Resolved: Recover Data from an External Hard Drive Never Mounted on Mac

The solutions provided to fix an unmounted external hard drive can also be applied to fix unmounted USB drives, Thunderbolt drives, Firewire drives, and the like on your Mac. If you're unable to access or view your external hard drive on the Mac desktop, follow the steps below to make the device accessible without losing any data:

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Have you ever encountered the issue of trying to access an external hard drive on your Mac, only to find it showing up as unmounted? If so, you've come to the right place. In this article, we'll guide you through the steps to forcibly mount an unmounted external hard drive on your Mac's desktop without losing any data.

Now you can use this approach to solve your own problem.

Part 1: Check the External Hard Drive

Before you proceed with the fix for the external hard drive not mounting issue, you should first examine the external HDD to figure out the real reason behind the unmount error.

Follow the troubleshooting steps here to identify the issue:

1. Check the cable

Please ensure that the external hard drive's data cable is correctly and securely inserted. If it is, make sure it's firmly connected. Also, verify that the external hard drive is properly connected to your Mac via the cable. If not, unplug and reattach the drive to your Mac. If the data cable is damaged, replace it with a new one to resolve the issue.

# 2. Switch USB ports

Try another USB port, then plug the external hard drive back in. If the drive shows up now, you're all set. If not, try the next method.

# 3. Check the File System on Your Disk

A Mac can read HFS+, NTFS, FAT32, and exFAT formatted hard drives. If your external drive is formatted with a readable format, reformat it to a file system that a Mac can read.

# 4. Disk Utility

To open Disk Utility, follow these steps: 1. Open a new Finder window > Applications > Utilities, then double-click Disk Utility to launch it. 2. Check if your external hard drive is visible in the sidebar of the Disk Utility window.

• If it appears, your external hard drive is okay and you can proceed to the next two sections to easily mount the drive and recover your data. If you don't see an icon for your external hard drive under "External," then there's likely an issue with the drive. You'll need to repair or replace the hard drive, as it may be damaged. If the hard drive has completely failed, your options are limited.

Part 2: Ejecting an “Unmounted” External Drive

Mac Disk Utility is a professional tool designed to address most disk management issues on a Mac, functioning similarly to the Disk Management tool in the Windows operating system.

When a storage device such as the one shown on this page becomes unmounted, Disk Utility can also help remount it and return it to a healthy state:

Step 1. Open a new Finder window, click on “Applications,” and then open “Utilities.”

Step 2: Double-click "Disk Utility" to open it. Find your external hard drive listed under "External" in the left panel.

You should see your external hard drive, labeled “Untitled” (on a Mac, “Untitled” means that it's not mounted).

Step 3: Select the uninitialized external drive, then click the "Mount" button in the Disk Utility toolbar.

"Uninstall and make external hard drive recognizable"

After that, you can restart your Mac and reconnect the external hard drive. You can then proceed to check if you can access and use the existing data on the external hard drive once again.

If not, proceed to the next part and retrieve all lost and existing data from the external hard drive easily.

Part 3: Recover Lost Data after External Hard Drive Mounting

In theory, if your external hard drive becomes inaccessible after mounting it with Disk Utility on your Mac, the issue is probably with your hardware. This isn't due to the mounting process, but something with the device itself.

The best thing to do is to use professional Mac hard drive data recovery software to get your saved data back from the device right away. Data Recovery Wizard for Mac can scan and recover all existing and lost files from external hard drives on Mac OS X and macOS.

Follow the step-by-step guide below to recover data from an external hard drive:

Step 1: Connect the USB drive to your Mac

Plug in the USB flash drive to your Mac correctly. Launch the Tools Data Recovery Wizard for Mac. Select the flash drive and click “Search for Lost Files” to have the software scan for lost files on it.

Note: Before you proceed with data recovery, it is recommended that you click “Disk Backup” from the left sidebar and create a backup of your USB drive to prevent further data loss. After backing up the USB drive, the software can recover data from the USB drive backup, and you can then remove the USB flash drive and use it again.

Select your USB drive and search for lost files

Step 2: Look for Lost Data on the USB Drive

Once the scan is complete, all the files will be displayed in the left pane of the scan results.

Step 3. Recover data from the flash drive

Select the files you wish to recover, then click the “Restore” button. To prevent overwriting your data, do not save the recovered files back onto the USB drive itself.

Note: Before proceeding, make sure to back up your data to a secure location in case the external hard drive is not safe for storage.

Additional Tip: Format an External Hard Drive for Compatibility with a Mac

As we mentioned, if the external hard drive's file system is not recognizable by your Mac, it might not mount to it. Additionally, if the external hard drive remains inaccessible even after mounting, you might need to format the device to ensure compatibility with your Mac.

Here are the steps:

Step 1: Connect the external drive to your Mac, and then open Applications > Utilities. Double-click Disk Utility to launch it.

Step 2. In Disk Utility, select your external drive and click “Erase” in the top pane.

Step 3: Next to “Format,” set the external drive to “Mac OS Extended (Journaled).”

Step 4: If you want to rename the disk, do so here, and then click “Erase” again to confirm.

After that, you can restart your Mac and reconnect the external hard drive. You should then be able to access and save new data to the drive again.

"People are also asking."

Some Mac users might still be unclear about the mount and unmount issues on a Mac. Here, we've gathered some frequently asked questions about mounting and unmounting Mac drives, with brief answers below each. Find your answer now.

"Unmounted hard drive" refers to a hard drive that is not currently mounted. In computer terminology, "mounting" means connecting a hard drive, USB device, CD/DVD, or other storage medium to the operating system so it can be read from and written to. When a hard drive is unmounted, the operating system cannot access the files and data on it. This could be due to the device not being connected properly, the operating system not recognizing it, or the user intentionally unmounting it to prevent data access.

A mounted drive on a Mac is recognized by the operating system, allowing you direct access to any files saved on it.

However, when the drive was disconnected, it was no longer recognizable by the Mac operating system, and did not appear on the computer.

Why won't my external hard drive mount on my Mac?

There can be numerous reasons why a Mac is not recognizing an external hard drive. Here's a list of the primary causes:

• Hardware and connectivity issues
• Disk damage
• Incorrect disk formatting
• Software conflicts
• macOS operating system failures

For these reasons, we recommend that you back up important data more frequently. In some cases, it is acceptable to keep two copies of an important file.

How do I mount a disk or external hard drive that won't mount on a Mac?

1. First, make sure your external or internal hard drive is correctly connected to your Mac. 2. Next, restart your Mac, open "Disk Utility" > Locate and select the unmounted drive > From the top menu, choose "Mount." 3. Finally, restart your Mac again for the changes to take effect.

Once it's done, you should be able to remount the device and access your saved data again. If files are missing from the mounted drive, the Data Recovery Wizard is always on hand to help out.