Can't See SanDisk External SSD Anywhere on Mac (macOS Tahoe)

macos tips
1

I urgently need to transfer files from my Mac to the external SanDisk SSD, but it’s the only device that my Mac has failed to recognize. I’ve tried everything, including using different cables, rebooting my Mac, and even updating to the latest minor update. I’ve tried every fix I could find online, but nothing works. I’m desperate for help. Thx!

2

That sounds super frustrating, but you can try a few things that often work when an external hard drive is not showing up on a Mac.

  1. Check Disk Utility: Open Disk Utility > View > Show All Devices. See if the SSD appears grayed out. If it does, click the Mount button to manually mount it. If it cannot be mounted, run First Aid to repair it.

  2. Check the Finder settings: Open Finder, click Finder > Settings > General, and see if External disks are allowed to appear on the desktop. Then, click Sidebar, under the Locations section, check if External disks are checked.

  3. Try a different port or adapter: If you’re using a hub or USB-C adapter, test with another cable or plug directly into your Mac if possible.

  4. Use Terminal to detect the drive: Run the command in Terminal:
    diskutil list

If the SanDisk shows up there, you might be able to manually mount it with this command:

sudo diskutil mountDisk /dev/diskX

(Replace diskX with the drive identifier of your SanDisk.)

If it doesn’t appear at all, the problem might be due to firmware or power-related issues. Your SanDisk drive may need more power than a single USB port provides. Try plugging it into a powered hub.

Also, a damaged external drive can’t be recognized by macOS and doesn’t show up on the device. In this case, you need to send it to a repair lab.

3

When an external hard drive is not showing up on a Mac, the quickest and simplest way is to use a data recovery tool to help you.

I’ve tried iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac.

Download iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac, install, and open it.

If this tool can detect and show your SanDisk drive, it shows it doesn’t have hardware issues. Maybe it is corrupted. Then, you can directly select the drive on the app’s main interface， click Search for Lost Data, check the scanning results, choose your wanted files and recover them.