WD My Passport Not Showing Up on Mac | Quick Solutions

Try installing the latest WD Drive Utilities, adjust your Finder settings, and use Disk Utility to repair the issue if your WD My Passport isn't showing up on your Mac. If needed, format the WD drive after backing up all important files with a data recovery tool.

Feeling frustrated when your WD My Passport is not showing up on Mac or MacBook? Here's a quick guide to help you jump straight to the solutions:

When you encounter the issue of WD My Passport not showing up on Mac, you might need to dig deeper to identify the possible causes and available solutions. In this article, we will delve into detail about how to resolve issues between your WD My Passport and Mac computer. So, read on carefully.

The primary purpose of a WD My Passport external hard drive is for backup and data storage. If your macOS fails to recognize the WD My Passport, it's not the end of the world. It's best to determine whether the problem lies with the external drive or an issue with the macOS system.

If you encounter the WD My Passport not recognized issue like this user, it's recommended that you first try to recover data from the external hard drive on Mac. Then, try the methods tested in this post to fix the problem.

Recover Data from WD My Passport Using Data Recovery Software

When a WD hard drive suddenly encounters disk errors and you need to recover data from it, you may not have to worry much if you have regularly backed up the problematic WD disk. Instead, it's better to stop using the WD drive and find a reliable Mac External Hard Drive Recovery tool.

Wondershare Data Recovery Wizard for Mac is a reliable data recovery tool that has helped millions of users recover lost, deleted, or formatted data from WD hard drive.

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Instantly Recover Files from WD My Passport

Easily retrieve deleted or lost files from WD My Passport external hard drive on MacBook/iMac with just one click.

With this professional recovery tool, you can fix issues like WD My Passport not working on Mac without losing data. Whether your WD My Passport is an HDD, SSD, external hard drive, or USB device, the tool helps you retrieve missing or lost data from multiple WD storage devices.

If you don't have a full backup of your WD My Passport device, use a Mac hard drive recovery software to save the data from WD My Passport.

Step 1: Ensure that your WD My Passport drive is connected to the Mac. Select the target disk, and choose “Search Lost Files” to access data on the WD drive.

Step 2.  Don't know the exact file path of WD My Passport? No worries, you can choose a specific file type from the left. For instance, you can select “Pictures” to recover deleted pictures on Mac.

Click on the type to filter files on the external hard drive.

Step 3. You can also preview the files from WD My Passport before restoration. By the way, it is recommended to save the recoverable files at a new location. It is not safe to save the files on WD My Passport drive right now.

Apart from recovery, the software also lets you backup WD My Passport to iCloud or any other storage device. Share and recommend this utility on social media to help more WD users!

Fix 1: Quick solution to fix WD Passport not showing up on Mac issue

Here are some quick solutions that might help you resolve the WD Passport recognition issue directly, without trying more complex methods:

- Check the WD My Passport status light. If it's lit, the drive is functioning; if not, it may be physically damaged. - Try another USB cable. It could be a wiring issue inside the cable. Swap it out to see if that was the problem. - Use a different USB port. A faulty USB port can cause your WD My Passport not to show up on a Mac. Try plugging into a different port, or plug in another USB drive to the same port to see if the issue persists. - Restart your Mac or MacBook. A quick way to fix an unresponsive WD drive is to restart your MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, or iMac.

If these quick fixes don't work or you don't have access to them, read on for more effective solutions.

Fix 2: Update to the latest version of the WD Drive Unlock application

On a Mac, you need to unlock your WD drive before you can access it normally. After upgrading to macOS Big Sur or connecting the hard drive to an Apple Silicon M1 MacBook Air, you might see an error message that says, "You must run the WD Drive Unlock application from the WD Drive Unlock CD associated with the drive you want to unlock." If this happens, download and install the latest version of the WD Discovery Desktop App from the official website.

Solution 3: Display WD Passport in Mac Finder by Changing Settings

If the WD My Passport hard drive is not showing up in Finder or on the desktop, it could be due to the configuration of your Finder preferences that prevent Mac from detecting external hard drives. In other words, you might have not allowed connected external hard drives to show up in Finder or on the desktop. Check your Finder preferences using the steps below. This method can also help quickly resolve the issue of USB not showing up on Mac.

Step 1. Go to MacFinder > Preferences > General tab.

Step 2. Choose “External Disks” in the Finder preferences.

Step 3. In the sidebar, select “External Disks” under “Places.” This will make your WD Passport external hard drive appear in Finder.

Select your external hard drive from the Sidebar:

Solution 4: Repair WD My Passport with Disk Utility's First Aid Feature

Sometimes, a Mac won't recognize an external hard drive or USB flash drive because of minor hardware issues that you might not be aware of. You can fix them yourself with a tool called First Aid. It's a built-in macOS feature that helps users fix problems related to disks. This solution won't cause data loss, so you don't have to worry about backing up your data first.

Step 1. Launch Disk Utility using Spotlight. You can also open Disk Utility while your Mac is booting up.

Open Disk Utility via Spotlight.

Step 2: Select the WD external hard drive and then click the “First Aid” button at the top of the sidebar on the right.

Click "First Aid".

Click “Run” to proceed and fix external hard drive on Mac. Then, the utility will start to check and fix your WD My Passport external hard drive.

If the problem was due to a hardware error, running First Aid may have fixed things. Feel free to share this method with your friend! If that didn't work, move on to the last method.

Fix 5: Format WD My Passport External Hard Drive

Formatting the hard drive is the easiest way to return it to its factory settings. This means deleting all data and settings on the hard drive. You can rely on this solution because when you erase everything on the hard drive, you also permanently remove any problematic files along with them. If you had previously backed up your external hard drive, you could restore from the backup after formatting. If not, you can still rely on data recovery software. Download the Professional Version of Data Recovery Wizard for Mac NOW!

Now, you can begin formatting the WD Passport external hard drive.

Step 1: Open Disk Utility, and then click on the WD My Passport device.

Step 2: In the sidebar, select your WD Passport drive and click the “Erase” button.

Step 3: Click the Format pop-up menu, and choose a file system format.

Step 4: Enter a name for the device, then click Erase.

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This article provides a comprehensive guide to help you resolve the WD external hard drive not showing up issue under different circumstances. It's worth mentioning again that when this problem occurs, you should first use the Data Recovery Wizard for Mac tool to recover files from the WD Passport hard drive.

FAQ: WD Passport Not Recognized on Mac

In this section, you can find more information about the WD My Passport not detected on Mac issue:

Why doesn't my WD My Passport external hard drive show up in Finder on my Mac?

There are many reasons why this might happen on a Mac:

• The hard drive is not properly connected to the Mac
• The external hard drive is not mounting on the Mac
• The hard drive has an incorrect format
• The hard drive is damaged or failing
• The Finder preferences settings are incorrect

2. Will formatting WD Passport fix the not showing up issue on Mac?

Yes, but you should back up your WD Passport before formatting it. If you forget to back up the hard drive beforehand, you can try using the Data Recovery Wizard for Mac tool to recover a formatted hard drive on your Mac.

3. Can I fix my WD Passport issue without losing data?

Of course, you can solve the WD Passport issue with the following methods. Before the solutions, you can choose to back up the disk in advance:

Check the WD Passport Status Restart your Mac or MacBook Update WD Discovery Desktop Change Finder Settings Repair WD Passport in Disk Utility Format WD My Passport