Why won’t my Mac read my external hard drive?

Your external hard drive is not readable on Mac because it is formatted in NTFS, HFS+, or another format not supported by macOS. A loosely connected or frayed USB cable is another possible reason the external drive is not recognized by your Mac. Change the cable to fix the issue..

Do I need to format a new external hard drive for Mac?

If you want to insure full Mac compatibility of a new external hard drive or flash disk, you’ll want to format the drive to the Mac OS Extended filesystem. This is particularly necessary for purchases of generic PC drives, which almost always come preformatted to be Windows compatible rather than for Mac OS X.

What format should I use for my external hard drive on Mac?

The Best Format for External Hard Drives

If you want to format your external hard drive to work with Mac and Windows computers, you should use exFAT. With exFAT, you can store files of any size, and use it with any computer made in the last 20 years.

How do I make my external hard drive compatible with Mac without losing data?

Answer: A: Answer: A: Open Disk Utility, select your drive from the left side list, then click on the Enable Journaling icon in the toolbar. This will do what you want without losing anything.

How do I know what format my external hard drive is Mac?

Open Disk Utility from your /Applications/Utilities folder. Select the hard drive in the column on the left (usually Macintosh HD). At the bottom, you will see Format.

Which format should I use for Mac?

Newer macOS installations should use APFS by default, and if you’re formatting an external drive, APFS is the faster and better option for most users. Mac OS Extended (or HFS+) is still a good option for older drives, but only if you plan on using it with a Mac or for Time Machine backups.

Do I need to eject external hard drive before shutdown Mac?

No. The short answer is that you eject/unmount a storage device when you no longer wish to use it. It is perfectly fine to leave an external drive plugged in if you want it available later for yourself or others (such as a Time Machine back up).

How do you backup files to an external hard drive?

To back up a file or folder, connect the external hard drive to your computer, then simply click and drag the desired items to the external drive. A copy will now exist on both the computer and the external drive. While it’s easy to copy files and folders to an external hard drive, it’s also easy to forget.

Can an external hard drive mess up your computer? ESD damage to your USB drives or ports can cause latency failures that will slow down your data transmission following static shock. Your port or device could also face more severe damage that would essentially fry it and cause it not to work at all. It could also shorten its overall lifespan.

What happens if I don’t eject my external hard drive?

But you do risk confusing your computer, says Remaker. “Symptoms could include: Lost data, corrupted filesystems, crashing programs, or hanging computers requiring a reboot.”

Can you just unplug an external hard drive?

When you use external storage devices like USB flash drives, you should safely remove them before unplugging them. If you just unplug a device, you run the risk of unplugging while an application is still using it. This could result in some of your files being lost or damaged.

Should I unplug my external hard drive when not in use?

External hard drives are designed to be plugged in and unplugged frequently. They sometimes have a power switch on the back that you can toggle to turn them off when not in use. However, if you leave an external hard drive plugged in all the time, it will eventually wear out.

How do you properly eject from a Mac?

To eject drives using the right-click method, simply right-click on the drive you want to remove, and click on the Eject “[insert drive name here]” button. Then, just wait until the drive disappears from your desktop before pulling it out. This can sometimes take up to 5 seconds.

How long can external hard drive stay on?

The simplest answer is that they can run smoothly for three to five years. This means any HDD, whether it’s external or inside of a system. Asking about the longevity of an external enclosure—a metal or plastic housing designed to cover and protect a disk drive from damage—is a different question altogether.

How long does portable hard drive last? The average lifespan for an external hard drive, assuming no physical damage occurs, is around 3-5 years, depending on the make, model and conditions it is stored in. If you’re using an external hard drive to back up your data, you might want to consider replacing it every few years to ensure your data is safe.

How do you maintain an external hard drive? Follow These 10 Tips to Maintain Hard Drive Performance:

1. Think Twice Before Installing or Downloading Software.
2. Install Software That Applies Only to Business Operations.
3. Update the Operating System.
4. Remove Unnecessary Programs.
5. Defragment the Hard Drive.
6. Clean in and Around the Physical Machine.
7. Maintain Computer Security.

Why can’t I add files to my external hard drive Mac?

The drive is set to read-only permissions, so you can’t add or delete files. The external hard drive uses a partially supported file system, like NTFS, which macOS only supports as read-only. The drive is encrypted, meaning you can’t access it in any way until you’ve decrypted the disk.

Why can’t I transfer Photos from Mac to external hard drive?

If Pictures is not an option, go into Finder’s Preferences > Sidebar and check the box Pictures. Right click on the Photos library icon and select Get Info. Verify that you have enough free space for the library on the external drive.

Why can’t I move things to my hard drive on Mac?

If you can’t move or copy a file or folder, you might need to change its permissions settings. You might also need to change permissions settings for the disk, server, or folder where you want to move the item. On your Mac, select the item, then choose File > Get Info, or press Command-I.

Why can’t I delete files on my external hard drive Mac?

Conclusion. External hard drives are usually formatted in the NTFS format. Contrary to it, Mac has the HFS file format. Therefore, the format incompatibility throws an “Unable to delete folders/files from external hard drive” error.

What is the best format for macOS?

Newer macOS installations should use APFS by default, and if you’re formatting an external drive, APFS is the faster and better option for most users. Mac OS Extended (or HFS+) is still a good option for older drives, but only if you plan on using it with a Mac or for Time Machine backups.

When you format an external hard drive does it delete everything?

According to EaseUS data recovery experts, formatting doesn’t erase files but delete everything on a disk, which makes formatted file recovery even more difficult than deleted file recovery. Fortunately, professional data recovery software can help undo the format.

Can an external hard drive work for both Mac and PC?

Instead of buying one of those programs, a better solution is to set up your external hard drive so that it is compatible with both your Windows machine and your Mac. This lets you create an external hard drive for Mac and PC that doesn’t require any additional software to function.

Does formatting a hard drive delete everything? Formatting a disk does not erase the data on the disk, only the address tables. It makes it much more difficult to recover the files. However a computer specialist would be able to recover most or all the data that was on the disk before the reformat.