External drive not showing up on a Mac? 8 fixes to try
2 min read · 8 steps · Updated 2 October 2026
Check the cable and the power of the drive and plug it into a different port, directly on the Mac. Then open Finder, choose Finder, Settings, click Sidebar and tick External disks. If the drive is still missing, look for it in System Information and in Disk Utility.
When a USB drive or stick does not appear, either the Mac does not see the device at all, or it sees it and does not show it. The first case is about cables, ports and power. The second is a setting in Finder or a drive that needs to be mounted.
Menu names are from recent versions of macOS, where the settings app is called System Settings.
Step by step
Check power and cable
Make sure the drive is switched on and the cable sits firmly at both ends. A drive with its own power adapter must be plugged in.
Try another port
Plug the drive into a different USB port on the Mac. If it works there, test another device in the first port. If that fails too, shut the Mac down, unplug it from power for about a minute and start it again.
Connect it directly
Leave out hubs, docks and extension cables. A drive without its own power supply needs the full power of a port on the Mac or of a powered hub. Unplug other USB devices for the test.
Show external disks in Finder
In Finder, choose Finder, Settings from the menu bar. On the Sidebar tab, tick External disks. On the General tab, tick External disks as well, to see drives on the desktop.
Check whether the Mac sees the device
Hold the Option key, click the Apple menu and choose System Information. Click USB (or Thunderbolt) under Hardware. If the drive is listed here, the connection is fine and the problem is with the disk format or its contents.
Look in Disk Utility
Open Disk Utility from Applications, Utilities. If the drive appears in grey in the sidebar, select it and click Mount. If mounting fails, click First Aid to repair it.
Install the maker's software
Some drives, especially ones with built-in encryption, need software from the maker. Download the latest version from the maker's website.
Restart the Mac
Choose Restart from the Apple menu and connect the drive again afterwards.
Good to know
A drive formatted for Windows (NTFS) appears on a Mac, but files can only be read, not written. To use a drive on both systems, see how to format an external drive on a Mac. Formatting erases the drive.
If the message USB Devices Disabled appears, a device is drawing too much power. Unplug devices and connect the drive to a powered hub.
A drive that does not show up on any computer, clicks or gets very hot is failing. Do not keep trying. If the data matters, ask a data recovery service.
In short: Power and cable, other port, direct connection, Finder Settings (External disks), System Information, Disk Utility Mount or First Aid, maker's software, restart.
- Apple Support: If a USB device doesn't work with Mac
- Apple Support: If your device doesn't appear in the sidebar when connected to Mac
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