Home > Questions

Unable to mount external hard drive

I have a MacBook Air (Retina, 13-inch, 2018) running MacOS Catalina 10.15.4. While I connect an external USB hard drive, the MacBook Air does not mount it. When attempting to mount it in Disk Utility, it returns: Could not mount "disk2s2". (com. apple.DiskManagement.disenter error -119930868.) But the MacBook Air still cannot mount it. Any suggestions on how to repair and mount this external USB hard drive so I can copy its contents off? Thank you.

Best Answered by

iBoysoft author Eudora Liu

Eudora Liu

Answered on Thursday, March 9, 2023

As you say, your external USB hard drive cannot mount on your MacBook and you try to fix it with Disk Utility but not work. At this time, you can try to recover your data from an unmounted external hard drive. iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac can give you a hand.

iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac can help you to recover your data such as files, photos, videos, etc. from unmounted external hard drives. And it is compatible with the T2 chip, M2, M1, M1 Pro, and M1 Max and supports macOS and Mac OS X.

Step 1: Free download and open iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac.

Step 2: Choose your external hard drive and click Search for Lost Data.

Step 3: Find and preview the search result.

Step 4: Click Recover and choose a location to restore your data.

Step 5: Check whether you get back your data.

And now you can format your unmounted external hard drive. Here's how:

  1. Connect your external hard drive to your MacBook.
  2. Go to Launchpad > Other > Disk Utility.
  3. Choose the external hard drive and click Erase on the top.
  4. Type in the disk name and select a format and a scheme.
  5. Click Erase to start the process.
  6. Click Done after finished.

After that, try to mount your external hard drive again to check if the problem is fixed.

Or else, you can try the following ways to do some simple checks.

  • Re-plug your external hard drive to another USB port or try another USB cable.
  • Try a super slow jam.
  • Check your Finder Preferences.

People Also Ask

Read More Questions

Read More Advice From iBoysoft's Computer Experts

Fix SD card says full but nothing on it

Fixed! SD Card Says Full But Nothing on It on Mac & Windows?

Explaining why your SD card says full when it's empty and how to fix Switch/Andriod phone/camera SD card says full but nothing on it on Mac & Windows.

SD Card Recovery

macOS Ventura problems and fixes

Top 10 macOS Ventura Problems and How to Fix Them

how to fix macOS Ventura problems: update not found, download stuck, installation failed, stuck on setup, Ventura won't boot, performance issue, etc.

How to Tips

Fix the recovery server could not be contacted on Mac

[Ventura/Monterey]The recovery server could not be contacted

If your Mac says 'The recovery server could not be contacted' when reinstalling or updating macOS Ventura/Monterey/Big Sur/Catalina/Mojave/High Sierra/Sierra, try fixes in this post.

How to Tips