can try a few fixes to your 'unmountable' hard drive problems.
4 Fixes to a MacBook Pro That Can't Mount Its Startup Disk
In most cases, mounting is an automatic process that happens as soon as the hard drive is connected to a Mac or MacBook Pro. Then again, drive mounting can be performed manually using the Disk Utility of your machine. It will be discussed further below.
Going forward, assuming you already have a backup of your important files and data, let's proceed with resolving the problem. Below are a few ways to fix a MacBook Pro that can't mount its startup disk:
1. Fix Your Hard Drive.
Sometimes, restarting your Mac is more than enough to fix the problem. However, if that does not work, then you might want to look into the angle that there might be something wrong with your hard drive. If that is the case, you have to boot your MacBook Pro in Recovery Mode via Disk Utility.
To hopefully fix your hard drive, follow these steps:
- Switch off your MacBook Pro.
- Turn it back on by pressing the Power button. But while doing that, press the CMD and R keys as well until the Apple logo appears.
- The macOS Utilities window will open. From there, select Disk Utility.
- From the left pane, choose your MacBook Pro hard drive.
- Navigate to the First Aid tab.
- Click the First Aid button to start fixing your drive.
- Wait for the process to finish before restarting your machine.
2. Run Your MacBook Pro in Safe Mode.
When booted in Safe Mode, your MacBook Pro will start only with the minimum requirements and utilities needed. Animal crossing like games for switch. Autodesk inventor fusion mac download. All other programs and apps that are unnecessary will never be loaded. Hence, if the reason why your startup disk cannot be mounted is a faulty app or program, booting your MacBook Pro in Safe Mode might just fix your problem.
To run your MacBook Pro in Safe Mode, do these:
- Restart your MacBook Pro.
- After you hear the startup sound, press the SHIFT key immediately. Continue holding it until the Apple logo appears.
- If your MacBook Pro boots up properly, then uninstall any program or app you suspect is causing the problem.
- Restart your machine.
3. Disconnect All External Peripherals.
It is possible that a faulty peripheral connected to your MacBook Pro could be causing your startup disk problems. To verify this, follow the steps below:
- Switch off your machine.
- Disconnect all external peripherals connected to your MacBook Pro, including printers, external hard drives, USBs, and scanner. You may leave the keyboard and mouse attached in the meantime.
- Switch on your Mac. If it boots properly, then one of the peripherals is causing the problem.
- Identify the exact cause of the problem by connecting each of the peripherals one by one. Make sure you reboot your MacBook Pro every time you connect a peripheral.
4. Reset the SMC and PRAM.
This may sound like a technical solution, but it isn't. In fact, resetting the SMC and the PRAM takes only a few seconds. How to screenshot and paste on mac.
To reset the PRAM and SMC, follow these instructions:
- Reboot your MacBook Pro.
- After you hear the startup sound, press the Option, CMD, P, and R keys. Hold them until you hear the second startup tone.
- Release the keys. Your PRAM will then be reset.
- Restart your MacBook Pro and check if the problem persists.
- If resetting the PRAM does not fix the problem, try resetting the SMC. Start by shutting down your MacBook Pro.
- Plug your machine into a wall outlet.
- Next, press the CTRL, SHIFT, Option, and Power keys for 10 seconds and release them together.
- Restart your MacBook Pro and see if it worked.
How to Mount a Startup Disk on MacBook Pro
At this point, you probably want to know how to properly mount a startup disk on your MacBook Pro to avoid problems in the future. Well, mounting a startup disk does not literally suggest physically setting it up with all the wires. It simply means making the startup disk available for your system to perform different read and write operations.
If the startup drive is in good shape, your system Disk Utility should see it. Under the Disk Utility window, select your preferred startup disk. Click on it to mount. By now, your new startup disk should be accessible by your operating system.
What's Next?
Now that you know how to deal with your 'unmountable' startup disk problem, it's time that you get your MacBook Pro running fast and smooth by downloading and installing a reliable tool like Outbyte MacRepair. Not only will this tool allow you to conveniently find and fix speed and stability problems, it will also protect your privacy. What more can you ask for from such a powerful tool?
If you know other ways to fix a MacBook Pro that can't mount its startup disk, please share them with us below. We're looking forward to hearing from you.
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Whenever you plug in an external hard drive to your Mac computer, it should show on the desktop or Finder. If you are unable to mount the drive or external hard drive not recognized on Mac, this might be an indication of a hard drive being corrupt or faulty.
Bluestacks premium download. What if you have your important data on the external hard disk? how would you recover data from the corrupt external hard disk?
This issue could be the result of an unsafe external hard drive ejection, virus attack, system crash, file system corruption and some hardware problems, etc.
Mac Pro Not Recognizing External Hard Drive Won T Show Up
This blog provides you a clear insight on different methods to solve external hard disk not recognized on Mac issues.
Case 1: Mac external hard drive is showing up in Disk Utility
Case 2: External hard drive is not showing up on Mac disk utility
Let us start with the first scenario that is the external hard drive is not recognized on Mac but it is mounted in Disk Utility.
Scenario 1: Mac not recognizing the external hard drive
If Mac external hard drive is not mounting on a desktop or in Finder. The next step is to verify the state of the external hard drive in Disk Utility.
macOS Utility is part of the built-in recovery system of your Mac, from which you can boot into Mac and use its utilities (Disk Utility) to repair certain logical errors of the hard drive.
Note: You can make use of all the below-mentioned methods to solve external hard drive not recognized on Mac if and only if it is mounted in Disk utility.
Solution 1: The external hard drive shows up in Disk Utility
Step 1: Go to Finder > Preferences > Sidebar/General tab.
Step 2: Select Device < External disks(or you can find external disks under Show these items on the desktop).
This is the easiest method to make an external hard drive mount on Mac. If there are any logical errors or corruption in the disk, an external hard disk won't be recognized on Mac.
You can try fixing external hard drive not recognized on Mac with First Aid in Disk utility.
Solution 2: The external hard drive not mounting on Mac
The issue that Mac doesn't recognize the external hard drive could be fixed with Disk Utility under Mac Recovery Mode.
Step 1:Restart your Mac and immediately press and hold Command + R keys to get into Recovery Mode, release the keys when you see the Apple logo.
Step 2: Select Disk Utility in macOS/Mac OS X Utilities and click Continue
Step 3: Select the external hard drive mounted and run First Aid to check and repair errors in this drive.
What if you have accidentally deleted the Mac HD in disk utility? Do not worry, click on the given link to fix the issue and recover the data from the Mac drive.
However, if you are unable to recognize the external hard drive on Mac even after performing all the above-mentioned methods, this might be due to severe corruption in the drive. This can be easily solved by reformatting explained in the next solution.
Solution 3: Fix Mac not recognizing external hard drive by reformatting
Note: Reformatting will erase all your data stored on the drive. If you have any important files on the external hard drive, you need to restore data before reformatting. You can recover data using a safe and secure hard drive recovery tool.
Before you face a hard situation of data loss from your external drive use SFWare hard drive recovery tool. The tool is explicitly designed to recover data from all data loss situations from external hard drive including formatting or corruption on the drive. It supports APFS, HFS, HFS+, exFAT, FAT32 file system drives on all versions of macOS.
Once you are ensured all your important data is recovered from external hard drive, try fixing Mac doesn't recognize external hard drive by reformatting.
Step 1: Launch Disk Utility
Step 2: Select the Mac not recognized external hard drive from the left part of the window
Step 3: Click the Erase on the top of the Disk Utility window
Step 4: Complete the related information like name, format, scheme, then click Erase
Computer Not Recognizing External Drive
Reformatting will surely help you in mounting the external hard drive on Mac if it is mounted in Disk Utility. What if the external hard drive is not showing up on Mac in disk utility?
Scenario 2: External hard drive not showing up in Mac Disk Utility
Let us start with some basic tests to make sure the external hard drive is connected securely.
Some initial tests to make your external hard disk recognizable on Mac
- Check whether the external hard drive is properly plugged in.
- Assuming the hard drive is properly plugged in and an external hard drive is still not mounted on Mac try using a different USB cable and port to ensure that they are not at fault.
- See if you can access the external hard drive on another Mac computer
- Try resetting NVRAM by restarting your Mac. Press Option, Command, P and R keys together for 20 seconds. Leave the keys if Mac has started again normally and you hear the second startup sound.
Performing these basic tests should make your external hard drive recognized by Mac. If you are still unable to mount the external hard drive on Mac or Disk utility the drive might have serious hardware problems that cannot be fixed with the above-mentioned methods. It is recommended to fix your hard drive with the help of a local hard drive technician.
Conclusion
It is always rewarding to have back up of data as you never know when you might encounter data loss. However, there are few manual methods that can help you regain access to your external hard drive that is not recognized on Mac. This article also provides you a way out to recover data from the external hard drives if you fail to mount your external hard drive on Mac.
SFWare hard drive recovery tool that supports recovery from all kinds of external hard drives including Seagate, Samsung, WD, Transcend, Toshiba and other external drives.
If you were successful in fixing external hard drive not recognized on Mac issue with the help of this article, do let us know in the comment section below.
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