My WD Elements external disk with my MacBook Pro backups became invisible to my Mac today. Does not appear in Disk Utilities. LED light is on and it is vibrating as if spinning, but does not load. What to do?
Whenever you connect an external drive to your mac, the storage drive may not show up on Desktop, Finder, or even on Disk Utility due to various reasons:
- USB connectivity problem
- macOS preference settings
- Partition map damage
- Device incompatibility
- Physical damage on a drive
However, to fix the issue, you can try the below methods:
- Check the USB connectivity
- Enable visibility of external hard drive
- Update macOS
- Repair external hard drive by using Disk Utility
- Repair external hard drive by using Terminal
- Erase the external hard drive
- If none of the above works, then the drive needs replacement
Further, you can also check the below link for steps to be followed in each method mentioned above:
Hope it helps!
Problem seems to be the WD drive software. With no drive plugged it, it had been the biggest power drain on my Mac, shown as the top user of high amounts of power, so I quit that app. Guess it is needed to use the encrypted disk. After restarting, disk was able to load. But it’s a shame the WD software drains so much energy when not in use. Why is that?
If your WD Elements external disk isn’t appearing in Disk Utilities but the LED light is on and it’s vibrating, it might be a connectivity or software issue. First, try using a different USB port or cable to rule out hardware problems. You can also restart your Mac and check if it helps. If the issue persists, and you’re still dealing with the disk drill external hard drive not showing up problem, consider using Disk Drill or another data recovery tool to attempt accessing the drive https://www.hаndyrecovery.com/external-hard-drive-not-showing-up-mac/. If none of this works, the hard drive may have a deeper issue, and you should consult a professional.
That helped a lot, thank you! I also came across some helpful information regarding external hard drives not showing up, which I thought I’d share. If you’re dealing with this issue, I found this article: https://www.cleverfiles.cоm/howto/external-drive-not-recognized-windows.html. It offers several practical solutions and step-by-step instructions to get your external drive recognized again. The guide covers various troubleshooting methods, from checking the drive’s connection to adjusting settings in Device Manager.
I think this was already resolved earlier. Please stop spamming. @lexfurther
From your description, the good news is that your drive doesn’t seem completely dead. The issue is more likely with the file system or the connection rather than the physical disk itself. For solutions, you can check here: [5 Ways] How to Fix External Hard Drive Not Showing up on Mac
Try plugging the external hard drive directly into another port on your Mac to see if it’s recognized. Alternatively, you can shut down your Mac, unplug all external devices, wait 10 seconds, and then restart it.
Next, click the Apple icon in the top-left corner of the screen. Hold down the Option key on your keyboard and click System Information. Select USB in the left-hand column. Check if you see “WD Elements” or “USB Mass Storage Device” in the right-hand list. If it’s displayed, the hardware connection is normal, but macOS cannot mount it (usually due to a system process freeze); if it’s not displayed, the hard drive interface, cable, or the hard drive itself is damaged.
You can also check out other solutions mentioned here: External Hard Drive Not Showing Up on Mac: Diagnose Before Fixing
