In some tech forums, especially in Apple support communities, many users had reported issues where the USB flash drive was empty, the USB files did not show on the Mac, but space was used when they connected the pen drive to a Mac. Here's a real-life example:
I have an 8 GB USB flash drive that when I plug it into my MacBook, the flash drive shows up but files disappeared from the USB drive. The "get info" tab shows that there are about 5 GB of files stored on the flash drive. How do I recover these files?
When this happens, the USB drive may look empty in Finder even though the data is still stored on the drive. The files may be hidden, the file system may be corrupted, or the USB drive may not mount properly.
This guide explains why the USB is empty but space is used on a Mac, and how to recover your files safely before fixing the drive.
Why Are Files Not Showing on the USB Drive on Mac
Normally, when you open a USB flash drive on Mac, pen drive, or thumb drive on your Mac, it mounts automatically and displays all files in Finder. However, sometimes the USB drive appears empty even though some or all storage space is still occupied.
The common causes of the USB being empty but showing space used on the Mac are as follows:
- The file system on the USB drive is corrupted.
- The USB drive uses an incompatible file system, such as NTFS.
- The USB drive fails to mount properly.
- There is a connection issue between the USB drive and the Mac.
- Files on the USB drive are hidden in Finder.
- macOS, drivers, or related software are outdated.
First Step: Recover lost data from the USB flash drive on Mac
If you didn't back up important data on your USB, you need to conduct data recovery on the USB drive right away when you finally find files are disappeared from the external hard drive on your Mac or from the flash drive. If your USB drive contains important files, recover the data before trying to repair the USB drive, such as using First Aid, reformatting, or writing new data to the drive.
Mac data recovery software may help if files are lost and not overwritten. iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac is easy to recover lost/missing/disappeared files from unmountable, corrupted, unreadable, inaccessible, formatted USB flash drives, external hard drives, hard disks, sd card, memory cards, etc.
What's more, it is fully compatible with macOS, helping you find all your data when USB files are not visible on Mac:
- Connect the USB flash drive that is not showing files on Mac.
- Free download, install and launch iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac.
- Select the USB drive, then click Search for Lost Data to start scanning for disappeared files.
- Preview the scanning results, choose files you want then click Recover. Remember to save the recovered files to a different location to avoid data overwritten on this USB.
How to fix USB files not showing up on Mac
After you've recovered all your important files from the USB drive, try the next solutions to fix the files or folders on the USB file not show up on Mac.
Solution 1: Show hidden files on flash drives
Sometimes files are hidden in Finder, causing the USB drive to appear empty.
Option 1: Use a keyboard shortcut
- Open Finder and access the USB drive.
- Press Command + Shift + Period (.) to instantly toggle to show hidden files.
Option 2: Run command lines
Terminal is a default Apple application that allows you to perform different operations. To show hidden files on Mac using the command line, just follow these 2 steps below:
- Launchpad > Others > Terminal.
- Copy and paste the following command into the Terminal window, one at a time, pressing the Enter key after each one. defaults write com.apple.Finder AppleShowAllFiles truekillall Finder
Note that this command causes the Finder to quit and restart. When the Finder reappears, you will see hidden files if any exist.
Solution 2: Run First Aid to repair the USB drive
If your USB drive has a corrupted file system that is unrecognized by the operating system, USB drive not showing files and folders on Mac. First Aid is a built-in tool in macOS to repair disks error, you can try out it.
- Go to Utilities, find Disk Utility, and run this program.
- Click Show all devices in the View option and select this USB flash drive in the left sidebar.
- Click First Aid in the top menu of Disk Utility.
- Click Run to check and repair errors in this drive.
Solution 3: Check the USB drive's file system on Mac
Some USB flash drives are mounts but files are not visible when formatted with file systems commonly used on Windows computers, such as NTFS.
macOS can read NTFS drives by default, but cannot write to them directly. In some situations, NTFS compatibility or mounting issues may prevent files from displaying correctly.
You can check the file system in Disk Utility or by selecting the drive in Finder and choosing Get Info.
If the USB drive uses NTFS and you need full read-write access on macOS without reformatting the drive, NTFS tools for Mac like iBoysoft NTFS for Mac can help mount and manage the drive properly while keeping existing data intact. It allows you to read and write the files on the USB, so that maybe you can fix the USB being empty, but the space used by Mac.
If this fix fails, move to Solution 4.
Solution 4: Reset USB ports and manually mount the drive
Sometimes macOS detects the USB flash drive but fails to mount it correctly. You can try resetting the USB service and mounting the drive manually in Terminal.
- Finder > Applications > Utilities > Terminal.
- Type the command below and press Enter.
sudo killall -STOP -c usbd This resets the USB system and might fix the issue. - Then type:
diskutil list After running this command, it sees a list of connected drives. - Find your drive in the list (look for something like /dev/disk2).
- Use the command
sudo diskutil mount /dev/disk2 Replace /dev/disk2 with your drive's identifier.
Solution 5: Reformat to fix USB files not showing up on Mac
If the file system of the USB drive is seriously damaged, you may fail to repair the USB flash drive on Mac with First Aid. Then, you have to reformat the drive to make it usable again. Formatting erases all data on the USB drive. Make sure you recover or back up important files before proceeding.
Here's how to format a USB on a Mac to fix files on a USB not showing up on the Mac:
- Plug your USB drive into your Mac's USB port. Your macOS will recognize it and show it up on the desktop.
- Open Launchpad > Other > Disk Utility.
- Select the USB drive in the left sidebar of your Disk Utility window.
- Click Erase at the top, then set a name for your USB.
- Choose a format from the drop-down menu and select GUID Partition Map as a scheme and click Erase.
- Wait until the erasing process is done. During this process, don't do other operations on the USB drive. Otherwise, it may be corrupted.
- Once it completes, click Done. Then, quit Disk Utility.
Tips to prevent files from disappearing from the flash drive
If you don't want to lose files on your USB drive, there are plenty of things you can do to avoid it happening again:
- Always back up your important files on the USB flash drive.
- Do not install any software that is pirated by illegal operators; install software from trusted sources instead. This will not cause any irreparable damage to your USB partitions or file system.
- Try to avoid performing a sudden force shutdown on Mac when your USB drive is connected to it as this may cause damage to the pen drive.
FAQs
- QHow do I view files on a USB flash drive on a Mac?
-
A
1. Insert your USB flash drive into your Mac's USB port.
2. Click Finder from the Mac Dock.
3. Click the name of your USB flash drive in the left pane under Locations.
This will open the flash drive and display its contents in the right pane.
- QHow do you show hidden files on a USB on a Mac?
-
A
When you insert a USB drive to your Mac, it appears in the left panel in Finder within Locations. If you go to that location and press Shift + Command + Period, you'll be able to see hidden files on it.