'I have a Seagate external hard drive and it wont show up in my Mac. When I plug in the USB cable into the computer, the HDD starts to spin, but it never shows up in the finder or on the desktop. If anyone has any useful information, that would be greatly appreciated.'
I have a SeaGate external drive and for some reason my computer will not recognize it. It makes the noise that it knows something has been plugged in, but I never get the icon in the tray and I never get a drive letter. I've tried plugging it into another computer and it works fine there. Step 1: Launch iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac. Step 2: Select the Seagate external hard drive and click 'Next' button to scan for all the lost data. Step 3: Double-click to preview your images, videos, word files, etc. In the searching results.
It’s a common issue that users may encounter that Seagate external hard drive not recognized/showing up on Mac. Why does the issue happen? There are many clues you can follow and troubleshoot the issue. On this page, we will just share you the tips to troubleshoot and fix the issue.
If your Seagate external hard drive cannot be recognized on Mac after connecting it to the computer, then there are some potential reasons for the issue. For example:
As you can see, there are many issues will cause the Seagate external drive not recognized on Mac. Actually, there are more issues that will lead to the problem. However, please don’t worry. Here are many options for you to try and fix the issue. You can try the methods one by one to do the job.
Actually, there are some problems of the connection will cause the external drive cannot be recognized. Recovery disk mac os x yosemite. For example, If the cable or port is just bad. So please first change the cable and port to check if the issue is related with the connection or port. Normally, if there are issues with the connection, then the disk would not be able to be detected on Mac even in Disk Utility.
Also, sometimes the power supply is not enough will cause the connection not table. Then if your connection cable has 2 plugs, please connect both of them to the Mac to check if it works. Also you can try to use a USB hub that has standalone power supply. It will make the connection more stable.
Besides, there is another quick solution that may work sometimes. Strange but true, some users found that their USB external drives would work when they plug it in exceptionally slowly. It sounds crazy, but you can have a try as it’s really simple to follow.
At last, if your Seagate external hard drive still cannot be recognized on Mac after reconnecting with different and working cables and ports, then please also have a try on another computer. If there is still no luck, the disk should be damaged somehow. You can then try to fix the drive with some other methods, please just read on.
Sometimes it’s the simple things that trip us up. So before performing any complex troubleshooting, let’s look at some settings. Go to Finder >Preferences.
Under both the General and the Sidebar tabs, see the section 'Show these items on the desktop: (or sidebar:)'. Please check and enable the options for External disks.
Now verify that if your Seagate external disks could show up in Finder and desktop.
The easy and effective way to check if the disk could be detected in Disk Utility first. If the disk cannot even be recognized in Disk Utility, there would be connection or other issues, then you need to check and try some other solutions. If the Seagate external hard drive could still be recognized in Disk Utility, then you can try more solutions in Disk Utility directly to fix the issue.
Sometimes, the system will fail to mount the Seagate external hard drive somehow. Then, you can just go to Disk Utility and try to manually mount the drive by your self.
You can just use First Aid in Disk Utility to fix some issues of external drive. After fixing the external drive with First Aid, then you can reconnect the disk to check if it can be recognized again on the Mac.
Sometimes, if the file system of the external drive is not compatible with Mac, then it cannot be show up on desktop or finder normally, such as the NTFS file system. Also, if the file system of the Seagate external drive is corrupted, then you also cannot see and access it directly on Mac.
To format Seagate external hard drive on Mac, it’s very easy. You can just use the Erase button in Disk Utility to accomplish the task.
If you want to format external drive completely, you can also have a try with another simple third-party data erasure software - TS DataWiper for Mac. Please download and install it on your computer first.
TS DataWiper for Mac
After that, please run it and choose the Disk Format option, select your Seagate external hard drive and click the Format button to format it directly.
However, before you format a drive, please check and recall that if there are important files on your not recognized Seagate external hard drive. If so, we suggest you try to recover the lost and wanted files first to another computer. How to recover the data? We suggest you download and try with TogetherShare Data Recovery for Mac first.
TogetherShare Data Recovery for Mac
Powerful & easy-to-use data recovery software
After installing the software, please run it directly. Then you can refer to the following simple and short guide to recover lost data with the software. It can recover lost data from not showing up external hard.
Step 1. Connect and choose Seagate hard drive.
First, connect the not showing up external hard drive to the Mac. Please ensure to choose the Seagate external hard drive to scan and recover data.
Step 2. Scan the Seagate external hard drive.
After selecting the hard drive, please then click the Scan button to continue. It will scan the hard drive directly with different scan methods. Please just wait patiently.
Step 3. Preview and recover lost photos.
Ummy video downloader 1 48 – the simplest video downloader. Once the scan is done, you can check and recover all the wanted files. Please ensure to save the recovered files to another hard drive to avoid further damage to the lost data.
NVRAM is random-access memory which stores information such as screen resolution, startup disk selection, and recent kernel panic information. The SMC is the System Management Controller which is how the Mac interfaces work with some of the hardware components. So you can try to reset the Mac NVRAM and SMC and see if it can fix the issue.
How to reset NVRAM?
Shut down Mac, turn it on and immediately hold down these four keys together for a minimum of 20 seconds: Option-Command-P-R. It might look like your Mac restarts. If the Mac plays a startup chime just like you turn it on, release the keys after hearing a second startup sound.
Steps to reset SMC
Also, you might reset the System Management Controller (SMC.) See these steps below to do the job. If the battery is non-removable, you can do as follows.
1. Shut down and unplug the power adapter.
2. Press Shift-Control-Option keys and power button at the same time. Hold for 10 seconds.
3. Release all keys and reconnect your Mac to the power adapter.
4. Turn on your Mac again.
If the battery is removable, there is the steps to follow.
1. Shut down the Mac, disconnect the power adapter, and remove the battery.
2. Press and hold the power button for 5 seconds.
3. Return the battery and reconnect your Mac to the power adapter.
4. Start your Mac directly.
After resetting NVRAM and SMC, you can then reconnect the Seagate external hard rive to the Mac and check if it will show up normally this time.
Sometimes, you can check and find the disk is recognized normally in System Information. Navigate to the Apple in the upper menu > About this Mac > Storage. You may find the correct size/space information. However, the Seagate external hard drive is still not showing up correctly in Finder. Then we can try to fix the issue with Terminal.
1. Find Terminal in Applications > Utilities > Terminal.
2. Once open, type in the command diskutil list. It will show all the disks.
3. Put in another command into Terminal diskutil info disk* (please change * to the correct number of your disk)to show the detail information of the disk. You can then ensure if it’s the not showing up Seagate external hard drive.
4. Type in the command diskutil eject disk* to eject the external hard drive.
5. Type in the command diskutil list again to check if the external drive is ejected and not in the list.
6. Please unplug the external drive from you computer, then reconnect it. Normally, it will work as usual.
Free 247 checker. To avoid the issue that Seagate or other external hard drive not showing up normally on Mac, we suggest you first don’t pull out your external drive directly from Mac or Windows machine without ejecting first. If you encounter such an issue unfortunately, there are still some methods to try and fix the issue. You can try and check if any solutions work for you as above.
Related Articles
Is your internal or external hard drive beeping or clicking abnormally, for example, Seagate hard drive? Take it easy now! Here we will help you troubleshoot a beeping/clicking Seagate hard drive while providing you with two effective methods to ensure data security.
'I have a Seagate hard drive that I've used for maybe a year and it started beeping. I turned on my Xbox and the stuff on it doesn't show up on the console. 'Reddit
The hard drive is usually nearly silent, but sometimes it emits a muted clicking sound when it is being accessed or turned off. This is totally normal.
However, if you start hearing noises occasionally or sound that you haven't heard before like clicking, beeping, vibration or grinding, there might be something wrong. Some of you have complained about hard drives are making noises during operations such as connecting to your computers, transferring files, etc.
Reportedly, hard drive noise issue often happens on the Seagate external hard drive. Additionally, hard disk noise can also occur if you are using other brands of external hard drives like HGST, My Passport, Transcend, etc. An internal hard drive could also be beeping sometimes.
If your hard drive is making abnormal noises, the next thing to do is to determine if the hard drive is really faulty. If it is, continue reading to follow the instructions below to protect your disk data.
When your hard drive is making clicking or beeping noise, you can try the following five ways to troubleshoot this issue. Just follow the clear instructions below.
Sometimes, the Seagate hard drive beeps if its port is dusty. Follow the guide below on how to clear the dust.
Step 1: Disconnect your external hard drive from the computer.
Step 2: Unplug the cable from your disk.
Step 3: Blow into the ports of your computer, hard drive, and cable.
Step 4: Reconnect the hard drive to the PC via the same cable and check whether the hard drive beeping issue still happens.
Sometimes the hard drive clicking or beeping noise disappears when the power cable is plugged in but returns when you attach the data cable to the hard disk. In this case, perhaps the problem is caused by a damaged data cable.
You can try using a different cable to connect your external hard drive to the computer. After that, see if the beeping or clicking sound is gone.
Another cause of your Seagate hard drive beeping may be a faulty port. So try connecting it to a different USB port, then see if hard drive noise is gone afterward.
Your Seagate external hard drive might beep when there isn't enough power to support it. Therefore, you can try using a USB Y-cable - a cable with two connectors - to get rid of beeping sound. You should make sure the two connectors are plugged to your computer tightly.
Alternatively, you can use a USB hub to connect your hard drive to your PC instead of connecting it directly. Now see if the hard drive is still making the same beeping noise.
The hard drive beeping/clicking sound may still exist even after trying the methods above. In this case, you can try connecting the target hard drive to another computer.
Unfortunately, it is very common for the methods above to not be sufficient to help you out. If the beeping sound or clicking noise persists, perhaps the hard drive has failed. So what should you do? Let's go to the next section to find the solution.
To check your Seagate hard drive, you can use the Windows CHKDSK command line tool. Please make sure the disk can be recognized by your PC, then follow the steps below: (we use Windows 10 as an example):
Step 1: Connect the target disk to your computer.
Step 2: Type CMD in the search box, and then right-click this tool to run Command Prompt as administrator.
Step 3: Type the following command and press the Enter key:
chkdsk g: /r
Additionally, you can also use a professional hard drive testing software to check the external hard drive when your disk beeps. Here, we recommend using MiniTool Partition Wizard; its Surface Test feature can be used to check whether there are bad sectors on the drive.
After launching MiniTool Partition Wizard, choose your Seagate external hard drive, click Surface Test and then click Start Now. If bad blocks exist, this tool will mark them in red.
If you are certain that your external hard drive is causing the strange noises, it's time for you to protect the data security now. Take it easy, we will show you two useful methods below.
The best way to back up your data is to use a piece of professional and free backup software - MiniTool ShadowMaker. As a reliable and safe backup program, it helps you back up files/folders, Windows operating system, disk or partition in simple clicks.
In addition to disk imaging, it offers other two kinds of backup methods: disk cloning and file syncing. The disk cloning method backs up all the data on the external hard drive. The syncing method quickly synchronizes your important files to other locations; these files can be viewed directly.
Now, download MiniTool ShadowMaker for free from the button below and have a try now for data protection.
Step 1: Run MiniTool ShadowMaker, click Keep Trial and then click the Connect button from This Computer.
Step 2: Go to the Backup page, click the Source module, enter Folders and Files to choose the important files on the external hard drive that you want to back up.
Step 3: Choose the destination path to save the file backup image. Here, you can back up your crucial data to a USB flash drive, or your internal hard drive.
Step 4: After that, you can click Back up Now to start backing up files.
If you don't want to back up files to an image in case of hard drive beeping, you can choose to sync files. To do this, enter the Sync page, choose the source files and target path and start syncing files.
You can also back up the disk data via disk cloning in the event of Seagate hard drive clicking/beeping. MiniTool ShadowMaker offers a feature called Clone Disk that can transfer all information on the external drive to another hard drive.
Go to the Tools page, choose your external hard drive as the source disk, select another hard disk as the target disk and then start cloning.
In conclusion, MiniTool ShadowMaker is really useful for backing up your important files in case of hard drive noise. Free wireless security camera software. Now, don't hesitate to download it to create a file backup image, sync files or clone disk.
After finishing the backup, you should consider replacing the hard drive. If MiniTool has helped you, you can share this software with your friends.
In addition to backing up data using MiniTool ShadowMaker, you might prefer recovering data from the hard drive that keeps beeping. If your disk can still be recognized in the event of hard drive beeping, you can choose to perform a data recovery easily with a third-party program.
To do this operation, we recommend MiniTool Power Data Recovery, one of the best hard drive recovery software. It enables easy and effective recovery of files, pictures, videos, etc. from a damaged hard drive without bringing any damage to the original data.
Additionally, it scans not only deleted or lost files but also existing files on your hard drive. Why not download MiniTool Power Data Recovery Trial Edition for free to your Windows 10/8/7 computer and try it now?
Step 1: Launch MiniTool Power Data Recovery Trial Edition to its main interface, then choose a proper recovery module to continue.
If your Seagate external hard drive has only one partition that is recognized, you can use This PC. If the hard drive has more than one partition or the partitions are not showing up, try using Hard Disk Drive to scan the entire disk. Here, we take the latter as an example.
Then, choose the disk that is beeping clicking, and click the Scan button to start a scan.
Step 2: The entire external hard drive is now being scanned. To get the best recovery, wait patiently until the scan completes.
After that, you can go check whether your needed files are scanned and discovered. Unfold each partition in Path, or take full advantages of these features: Find, Filter or Type to search for files.
Step 3 (after purchasing the full edition): Check all the files required and then click Save to restore them to a safe location.
MiniTool Power Data Recovery is able to recover data after hard drive crash effectively and rapidly; you can try it yourself.
Is your Seagate external hard drive beeping or clicking? Try these simple solutions to fix it! If they didn't work and your drive is corrupted, check the disk and try your best to back up or recover important files from the disk.
If you have any suggestion to get rid of hard drive beeping/clicking noise or experience any question when using MiniTool software, please inform of us by sending an email to [email protected] or leaving a comment below.
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