How to fix: External hard drive not showing up Mac Computer

There are a lot of users who reported that they were not able to see their hard drives when they attach it to their Mac computers. This happened to a lot of users who have Mac OS X updates. There are also other reported problems when it comes to the updates of OS X Yosemite.

If you are one of the users who see your hard drive on the Disk utility section instead of the Devices section, then this article is for you.

1. Solution: Check your Desktop

In order to do this, you can go to your “Settings”. Select the “Finder Preferences” option. When you are under the “General” tab, go to your external drive menu. Make sure to select show items on desktop menu.

2. Solution: Check your Disk Utility

Search for your “Disk Utility” section. Click on the external drive that you should see on your left pane. Click on the “Verify Disc” menu. This will fix any minor errors and issues on your hard drive.

3. Solution: Check the Ports and the Connectors

Make sure that you completely connected your hard drive to your Mac using a USB Hub. Readjust the cords and try other ports to make sure that everything is working fine.

4. Solution: Check the Disk Utility Section

1. Go to the “Disk Utility” section. Check if your hard drive is greyed out.
2. Try to connect other external drives to your computer. Check if the other drives are getting recognized by your Mac.
3. From the “Finder window” properly eject your hard drive device.
4. Try to restart your Mac and reconnect the external hard drive again.

5. Solution: Check the “Finder” Menu

1. From your “Finder” type “Go to Finder”.
2. Try to see the path of the hard drive. For example, you can check the following to see if your Mac recognizes your hard drive device: “Volumes/sleekdisk”.

6. Solution: Check your Favorites List

If you notice that your hard drive shows up on the “Disk Utility” but not on “Finder, view your “Favorites List. You can click the Drive and see if it is grayed out. Try to reconnect the hard drive back again.

7. Solution: Restart your Computer

1. Shut Down your Mac for a few minutes
2. Make sure that all the power cords are unplugged.
3. Remove all the USB connectors from your computer
4. Wait for a few minutes and plug your hard drive back in.
5. Turn on your iMac or MacBook Pro again.
6. Only the external drive should be plugged in to the USB port. Check your “Finder” and see if the hard drive appears.

8. Solution:

You can try to install and run the Kext_Utility.app.v2.6.1 or the Onyx maintenance freeware. After running either of the application, restart your Mac computer.

You can try other solutions by reading forums or if you know other solutions that are not mentioned, share them on the comment section.