external hard drive for mac not showing up on sierra

External hard drive for mac not showing up on sierra how to#
External hard drive for mac not showing up on sierra update#
External hard drive for mac not showing up on sierra software#

Here’s how to reset the USB ports on your Mac by resetting two different system components that might be impacting your ability to use the USB ports on your machine. Your system configuration might need to be reset in order to resolve the USB port problem. It is an essential step in resolving issues when they arise.

External hard drive for mac not showing up on sierra software#

Keeping your software and firmware up to date is good practice even if you are not experiencing problems. Firmware updates address a variety of hardware issues and the functionality of the USB ports could well be one of them.

External hard drive for mac not showing up on sierra update#

4 Update Your Mac’s OS and FirmwareĬhecking for updates may be one of the easiest ways to open USB ports on your Mac. Failure to eject a USB drive before pulling it out of the port can cause the OS to view the port’s status incorrectly and may impact its ability to be identified and accessed. If your Mac is having problems identifying a flash drive it may be that you did not properly eject a drive that was previously connected to your machine. The solution here is to try connecting the flash drive directly to the computer’s USB port or employing a self-powered hub that eliminates the power drain on your machine. Your Mac or MacBook may not be supplying enough power to adequately service all of the devices. This is especially prone to happen if you use a bus-powered USB hub and have multiple devices connected simultaneously.

Your flash drive may not be registering with your Mac due to an issue of insufficient power. If it will not work on different Macs then it is likely that there is a major issue with the device. If another Mac is available, try connecting the flash drive to it in order to verify that the USB drive itself is not the culprit. However, if the drive doesn’t work in any of your USB interfaces you need to look further to determine the problem. If the device works in the second port it indicates that the first port may be damaged and may need to be replaced or repaired. At the risk of stating the obvious, your first move should be to try the device in an alternate USB port available on your machine. The first thing to check if your thumb drive is not showing up on a Mac is if the problem is with the particular USB port that you are using. If that doesn’t work then read these other options. It is often the most efficient way to deal with the occasional hardware glitch that arises from time to time. Some of these fixes are very simple while others may involve performing data recovery on a corrupted or damaged drive.īefore trying any of these options, if it is not too much trouble, try restarting your Mac. Let’s take a look at some of the causes of a flash drive not showing up on a Mac to determine if you can resolve your particular issue. Hopefully, you are not subjected to this issue very often, but if you do experience problems when attempting to view a USB drive there are some potential remedies that you can try.ĥ Best Ways to Fix a USB Flash Drive That Won’t Show Up on a Mac If your Mac won’t recognize the USB drive then you cannot access its data, rendering the device useless. You might be ready to view some photos your friend sent you on a flash drive when you discover that the USB drive is not showing up on your Mac. Unfortunately, circumstances are not always normal when dealing with computers and storage devices. Under normal circumstances, you will have immediate access to the device and the data it contains. Most if not all modern computers come equipped with at least one USB port and it is usually simply a matter of plugging the drive into the port. One of the most attractive features of USB drives is the convenience with which they can be used.