External hard drive no longer appearing on my desktop or in Disk Utility

Question

My hard drive usually works on my MacBook, but today it has decided otherwise.

My hard drive works on the TV and DVD player. However, when I plug it into my Mac the light comes on and I can hear it running, but it doesn't show on my desktop or appear in Disk Utility. I've tried researching to find options, but nothing seems to be working.

I've also plugged a USB into both USB ports on the MacBook and that works fine.

What can I try next?

Welcome to Ask Different! :) In reference to: I've tried researching to find options, but nothing seems to be working, it would be good to actually spell out what you've already tried so that we can offer the most appropriate suggestions. — Monomeeth, Apr 02 '18 at 00:27
Possible duplicate of Sometimes Mac doesn't recognise my external hard drive — Allan, Apr 02 '18 at 13:38
do drives often show up in diskutil but not Disk Utility? @Allan — dwightk, Apr 02 '18 at 21:38

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Apr 02 '18 at 00:27

1

Sometimes this happens on my Macbook as well. Shut down your computer, unplug the drive, turn on your computer, plug the drive back in.

Good news is your drive is not toast as your TV can read it, so hopefully that'll do the trick.

answered Apr 02 '18 at 00:27

csaborio

75

External hard drive no longer appearing on my desktop or in Disk Utility

1 Answers1