First, we will check the basics, and from there, we make sure that macOS is set up to display external drives, can mount the drive, and that the drive has no errors on either the disk itself or its file structure. If your external drive still doesn’t appear, we have a couple of simple troubleshooting tips to fix an external hard drive not showing up on Mac. Then, use the Search bar in the upper right-hand corner and search for Disk Utility.įrom there, you can troubleshoot the problem and usually fix it.

If you have trouble finding it, simply open Finder (the icon that looks like a blue and grey face) and click on Applications on the left-hand side.

This is a sub-folder within the Applications folder, with a crossed screwdriver and wrench on the folder icon, while Disk Utility looks like a hard drive being examined with a stethoscope.

If it doesn’t show up in Finder, though, it will surely show up in the Disk Utility within Utilities.

From here, Finder should open, showing your external drive.

You can use the Thunderbolt, USB, or even the USB-C port, depending on the model you’re using.

All you need to do is connect the external hard drive to your Mac or MacBook.

It will take a short while to delete all the files and change the format of the disk.

Enter a name for the drive in Volume label and select the format type in the File system dropdown box.

Right click on the drive and select Format.

Complete the following steps in Disk Management: Use the start menu to search for and open the disk management utility – “Create and format hard disk partitions”.

Select the format type you wish to use and give the drive a name.

Select the drive you wish to format from the list.

Next, complete the following steps in Disk Utility To find it quickly, do a search for “Disk Utility” in the spotlight (magnify glass) icon on the upper right side of the screen. To reformat a hard drive or USB stick first open Disk Utility.

Mac OS Extended (Journaled) – Standard MAC only formatįormat Drive Instructions MAC Instructions.

ExFAT – Compatible with Windows and Mac Operating Systems.This process only takes a few minutes but will erase all files on the drive so make sure you copy off any files you need before reformatting. To copy files to the drive you must re-format it using a different type of formatting. This is common with new drives which frequently come formatted for Windows computers in the NTFS format, which is not comparable with Mac OS.

If you can’t copy a file to your hard drive it likely isn’t formatted for the operating system you are using.

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