Summary: Is your USB drive not showing up on Mac? Mac not recognizing USB device? USB flash drive not working on Mac? In this article, we will help fix flash drive not showing up on Mac and Mac not recognizing USB drive.
- Mac Not Reading Flash Drive
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When the Mac USB ports are not working, the solutions above can easily help you fix it. If it is a hardware problem, you may want to consider other options like having a professional fix the device. Tenorshare 4DDiG(Mac). How to Fix USB Flash Drive Not Showing up on Mac - Fix External Hard Drive not Showing up on Mac: USB Flash Drive Not Showing up on Mac: USB Flash Drive is a useful device for every computer user. It is helpful for storage and transfer of important data. It is possible that your flash drive is not showing on your Mac because of insufficient power. Power shortages or fluctuations occur if you are using a hub to connect your flash to the computer. A perfect solution to this is to connect the flash drive directly to the computer instead. The drive also cannot be read in MAC (one 2011 w USB 2 and another 2012 w USB 3). Partition or format in MAC fails. Shop will not refund, called technical support and was asked to get replcaement which will not solve problem. If the USB flash drive is not detected on other computers or if other USB devices are working properly on this Mac then most likely the USB drive is not functional. If the USB drive appears non-functional per the above troubleshooting, please contact SanDisk support for further assistance with warranty.
Normally when you plug a USB flash drive into your Mac, you can find the connected USB device on Mac desktop or in Finder. However, sometimes, the USB flash drive won't be mounted correctly. And then the hard drive won't be showing up on Mac desktop or in Finder. How to fix it?
Now, let's dive into the solution.
Mac Not Reading Flash Drive
How to fix USB flash drive not showing up on Mac?
There are seven solutions to fix USB flash drive not showing up on Mac or Mac not recognizing USB device:
Fix 1: Check USB cable, USB connection and USB ports.
Jump drives are directly plugged into USB ports on Mac while SD cards and NM cards need card readers before you access them through USB ports. That in-between connections, actually, could be the first cause for USB drive not showing up on Mac.
Then, how to check if the USB flash drive is recognized by Mac?
It's easy to confirm that your Mac has already recognized the USB device when it is not showing up in the Finder or the desktop. Simply click the Apple logo at the upper left of your Mac > About this Mac > System report > USB, and then all your connected USB devices will show up with detailed information as the picture below.
Microsoft excel app for mac. If the USB flash drive not detected by Mac due to hardware problems, you won't see the connected USB device under the USB Device Tree.
In case it's the USB port, cable, or card reader that stops your USB drives working on the Mac, you'd better try these things before you proceed with other solutions.
- Try to re-plug the USB flash drive into your Mac and see if it shows up.
- Sometimes, the Mac just is zoning out and fails to recognize the USB flash drive, or you didn't plug the USB drive into USB port in a right way at the first time. So, hopefully, the USB flash drive would show up after a second try.
- Try another USB port to connect this USB flash drive.
- Most computers, including PC and Mac, have multiple USB ports. And some USB ports may be deformed, lack of power, or dusty. In this case, simply try another USB port to connect this USB flash drive to your Mac.
- Reset USB ports on Mac to detect USB drive
- Resetting USB ports on Mac is another way to solve Mac not recognizing USB flash drive problem.
- Step 1: Disable SIP.
- Step 2: Download, install and launch iBoysoft Drive Manager on your Mac and select 'Remount USB storages' to reset USB ports.
- Try to connect the USB flash drive directly to your computer, not via USB-C adapter or USB hub.
- Some models of MacBook Pro and MacBook Air has only one USB 3.0 port, which causes the requirement of an additional USB adapter for more hubs. Inevitably, such transition could be unstable for power supply and data transferring, especially when you bought some cheap and low-quality adapter. Thus, try to connect the USB flash drive directly to USB port on your Mac this time.
- Try another USB cable or a newer card reader.
- Occasionally, you have used the same USB cable or SD card reader for years, which means the cable might broken or the card reader is out of date and some new features are not supported by the old card reader. As a result, the USB flash drive or the SD card is not showing up on Mac. Under this circumstance, simply get a new one and replace it.
- • Learn how to fix SD card reader not working on your Mac?
- Check the type of your USB flash drive by color.
- Usually, the USB 1.0 features a white plastic color, while USB 2.0 is black, and the USB 3.0 is blue.USB 3.0 is usually a blue USB inserts. But all USB ports on Mac computers that support USB 3 don't have blue inserts. In this case, if you connect a USB 2.0 flash device to USB 3.0 slot on Mac, the speed will only reach that of the USB 2.0. As a result, the data transfer rate of the thumb drive would be lowered and the thumb drive won't work optimally.
Fix 2: Change Finder preferences to show up USB flash drive on Mac desktop
Occasionally, your Mac has already detected the USB flash drive but you cannot find the connected USB device on Mac desktop. Thus, you should go to Finder > Preferences > General and make sure the 'External disks' option is checked. Then you'll see the connected USB flash drive showing up on Mac desktop.
Fix 3: Change Finder preferences to show up USB flash drive in Finder
Go to Finder > Preferences, switch to Sidebar tab, and check 'External disks' option under Locations.
You will see the connected USB flash drive in Finder's sidebar.
Fix 4: Reinstall or update USB driver
When your USB device is not detected by Mac, you should check if any USB driver updates are available, please do the following steps:
Step 1: Click on the Apple in the upper left corner of the screen.
Step 2: Select 'Software Update.'
Step 3: Any updates available will be listed and able to be downloaded or you will be told your software is up to date.
Fix 5: Repair USB flash drive with First Aid
If you can see USB flash drive but it is not mounting in Mac Disk Utility, in this case, you can try macOS built-in First Aid to repair the errors on USB flash drive.
Step 1: Launch Disk Utility from Utilities in Applications folder.
Step 2: Select the corrupted USB drive from the sidebar.
Step 3: Click First Aid at the top of the window, and then click Run, wait until the reparation process finishes.
Fix 6: Reformat USB flash drive
If USB flash drive not mounting on Mac is caused by disk corruption, the only solution under this circumstance is to reformat the USB drive. However, reformatting USB flash drive will erase all the files stored on it.
In order to avoid unwanted data loss, it's necessary to recover data from the unrecognized USB flash drive in advance.
iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac is trustworthy and professional USB data recovery software that can recover data from unrecognized USB flash drives, unreadable USB flash drives, and unmountable USB flash drives.
4 steps to recover data from unrecognized USB flash drive:
Step 1: Download and install iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac.
You can't access your data when the USB flash drive is not showing up on Mac due to disk corruption. But with the assistance of iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac, you can easily access your files and get them off the drive. So simply download and launch this USB drive data recovery software on your Mac.
Step 2: Launch iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac.
After making sure the USB drive is properly connected to your Mac, hopefully, the USB drive will show up when you launch this software. You can click on the gears icon at the upper left for preference setup, and then check all 'Scan by' options. This will make it easier to find your lost photos, documents, Word files, videos, etc. on the USB drive.
Step 3: Scan for lost data from the unrecognized USB flash drive.
After setting how the software scans for lost files, you can go ahead to put it into practice by selecting the not showing up USB flash drive and clicking on the 'Scan' button.
Step 4: Mp3 songs of ramayan serial. Check files' condition before you recover them from the unrecognized USB flash drive.
Once the scan process is finished, you can filter the scanning results and find files you want to get back. To ensure those files are in good condition in the corrupted USB stick, you can click to preview them before you finally click the 'Recover' button.
After you successfully recover data from the unrecognized USB flash drive, it is time to reformat USB drive.
4 steps to reformat the USB flash drive:
Step 1: Go to Utilities and open Disk Utility.
Step 2: Select the unrecognized USB flash drive from Disk Utility sidebar.
Flinto 24 6 download free. Step 3: Click Erase at the top toolbar.
Step 4: Finish the necessary information (name, format, and scheme) to format the USB flash drive.
After the process finished, the USB flash drive will show up on Mac correctly.
Fix 7: Ask for help from a local specialist
If the USB flash drive is not showing up in Mac Disk Utility and System Information, it might be physically failed. If you don' have any important data, you can simply replace the damaged USB drive with a new one. But if you have anything important, you'd better send it to a local specialist for data recovery help.
Bonus tips for using USB flash drive
The USB flash drive, pen drive, jump drive, or whatever you call it, is convenient but also fragile to store data based on its special memory units and shape. Then, how can we protect it from corruption and not showing up on Mac?
You may need these tips:
- Don't put USB flash drives in the pockets of your pants of T-shirt, especially, when it's naked. This could keep your drive away from moisture from your body and dust on your clothes. More importantly, it can avoid accident break off when you sit down or bump into something.
- Don't unsafely eject the USB flash drive. Even though it's inevitable for portable drives to be plugged and unplugged frequently, you can make sure you eject it safely and properly every single time.
- Create a backup of your data. Although you have been taking good care of your USB flash drive, you should know that it has a limited life span. Therefore, to avoid unexpected data loss, you'd better do a regular backup of your files.
Before we get into the software fixes, let's start with the simplest solution of all: restarting your Mac. Switch the Mac off and back on again. You'll be surprised at how many problems a quick restart solves.
Next, check the USB device. There's a chance that it could have failed, particularly so if you're using a cheaper cable. Inspect the device visually, looking for damage to the connector and any signs of frayed wiring. If there is no apparent damage, take two different USB devices and test them against different ports. If the devices aren't working on one or all of the ports it's more likely to be an issue with your Mac and not the device.
- Don't put USB flash drives in the pockets of your pants of T-shirt, especially, when it's naked. This could keep your drive away from moisture from your body and dust on your clothes. More importantly, it can avoid accident break off when you sit down or bump into something.
- Don't unsafely eject the USB flash drive. Even though it's inevitable for portable drives to be plugged and unplugged frequently, you can make sure you eject it safely and properly every single time.
- Create a backup of your data. Although you have been taking good care of your USB flash drive, you should know that it has a limited life span. Therefore, to avoid unexpected data loss, you'd better do a regular backup of your files.
Before we get into the software fixes, let's start with the simplest solution of all: restarting your Mac. Switch the Mac off and back on again. You'll be surprised at how many problems a quick restart solves.
Next, check the USB device. There's a chance that it could have failed, particularly so if you're using a cheaper cable. Inspect the device visually, looking for damage to the connector and any signs of frayed wiring. If there is no apparent damage, take two different USB devices and test them against different ports. If the devices aren't working on one or all of the ports it's more likely to be an issue with your Mac and not the device.
A USB device that works on one port but not another is a sign of a faulty port. If this is the case, the only real solution is to contact an authorized Mac specialist for a hardware diagnostics test and have the port repaired.
If the device doesn't work in any of your ports, then continue reading for some potential fixes.
What to do if Mac USB devices are not working
All of your Mac or MacBook USBs not working is actually better news than one failing. It's unlikely that all of your ports would fail at once which means the fix is probably an easy one.
Here are three things to try, starting with the most common fix.
1. Reset the SMC
Macos mojave for mac. Resetting the SMC (System Management Controller) is a simple fix that cures a wide range of hardware issues. Fun games to play on mac. How this is done depends on whether you're using a MacBook or Mac desktop. Magic media marker 2 6 7.
Resetting the SMC on a MacBook
- Shutdown your MacBook.
- Connect the power adapter.
- Hold Shift+Control+Option and the Power button at the same time.
- Release all the keys at the same time.
- Let your MacBook boot up as usual and the SMC will be reset.
Resetting the SMC on an iMac, Mac mini, or Mac Pro
- Shut down your Mac.
- Disconnect the power cord.
- Press and hold the Power button for 5 seconds and release.
- Reconnect the power cord and switch the Mac back on.
2. Check for updates
Outdated firmware and software results in various hardware issues, including. Yep — Mac USB ports not working.
Check for system updates by opening the App Store and clicking on the Updates tab. If updates are available, click on the Update button next to each application that you want to install.
3. Reset PRAM/NVRAM
The PRAM (Parameter RAM) and NVRAM (Non-Volatile RAM) hold information about various USB components. Resetting them could be the solution to your USB woes.
It's a slightly different process to resetting the SMC, but no less difficult.
- Shutdown your Mac.
- Restart it, holding down Command+Option (ALT)+P+R as you do.
- Hold down the keys until you hear a sound and see the screen flash.
- Listen for the chime sound and let the Mac boot up as usual.
4. Uninstall potentially conflicting apps
If the USB ports not working on your MacBook Pro or iMac is a recent issue and there doesn't seem to be any problem with USB devices, it could be that an app is conflicting with USB functionality. If you've downloaded an app from an unknown source there is the potential for it to contain malware, which could also be the cause of the problem.
In any case, it's worth uninstalling recently downloaded and installed apps. If they aren't the reason for the USB ports acting up, you can easily reinstall them from the App Store.
One way to remove apps is to use Launchpad or Finder. Or you can use a quicker, more effective method: CleanMyMac X.
To completely remove an app and every file associated with that app, use CleanMyMac.
CleanMyMac's Uninstaller tool scans your entire system for every trace of an app and completely removes it. Using the tool is every bit as easy as deleting an app manually.
- Download and launch CleanMyMac (free download).
- Click on Uninstaller from the sidebar menu.
- Select the app that you want to remove from the list.
- Click Complete Removal in the Smart Selector panel.
- Hit Uninstall.
While CleanMyMac lets you uninstall apps in bulk, in this case, you should delete apps one at a time until you find the culprit. CleanMyMac also lets you clean up unwanted junk, declutter your Mac and improve performance.
One way to uninstall apps manually is by using the Launchpad:
- Open the Launchpad.
- Find the app that you want to remove and click and hold the icon until it starts to jiggle.
- Click on the X that appears in the corner of the app, then click Delete.
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You can also uninstall apps from the Finder:
- Open the Finder and go to Applications.
- Find the app that you want to remove and drag its icon to the Trash (you might need to enter your admin credentials to confirm you want to delete the app).
- Click on the Trash icon and select Empty Trash.
Usb Flash Drive Not Found
Having one or more USB ports not working on your Mac can be hugely frustrating, especially if you rely on those ports for data backup and external peripherals. That said, USB problems are quite rare and are usually easy to fix. Work your way through these troubleshooting tips until you find the one that works and restore your Mac to its full glory.
Mac Flash Drive To Pc
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