Have you tried checking if the drive shows up in Finder but is grayed out? Sometimes macOS recognizes the device but doesn’t automatically mount it. If that’s the case, you might be able to mount it manually through Disk Utility. Just select the grayed-out drive from the list, and click the “Mount” button. This can occasionally solve simple issues.
A slightly different trick is to use the macOS Recovery Mode to check your drive. Restart your Mac and hold down Command + R to enter Recovery Mode. Once in Recovery mode, go to Disk Utility from the Utilities menu. Sometimes accessing Disk Utility this way has enabled me to see drives that weren’t showing up in the regular interface. Worth a shot!
You might also want to consider checking the health of your USB cable and the power supply if your external hard drive has one. Sometimes, the problem lies not with the drive itself but with the connection. If you have another cable or a different power adapter, try using those to connect the drive.
Additionally, consider PRAM and SMC resets on your Mac which can sometimes resolve hardware recognition issues:
-
Reset PRAM:
- Shut down your Mac.
- Turn it on and immediately press Option + Command + P + R for about 20 seconds. Your Mac might restart. Release the keys and see if your drive is recognized.
-
Reset SMC:
- Shut down your Mac.
- Disconnect the power cord.
- Press and hold the power button for 10 seconds.
- Reconnect the power cord and turn your Mac on.
One step further into the “techie” realm: if Terminal commands didn’t do the trick like @techchizkid suggested, you might want to try the fsck command to check and repair the file system if your drive is showing up but remains unmounted or unrecognizable. You’d need to start your Mac in Single User Mode by holding down Command + S during boot. Once at the command line, type:
/sbin/fsck -fy
This command will check and attempt to repair disk issues on your start-up disk. Sometimes it straightens out problems with external drives, too. But be careful; this is kind of an advanced maneuver.
And hey, if all else fails, and your data’s worth it, go for professional services like @techchizkid mentioned.
If you’re considering the recovery software route, Disk Drill is indeed a solid recommendation. It has a great track record and is pretty comprehensive in its ability to recover files across diverse file systems. You can get more info here: Disk Drill Data Recovery Software. Be aware, though, the cost for recovering large amounts of data can still add up, but it’s cheaper than data recovery services.
Whatever you decide to do, best of luck. Of course and like everyone says, this is a painful lesson in the importance of regular backups. Set up Time Machine or some other backup strategy once you’ve got this sorted.