I recently plugged my external hard drive into my MacBook (running macOS Ventura), but it’s not showing up on the desktop or in Finder. I’ve tried different cables and ports with no luck. Any idea what could be wrong or how to fix this? Thanks in advance!
Check Finder preferences first.
It might sound too simple, but go to Finder > Preferences > General and make sure “External disks” is checked. If it’s not, your drive will be connected but won’t show on the desktop. I’ve seen this trip up a lot of people.
It could be a file system compatibility issue.
If your drive is formatted in NTFS (common for Windows), macOS might not recognize it properly. Open Disk Utility and see if it appears in the left panel. If it does, you might need to reformat it as exFAT or Mac OS Extended (Journaled) — just be aware this will erase your data!
If you don’t want to erase the NTFS drive, you can use an NTFS for Mac tool like iBoysoft NTFS for Mac. This utility can help you read, access, and write NTFS drives on a Mac, making the NTFS drive like a macOS-fully-compatible drive. With it, you can seamlessly use Microsoft NTFS drives on both Macs and Windows computers.
Simply download iBoysoft NTFS for Mac and install it, then this Apple-trusted light software will help you immediately and automatically mount NTFS drives in full read and write mode on your Mac (Intel or Apple Silicon Mac).
It might be a macOS security restriction.
macOS has tightened security in recent versions. If your external drive hasn’t been granted permission, it might not mount. Check System Settings > Security & Privacy. Also, try rebooting or using Safe Mode. System Information > USB can help see if the device is even detected at the hardware level.
The drive is probably dead. Don’t waste your time. Let’s be realistic — if the external drive doesn’t show up in Mac Disk Utility, it’s probably a hardware failure. Older spinning drives, especially, can die without warning. If it’s not spinning or showing lights, it’s likely gone. Better to replace it or contact data recovery services if the data matters.
Don’t give up yet — might be a power issue.
Some external hard drives, especially mechanical ones, need more power than a single USB port provides. If you’re using a hub or dongle, try connecting directly to your Mac. A Y-cable or powered USB hub can also help. I’ve had drives “disappear” because of underpowered ports.
That’s way too harsh — not seeing it doesn’t mean it’s dead. Jumping straight to “hardware failure” is lazy troubleshooting. macOS has lots of layers that can prevent a drive from mounting — power, cables, permissions, and even system bugs. I have had drives not show in Disk Utility but still appear in Terminal using diskutil list. Don’t tell people to toss their drives before checking all the variables.