Several users have posted on different forums about a situation where their Toshiba external drive is either not recognized or not showing up on Mac. There are several reasons that may lead to this issue.
In this article, we will understand the probable reasons behind this issue, discuss some basic checks, and provide 7 best solutions to fix this issue. At the end of this article, you will also find about a data recovery solution that you can use in case of data loss on your Mac or external hard drive.
Why is Toshiba external hard drive not showing up on Mac?
At times, when you connect your Toshiba external hard drive to your Mac, you face one of the following situations:
- Your Mac does not recognize the drive.
- The drive doesn’t show up on your Mac.
- You come across the ‘Hard Drive not working’ error message.
In any of the above situations, you will not be able to see or access the Toshiba external hard drive on your Mac. The probable causes behind this issue include:
- Abrupt drive ejection without checking the 'safely remove' option.
- Power failure.
- A damaged or non-working USB port on Mac or external drive.
- Incorrect drive file format.
- Outdated driver.
- Corrupt file system on the external hard drive.
- Hardware and software are not updated.
- Unreadable disk structure.
How to resolve the Toshiba external hard drive not showing up on Mac issue?
Here are some methods that you can try to resolve the issue.
Caution: Some of the methods discussed below might result in data loss. You can use Stellar Data Recovery Professional for Mac to recover any type of data lost from your Mac or external drive. The software can help you recover the data even if your Mac has crashed or not booting normally.
Fix 1: Try Resolving Minor Issues
If your Toshiba external hard drive is not showing up, try the following fixes first.
- Check if your connecting USB cable is intact and undamaged. You can replace the cable with a different one.
- Check if your Toshiba drive is properly receiving power by checking the power light. If the light is not on, flickering or non-steady, there is a discontinuity in power supply to the drive. If not, connect your hard drive to an externally powered USB port.
- If you are using a Type C multi-port adapter, try attaching it through a different USB port on your Mac.
- Update the USB 3.0 driver of your Toshiba external drive to the latest version for Mac.
- Shut down and reboot your Mac to reset the USB ports of your Mac system.
If your external drive is still not showing up, proceed with the fixes given below.
Fix 2: Show External Disk in the Finder
The External Disk option allows an external drive to be shown in the Finder app in Mac. To enable this option, follow the steps below:
- First, launch the Finder from the Dock.
- Next, click the Finder tab on top and select Preferences.
- In the Finder Preferences window, click the Sidebar tab on top.
- In the left panel, locate the External Disks checkbox under Locations.
- Make sure that the External Disks box is ticked.
Fix 3: Show External Hard Drive on Desktop
You can also view the external drive on your Mac's Desktop using Disk Utility. Here is how to do it:
- Launch the Finder app.
- Select the Preferences option from the Finder menu.
- In the new window, click the General tab on top.
- Check the tick-box in front of the External Disks option under Locations in the side panel on left.
Your external hard drive will now be shown on the Desktop of your Mac.
Fix 4: Use Disk Utility to Mount Toshiba External Hard Drive
If an external hard drive is unmounted, it might not show up on your Mac. You can use the Disk Utility app to mount your Toshiba external drive. For this, open Finder > Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility. In the Disk Utility window, click and select your external drive and click the greyed-out Mount button on the top.
If the drive is not mounted by the above method, follow the steps below to repair and mount it automatically.
- Click and select the Toshiba external hard drive.
- Click the First Aid button on top.
- Let the First Aid run and complete.
- Once the repair process is completed successfully, your drive will be mounted.
Fix 5: Mount the Toshiba External Hard Drive in Safe Mode
An application on your Mac could stop your Toshiba external hard drive from showing up by obstructing the Mount operation. In such a case, you can mount your hard drive in Safe Mode. Here are the steps:
For Intel Mac
- Shut down your Mac.
- Press the Power button and press the Shift key immediately when you hear the startup chime.
- Release the keys when the logging window appears and log in to your Mac.
For M1 Mac
- Switch on your Mac.
- Press and hold the Power button until the startup disk and options appear.
- Press the Shift key and hold it.
- Now click Continue in Safe Mode.
If you can see the Toshiba external drive in Safe Mode, it means a recently installed app is causing the trouble. Locate the app and uninstall it.
Fix 6: Resolve the External Drive not Showing up Issue using Terminal
You can use the Terminal app to resolve the Toshiba external hard drive not showing up on Mac issue. Follow the steps below:
- Click Finder > Applications > Utilities > Terminal.
- In the Terminal window, insert diskutil list and hit Return to check the basic information of all the storage devices connected to your Mac.
- Locate dev/disk[number] (external, physical) in the command line and note the number shown against the disk in the command.
- Insert diskutil info disk[number] and press Return. (Replace the term number with the number shown against your external drive.)
Note: The diskutil info command will show detailed information about the hard drives connected to your Mac. If your Toshiba hard drive appears here, it is already recognized by Mac. You just need to safely eject it and again connect it to resolve the problem.
- Insert the command diskutil eject disk[number] and hit Return. This will safely eject your Toshiba external hard drive.
- Again, insert the diskutil list command and press Return. The Terminal will not show your external hard drive this time.
- Now physically remove the Toshiba external hard drive and reconnect it to your Mac.
Check if the 'Toshiba external hard drive not showing up on Mac' problem is resolved.
Fix 7: Format the Toshiba External Hard Drive and Change the File System Format
If none of the above fixes have worked, then there is a high possibility that the data on your external drive is corrupted or the file system format of the drive is not compatible with Mac. You need to format the hard drive to erase the data and change the file system format. But before proceeding, recover your data using the data recovery solution provided later on in this article.
To format the drive and change the file system format, follow the steps below:
- Launch Disk Utility on your Mac.
- Select your Toshiba external hard drive from the sidebar on the left.
- Click the Erase tab in the Disk Utility window.
- In the pop-up window, enter a name for your drive and select Mac OS Extended (Journaled) in the Format section.
- Click Erase and confirm.
Now eject the drive and connect again to check if the Toshiba external hard drive not showing up issue is resolved.
To Conclude
As your drive is now showing up on Mac and you have resolved the problem, you might need to check if all the data on your drive is intact. However, you need not worry even if you have lost any data. With Stellar Data Recovery Professional for Mac, you can recover all the data from your Toshiba external hard drive. Moreover, you don’t need expert assistance to get your data back. This DIY software is easy-to-use and can recover almost any type of file, including photos, videos, documents, emails, etc.
Tech Enthusiast and Senior Writer at Stellar®
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