A few hours ago, my drive began making a clicking sound? (3 times for who cares) It’s not being read and I can’t initialize it… Warranty has also expired since it’s from 2020
+i tried a different data cable, didn’t fix it.
not sure if it is a beep or a click tbh
Hi @Luc1 ,
Have you opened a Support Case? If not opened, for more information, please contact the WD Technical Support team for the best assistance and troubleshooting:
The clicking sound can be due to many reasons like a read-and-write head crash, physical damage, wear and tear, misaligned drive lead, Service area problems, and power issues.
The best way to tackle the sound is to stop using the drive because using the drive can worsen the damage
Check for the connection in different USB ports on your computer as well as another computer
If you have figured that these things are not working then chances are that it’s the read-and-write failure and to troubleshoot it the best way is to replace the drive.
This type of drive is very difficult to repair. Attempting to repair a clicking hard drive yourself can be risky and may further damage the drive. So the best thing is to replace the drive. Contact the WD support team before going for a replacement. If you want the data to be recovered then I would suggest you go for a professional data recovery service or expert data recovery software.
That clicking usually means physical damage — like the heads or motor failing.
Don’t keep trying to mess with it; you’ll just make recovery harder. If the data’s important, send it to a pro recovery service.
Otherwise, it’s time for a new drive. This one’s done for.
Have you got a reply from the Support Team?
Can the external hard drive be detected in Disk Management/Device Manager (on a Windows PC) or Disk Utility (on a Mac)? If the drive clicks briefly, you can try checking the SMART status and diagnose logical or surface-level issues.
However, if it is repeatedly clicking and not detected on different computers, there is no need to check the SMART status.
Typically, a clicking drive that cannot be initialized is experiencing mechanical failure. Stop using the external hard drive to store new files. If the data is important, contact a professional data recovery service or use data recovery tools to see if any files are recoverable. Once the data is successfully recovered, back it up onto a healthy external SSD. If the data is not important, replace the old external hard drive as soon as possible.
Learn more about: [Fixes & Reasons]Hard Drive Clicking on Mac
It sounds like your drive may have a mechanical issue, especially if the clicking started suddenly. At this point, avoid powering it on repeatedly, as that can make things worse. Keep the drive disconnected, and if the data is important, look into a professional recovery service. They can check the drive in a controlled environment and tell you what’s still recoverable.
