How can I tell if my WD external drive is still functional even though it is not recognized in Windows or Mac? Please note: This answer is highly recommended prior to returning the drive for a replacement. Some of the simple troubleshooting techniques used below can be applied to external hard drives on a Mac as well as a PC. Repair Laptop,Macs & iDevice Face To Face.
Summary: “The external hard drive was not recognized by Mac” error can be resolved by using the help of special tips mentioned in this blog. Also, Stellar Data Recovery Free Edition for Mac Software can be used as a data rescue tool to retrieve the files stored on the external drive.
Why Western Digital External Drive Not Recognized Error shows on macOS:
On Mac, knowing why a Western Digital drive is not being detected plays a significant role in identifying and resolving the issue. Some of the common issues are:
After a sudden power surge while the drive is being used for file transfer process.
If WD suffered physical damage from mishandling or dropping of the Western Digital drive.
Due to abrupt system termination when the drive still connected.
Malware on the external drive.
Owing to wear and tear of the Western Digital hard drive due to continuous overuse.
OS corruption making the WD external drive unrecognized.
Tips to Solve Western Digital Hard Drive not Recognising
Certain tips could prove helpful in resolving the WD unrecognized error :
1. Open Apple’s Disk Utility to see if you can get the Mac to see the Western Digital (WD) drive there. Find Disk Utility by opening Spotlight (Cmd + Spacebar). Then start typing Disk Utility, press enters to open the program. Look in the list on the left to see if the Western Digital (WD) hard drive appears there. You could try running the First Aid through Disk Utility. To do this, click on the “First Aid” tab and select Run. If after running First Aid the Mac finds errors, then you can solve it by “Repair Disk” option
2. If there is no volume listed, the Mac is not able to access the Western Digital (WD) drive. The Mount option will be greyed out.
3. Make sure your Mac is set to show mounted Western Digital (WD) drives on the desktop. Go to Finder > Preferences > General and make sure that there is a tick beside External Drives.
4. Try another Mac to see if you can access the Western Digital (WD) drive there.
5. Try a Windows computer – perhaps the Western Digital (WD) drive is formatted for Windows and can’t be read by your MacBook, iMac or Mac Mini.
Important Note: Formatting the Western Digital (WD) hard drive is another option to retrieve the lost data from an inaccessible Western Digital drive. However, right immediately after formatting the hard drive make sure you do not write anything to it. Do not store any data or attempt to access the hard drive. All your previous files are recoverable until new ones are overwriting them.
Once the formatting gets finished, immediately disconnect the drive from the computer. You can then recover the lost data by using Stellar Data Recovery Free Edition for Mac Software.
Wd Mac Driver
Software Recommendation for Data Recovery from Western Digital Drive:
After the formatting completed, just run the Stellar Data Recovery Free Edition for Mac Software to recover the deleted files and folder stored on Western Digital (WD) external drive
The Mac data recovery software treats any Western Digital (WD) external drive as another hard disk and recovers the inaccessible data from it. Stellar Mac data recovery software provides certain additional features along with a basic data recovery option from a hard drive, i.e. Time Machine Recovery, Deleted BootCamp partition, Trash Recovery, Photo Recovery, etc.
Author Note: – Although, there are certain other tricks, which can be implemented to solve the “External Western Digital (WD) hard drive not recognized” error on Mac. However, the above-listed tips and macOS data recovery software are the ones, which I have used and found great success with them. Meanwhile, if you know any other tricks that deserved a place on his list, then please feel free to share them through the comment section.
Also ReadList of Top 5 Mac Hard Disk Drive Repair Software
Summary : In this blog, we’ll share a couple of DIY methods to make your Mac recognize your external SSD. Download the free-to-try Mac data recovery tool to rescue data from an unrecognized external SSD.
Table of ContentWe’ll cover the following methods: 1. Verify external SSD connection 2: Repair external SSD by using Disk Utility 3: Repair external SSD by using Terminal 4: Recover external SSD data by using a data recovery tool
“Hi friends, yesterday, I abruptly removed my Samsung T5 external SSD that was connected to my MacBook Pro. Later, when I reconnected the SSD, my MacBook failed to recognize it. I think the SSD is not mounting. It contains important data that I don’t want to lose. Please suggest any way to make my Mac recognize the external SSD and access its stored data. Thanks.”
Sometimes, your Mac may not recognize an external SSD and may throw disk unreadable error as shown below.
Common factors that make an SSD not recognizable on Mac:
Loose USB cable connection
SSD file system corruption
Unsafe SSD ejection
SSD controller chip damage
A recognized Mac external SSD allows you to perform various tasks on Mac with great ease. For instance, you can use the SSD to transfer data to and from your Mac, clone Macintosh HD, restore data to Mac, and so forth. But, what if an external SSD does not get recognized by your Mac. You can’t access your data from the external SSD any longer. Now, what to do next? How to make Mac recognize external SSD or recover the data stored on it?
The next section describes several DIY methods to fix unrecognized SSD and recover data from it.
1. Verify External SSD Connection
The most common method to fix the unrecognized external SSD issue on Mac is to check the USB connection. In this case, the connecting cables of your SSD may be loose, damaged, or worn out. So, ensure that the SSD connectivity is perfect. You can also try connecting the SSD to a different USB port on Mac or reconnect it to another Mac.
2. Repair External SSD by Using Disk Utility
When your external storage drive turns corrupt, your Mac may not recognize the drive. You can use Disk Utility to mount and repair your unrecognized external SSD. Steps are as follows:
Go to Finder > Applications > Utilities.
Double-click Disk Utility to launch it.
Select your external SSD from the left pane.
Click Mount to mount your unmounted SSD.
Click the First Aid tab from the top pane, then click Run.
Wait till Disk Utility repairs your corrupt SSD.
Watch the video to repair start-up SSD on Mac
My Wd Passport Is Not Recognized On Mac
3. Repair External SSD by Using Terminal
If Disk Utility can’t fix the external SSD, you can use Terminal to mount and repair it. Steps are as follows:
Go to Finder > Applications > Utilities.
Double-click Terminal to launch it.
At the command prompt, type diskutil list, then hit Return. Note disk# of the external SSD.
Type diskutil mountDisk /dev/disk#, then hit Return.
Type diskutil repairVolume /dev/disk#, then hit Return.
When the repair process is completed, go to Terminal > Quit Terminal.
4. Recover External SSD Data by Using Data Recovery Tool
In case none of the above troubleshooting methods works, you can use Stellar Data Recovery Professional for Mac to recover your data from an unrecognized external SSD. Mac SSD recovery through the data recovery software is risk-free, time-saving, and in some cases, the only option for SSD recovery. Steps are as follows:
Step 1: Download and install the free trial version of Stellar Data Recovery Professional for Mac.
Step 2: Connect the unrecognized external SSD. Launch the downloaded software.
Microsoft office 2010 professional plus for mac. Sims 4 create a sim mac. Step 3: On the Select What To Recover screen, select the required file types, then click Next.
Step 4: On the Recover From the screen, select your unrecognized SSD, and press Scan.
Step 5: Let the application to complete the scan. Preview recoverable files from the SSD.
Step 6: Click Recover and save SSD files to a location of your choice.
Note: The trial version of Stellar Data Recovery Professional for Mac allows free external SSD scan and free file preview. To save the recoverable files from an unrecognized SSD, you will need to activate the complete version of the software. Check the activation link for more information
How does the software work on an unrecognized Mac SSD? Vox mac torrent.
ReadCaseStudy: Whooping 94% data recovered from unmounted external drive on MacBook
Conclusion
We hope the blog helped you make your Mac recognized the external SSD. The listed causes of an unrecognized SSD also helped you in pinpointing any issues with the SSD. If you have successfully recognized your SSD on Mac, do share with us in comments.
And, if you are losing hope to get back your SSD files, then don’t hesitate to recover the SSD with Stellar Data Recovery Professional for Mac. This software supports all major brands of SSD (including Samsung, Sony, and WD) formatted with APFS or HFS file system.