Why is my Mac not recognizing my external hard drive?

The most direct reason your external hard drive could be detected by macOS but can’t be opened is the file system problem. … Open Disk Utility. You can search for it using Spotlight or via Finder > Go > Utilities. Check on your external hard drive, click the First Aid tab and select Run to start running diagnostics.

In the same way How do I reset my WD Passport external hard drive?

How to Reset a WD Drive

1. Leave the drive turned on but unplug it from your computer. …
2. Turn around the drive and locate the “Reset” button on the back panel of the unit. …
3. Unbend the leg of a paperclip and insert it into the hole until you depress the reset button and the paperclip won’t go any further. …
4. Warning.

Subsequently, How do I fix my WD external hard drive not showing up on my Mac?
If your external hard drive is not detected, follow these steps to fix the issue:

1. Go to Applications and open Utilities.
2. In the Utilities folder, select Disk Utility.
3. In the View menu at the top of your screen, select Show All Devices.
4. Select your external drive and click Unmount.
5. Connect your external drive again.

What do I do when my external hard drive is not detected?

What to Do When Your External Hard Drive Won’t Show Up

1. Make Sure It’s Plugged In and Powered On. Western Digital My Book. …
2. Try Another USB Port (or Another PC) …
3. Update Your Drivers. …
4. Enable and Format the Drive in Disk Management. …
5. Clean the Disk and Start From Scratch. …
6. Remove and Test the Bare Drive.

How do I make my external hard drive compatible with Mac?

How to format an external drive in OS X

1. Connect the drive to the Mac.
2. Open Disk Utility. …
3. Select the drive you want to format.
4. Click Erase.
5. Give the drive a descriptive name and leave the default settings: OS X Extended format and GUID partition map. …
6. Click Erase and OS X will format the drive.

How do I format WD My Passport?

2 – Format WD My Passport Using File Explorer in Windows Platform

1. Open Windows File Explorer, locate and right-click on WD My Passport that you need to format, select “Format”.
2. Rename the drive, reset its file system to FAT32 or exFAT.
3. Click “Start” to begin the formatting.

How Do I Unlock My Passport external hard drive?

▪ Go > Applications > WD Drive Utilities

On the Unlock Drive dialog: a. Type your password in the Password box. b. Click Unlock Drive.

What do I do if my external hard drive is not detected?

What to Do When Your External Hard Drive Won’t Show Up

1. Make Sure It’s Plugged In and Powered On. Western Digital My Book. …
2. Try Another USB Port (or Another PC) …
3. Update Your Drivers. …
4. Enable and Format the Drive in Disk Management. …
5. Clean the Disk and Start From Scratch. …
6. Remove and Test the Bare Drive.

Why is my WD Passport not working Mac?

If your WD My Passport drive is recognized by your Mac but does not show up in the Disk Utility window, choose your drive from the left-side panel and click the First Aid button. If prompted, click the Run button to repair your hard drive using the Disk Utility. After completing the repair, click the Done button.

How do I find my external hard drive on Mac with Catalina?

In macOS Big Sur or Catalina, you need to enable the visibility of external disks. For setting your preferences, do the following: Go to Finder > Preferences > General. Under ‘Show these items on the desktop’, check the ‘Hard disks’ and ‘External disks’ checkboxes.

Does WD external hard drive work with Mac?

A Western Digital external hard drive can be used on both Windows and Mac OSX. This is useful if a drive is being used under both Operating System (OS)to move files between the two environments. Most WD Drives come formatted in the NTFS (Windows) or HFS+ (Mac) format.

Why is my external hard drive not detected?

Hard drive not detected error/issue can be caused by the following situations: The USB driver has become unstable, outdated, or corrupt. USB ports become faulty, damaged, or broken. Partition issues on your external USB device.

Why is my hard drive not being detected?

The BIOS will not detect a hard disk if the data cable is damaged or the connection is incorrect. Serial ATA cables, in particular, can sometimes fall out of their connection. Be sure to check your SATA cables are tightly connected to the SATA port connection.

Why is my hard drive not detected?

If your new hard disk is not detected by or Disk Manager, it could be because of a driver issue, connection issue, or faulty BIOS settings. These can be fixed. Connection issues can be from a faulty USB port or a damaged cable. Incorrect BIOS settings may cause the new hard drive to be disabled.

Are all external hard drives Mac compatible?

Any drive formatted with HFS+ will work just fine with a Mac that’s running macOS High Sierra or later. Neither Apple File System nor HFS+ works with Windows, however. … Of course, you can easily reformat most external drives, so you’re not limited to buying only those intended for use with Macs.

How do I make my hard drive compatible with Mac without formatting?

Mac

1. Make sure the storage device is connected to and mounted on the computer.
2. Select Go > Utilities in the Finder menu bar.
3. In the Utilities folder, double-click Disk Utility. …
4. Select the Seagate drive in the left column.
5. Click the Erase tab.
6. Choose a format from the drop-down window.
7. Enter a name for the volume.

How do I format my WD Passport for Mac and PC?

How to Format a Western Digital My Passport to Mac & PC

1. Plug the drive in. …
2. Launch Disk Utility. …
3. Select the WD Passport drive. …
4. Go to the Erase tab. …
5. Proceed to formatting. …
6. Download the Western Digital FAT32 Formatting Utility. …
7. Plug the drive in. …
8. Launch the Formatting Utility.

Can I use my WD Passport on both Mac and PC?

Your Western Digital My Passport drive is now formatted to work on both Mac and PC. And when you plug your My Passport drive into either you will be able to see the drive, read and write files. Copy and Paste files and create folders on both Mac and PC.

Can WD My Passport be partitioned?

Creating A Partition For Time Machine

If you have two Macs you want to back up using the WD My Passport hard drive then you could create two partitions of the right sizes and dedicate each partition to a particular Mac.

How do I unlock my WD external hard drive?

1. go to the wd smartware and go to the security and place a password on your my book.
2. safely remove it from the computer, and unplug it from your computer.
3. plug it back into the computer and place in the password you just made.
4. go back into the security and place the password in again and ask it to take of the password.

How do I unlock my WD Passport without password?

Unfortunately, if the OP has really forgot his/her password, the only way to unlock that external WD Passport would be to format it and lose the data. The password protection on the drive is there to prevent people from accessing your drive, redbart!

How do I recover files from undetected external hard drive?

Step 1: Connect the external hard drive to PC > right-click on “This PC” > “Manage” > “Disk Management”. Step 2: Find and right-click on the external hard drive > select “Format”. Step 3: Reset the external hard drive letter and system file (NTFS) and save all changes.

How do I make my WD Passport compatible with my Mac?

The Steps: How To Format WD My Passport For Mac

1. First Power Up Your Mac. …
2. Look For Your WD Hard Drive On Your Desktop. …
3. Next Start Up The Disk Utility Application. …
4. Find Your WD Portable Drive In The List. …
5. Pick Your WD Drive In The External Hard Drive List. …
6. Look To The Top Of Your Disk Utility Window And Click Erase.

Is WD Passport compatible with Mac?

The regular My Passport Ultra is compatible with Mac OS after reformatting, but users that know that they will be using a Mac might find this model to be easier. It comes with 256-bit AES encryption for added security, as well as compatibility with Apple Time Machine.

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