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600GB Files on external drive showing 0 byte on new Mac

I copied a 600GB folder consisting of many audio and video files to an external drive from my 2014 MacBook Pro. I then accessed it from my new 2021 MacBook Pro so that I could edit the files. But the files are not showing up, except for the folder. Opening "Get Info" shows the drive has 0 byte. However, the files are all there when I access it from the old MacBook Pro. The permissions are set to allow read/write access to everyone. How can I resolve it? BTW, the new Mac is running macOS Monterey and the external drive is formatted with Mac OS Extended (Journaled).

Best Answered by

iBoysoft author Jenny Zeng

Jenny Zeng

Answered on Tuesday, August 5, 2025

Your external drive or adapter may have compatibility issues with macOS Monterey, rendering it not showing files properly. Here are my suggestions:

  • Disconnect the external drive and reconnect with a different USB cable.
  • Directly connect to the new Mac or use a different adapter.
  • Update the operating system and retry.
  • Repair the external drive with Disk Utility First Aid
  • Press Command + Shift + period to reveal hidden files.
  • Reformat the external drive on Mac and redo all steps.

Those who need to recover data from the drive can use iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac. It can retrieve inaccessible files from external hard drives, USB flash sticks, SD cards, etc. This software supports Mac OS X El Capitan and later and is compatible with Intel, T2, M1, M2, and M3 Macs. On top of that, it allows you to preview the files for free.

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