Posted by Autumn X to Mac Data Recovery Tips on July 18th, 2017
It is terrible when you plugged in a USB flash drive to your Mac computer but got the error 'The disk you inserted was not readable by this computer'. Once the USB flash drive becomes unreadable/corrupted, you will be unable to access the data stored on it. Relax. This tutorial will show you how to repair/fix unreadable/corrupted USB flash drives on Mac and also recover lost data from the unreadable USB flash drive withiBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac, according to your situation.
- Table of contents
- 1. Problem - USB flash drives not readable on Mac
- 2. Why is USB flash drive is not readableon Mac?
- 3. How to fix/repair the unreadable/corrupted USB flash drive on Mac?
- 4. Bonus tips
- 5. Conclusion
Problem - USB flash drives not readable on Mac
Net framework mac visual studio. A USB flash drive or other removable data storage medium is widely used for storing and transferring data from an iMac, MacBook or Mac Mini. Generally, when you insert in a USB flash drive, it will be mounted in Disk Utility and on Desktop. Then you can read and write to the USB drive.
However, what a very distressing situation if your USB flash drive is not readable/recognizing/working/showing up on Mac, especially when you desperately need to access some data stored on it. A Mac user has reported this issue in forum:
Hey guys, this is How to restore a flash drive or SD card back to full capacity. (Solved and FIXED) If your flash drive or sd card is showing l. Warning: The command erases the flash drive so check there are no stored files; backup the files, if they exist, before executing the sudo command. Type the administrator password when prompted. The Terminal creates the installer drive on the opted USB flash drive. Note: Erase the flash drive to HFS+ (Mac OS Extended (Journaled)) but not APFS. Try using Terminal to eject the disk, then shut down your Mac, wait 20-30 seconds and unplug the external drive from the Mac, and power your Mac back on. Wait for your Mac to fully boot, then reconnect the drive to your Mac and see if it now recognizes it. 1) open Terminal (in Applications Utilities).
'I have a 32 GB USB which has suddenly come up with a message statingthe USB flash drive is not readable by this computer (Apple MacBook Pro). I do not want to initialize it as this will result in loss of my data. How can I fix the unreadable USB on Mac and recover lost data?'
Why is USB flash drive is not readable on Mac?
Actually, USB drives are susceptible to such kind of corruptions, as these drives are usually connected to any system. Here are some of the common reasons behind this issue:
- > Severe virus infection to your USB flash drive. A virus or a Trojan may delete critical system elements, thus disabling the OS and making the drive unrecognized.
- > Sudden power surge or abrupt removal of USB flash drive. The flash drive was removed improperly from the computer which led to the corruption of its partitions.
- > Faulty USB port or cable. If the USB port or cable of the computer is not working properly, your Mac computer won't recognize or read the flash drive.
- > Incompatibility issues between the file systems of both flash drive and the Mac computer. In case the USB flash drive is formatted with the NTFS file system which isn't compatible with macOS.
- > Out-of-date drivers. If drivers are out of date, the Mac operating system and your applications on the computer will fail to interact with all hardware devices. So the USB flash drive becomes unreadable.
- > The USB drive is physically damaged. If your USB drive is seriously broken by hitting, dropping, shaking, etc., there is no USB repair tool or USB flash recovery software for Mac can help you.
How to fix/repair the unreadable/corrupted USB flash drive on Mac?
Solution 1: Check the USB port or cable
Check that USB port on your Mac. Plug into a different USB port or plug another device in and see if that works OK. Also, make sure that it's not faulty. Try using a different USB cable with the USB drive to see if that fixes the non-readable problem.
Solution 2: Update or reinstall the driver
![Reset Flash Drive On Mac Reset Flash Drive On Mac](https://www.integralmemory.com/sites/default/files/uploads/screen1.jpg)
When you are having problems with a device, you should check if any updates are available please do the following:
Step 1: Click on the Apple in the upper left corner of the screen.
Step 2: Select 'Software Update..'
Step 3: Any updates available will be listed and able to be downloaded or you will be told your software is up to date.
Solution 3: Check the file system format
If the files system is NTFS format, it's not hard to understand why the USB flash drive is unreadable on Mac. To make sure, you can go to Disk Utility and check its file system. To fix the incompatible issue, you can download and install an NTFS driver to read and write NTFS drives on Mac.
Solution 4: Fix the unreadable USB flash drive with First Aid
Disk Utility's First Aid is capable of repairing minor errors of disks, such as fixing a USB flash drive that is not readable/recognizing/working/showing up on Mac.
Step 1: Launch Disk Utility from Utilities.
Step 2: Select the unreadable USB drive from the sidebar.
Step 3: Click First Aid at the top of the window, and then wait until the reparation process finishes.
Solution 5: Reformat the unreadable USB drive
IfFirst Aid failed to fix the unreadable drive, it indicates that the USB drive might have severe errors beyond its capability. Then the best solution is to reformat the unreadable USB drive and make it readable or usable again. This process will wipe all data stored on the USB drive. So, please make sure you have a backup copy, or, follow the steps torecover lost data from the unreadable USB drive with iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac.
Microsoft excel mac latest version. iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac is afree USB drive data recovery tool that supports recovering deleted videos, documents, photos, music and much more files from unreadable USB flash drives, Mac hard drives, external hard drives, SD cards, memory cards and other storage devicesmacOS Catalina 10.15/Mojave 10.14/High Sierra 10.13/Sierra 10.12 and Mac OS X 10.11/10.10/10.9/10.8/10.7.
Besides, iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac also recovers deleted files from flash drives, recover lost data from formatted, inaccessible, unmounted, corrupted drives. It
Steps to recover lost data and fix the unreadable USB drive on Mac
Step 1: Connect the unreadable USB drive to Mac.
Office 2013 mac download. Step 2: Launch iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac.
Step 3: Select the unreadable USB and click the Next button. The program will start to scan for lost files.
Step 4: Preview the scanning results and choose files you want to recover, and then click Recover button to get those files back.
Step 5: Launch Disk Utility and reformat the unreadable USB drive on Mac.
Hopefully, the USB drive will be readable now.
Solution 6: Send the unreadable USB drive to a local technician
Sometimes, the unreadable USB drive can't be fixed by reformatting. In this case, the unreadable USB drive is probably damaged physically, and you have to ask a local technician for help.
Bonus tips: Firstly, make sure that your USB flash drives don't become unreadable/corrupted in the future by always properly unmounting the disk properly after using it.
Secondly, download install an anti-virus program and check your computer and USB drive for virus or malware regularly.
Moreover, keep the driver and the Mac computer updated. The last and most important thing is to remember backing up important files as it is the golden rules to avoid data loss.
If unfortunately, you have lost data on your Mac computer or any other storage media, you can rely on iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac. Just download this program and get all lost data back.
Conclusion
Wish you have fixed/repaired unreadable/corrupted USB on Mac with these solutions above. These effective solutions also can be used to fix USB not recognizing/working/showing up on Mac.
Which solution really helps you out? Do you have any other great solution to fix this issue? Please don't be hesitate to share them with us.
Reset Flash Drive To Factory
Still have questions?
Your Mac not recognizing an external hard drive can be cause for panic. But try to remain calm — it’s unlikely that anything has happened to your files. All of your data will still be on the hard drive, it just that, for whatever reason, you can’t access it.
Just so that you worry not about losing data, get Disk Drill. Available via Setapp, the app is the best tool that will rescue your files.
Download Disk Drill FreeFortunately, there are ways and means of getting the hard drive back up and running. Let’s get into some of them right now.
Why a flash drive is not showing up on Mac?
If you’ve plugged in a flash drive or USB drive and it’s not showing up on your Mac at all, it could be down to a faulty cable or USB port.
Before you try any system troubleshooting tips, start with the basics.
- Check that the drive is probably plugged in.
- Check the USB connector — does it look damaged or misshapen in any way?
- Check the cable — is it frayed or are there any wires exposed?
- If the external hard drive is plugged into a wall outlet, try a different outlet.
- Try a different USB cable — even cables with no visible defects can fail.
- Try connecting the hard drive to a different USB port — it could be a hardware issue.
- Try the drive in another Mac — if it works there, the problem is with the USB ports on your Mac.
- Test the hard drive on a PC — it could be formatted for PCs and not readable on Macs.
- Reboot your Mac — a simple on and off is sometimes all it takes.
- Reboot USB drives by shutting down your system and restarting it, holding Command+Option+P+R as you do. When you hear a sound and see the screen flash, release the keys and let your Mac boot up as usual.
If you’ve carried out visually inspections, tested your hard drive with different cables and power outlets, and tried different systems with no luck, it’s time to put your Mac to work.
1. Change the Finder settings
One of the most common reasons for Mac not recognizing external hard drives is due to the system not being set up to display hard drives on the desktop. There’s a simple fix for this:
- Open a Finder window.
- Go to Preferences > General.
- Check that the External disks option is enabled.
If your Mac is not recognizing a USB or external hard drive after this, you’ll have to try mounting it manually.
2. Mount an external hard drive on Mac
If Mac isn’t automatically recognizing your external hard drive, it’s time to force it to. Connect your hard drive and follow these instructions:
- Go to System Preferences > Disk Utility.
- Check that the external disk is listed in the left sidebar.
- Highlight your hard drive and select Mount. It should now appear under devices in the Finder.
If the hard drive still isn’t playing ball, the next step is First Aid.
3. Run First Aid on an external hard drive
Mac’s built-in First Aid tool is designed to verify and repair a range of issues related to corrupted files and apps, startup issues, and, crucially, external hard drive problems.
If your issue has to do with wanting to know how to open a flash drive on Mac that’s displaying but not allowing you access to files, First Aid might be able to help.
- Go to System Preferences > Disk Utility.
- Highlight your external hard drive and click on First Aid.
- Select Run to start running diagnostics and prompt Mac to automatically fix any issues.
If First Aid is successful in repairing any faults, your hard drive should be available to mount. If not, you’ll need to try the next option.
4. Delete potentially conflicting apps
![Flash Flash](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/H1_H959-uKU/maxresdefault.jpg)
How recent is the problem? If a flash drive not showing up on Mac was completely fine a few days earlier there could be an app causing conflict. If you’ve downloaded any new apps recently, uninstall them one at a time, connecting your hard drive after each uninstallation to see if the issue is resolved.
You can delete apps using the Launchpad or by dragging them to the Trash, but neither method is recommended in this situation. You see, while an app might appear to be deleted, associated files will be left on your system — files that could be preventing access to your external hard drive.
Instead, let CleanMyMac X take care of it. CleanMyMac X has an Uninstaller tool that can define your installed applications and associated files and remove every trace of an unwanted app.
And it couldn’t be easier to use.
- Download CleanMyMac X (for free).
- Launch the app and select Uninstaller.
- Click on View All Applications and select a recently installed app.
- Click Uninstall.
If you’ve worked through all recently installed apps and are still no further forward, your hard drive may have crashed or, worse, be completely broken. In this case, you’ll need a heavy duty tool like Disk Drill to rescue files.
5. Repair disk permissions
Disk permissions keeps your files secure. Every file and folder has an associated set of permissions. Unfortunately, these can get messed up without you realising it, which can cause serious problems. You can fix these two ways. Either manually, as we mention in this article, or using CleanMyMac X, which is far easier.
All you need to do is:
- Click on Maintenance from the left sidebar menu.
- Check the box next to Repair Disk Permissions.
- Click Run.
The program will scan and fix any it finds that are broken or faulty. Your Mac should be running as good as new.
Password Reset Flash Drive
To prevent an external hard drive not showing up on Mac turning into an all-out disaster, always backup files on your system hard drive and in the cloud. Anytime you use an external drive, unmount the disk properly and store it safely. And finally, use CleanMyMac to uninstall apps and run regular Maintenance on your system to prevent applications conflicting with hard drive performance.