Posted by Autumn X to Mac Data Recovery Tips on July 18th, 2017
USB (Universal Serial Bus) is an industry standard for connecting computers and other devices. It's available with many types of ports, and each type has a unique shape. On Mac computers, USB is available with these ports, depending on your Mac model. Normally when you plug in an external hard drive to your Mac's USB port you will see it appear on the desktop (aka mount on the desktop). You can also see it in the Finder in the left column under.
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
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:
'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?
![Mac Mac](https://www.verdict.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/apple-classic-usb-ports-1440x905.jpg)
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. Vlc for mac os x 10 4 11 download. 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
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. Microsoft word and excel for 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.
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.
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.
Studio fix makeup 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.
![No usb on macbook air No usb on macbook air](https://forums.macrumors.com/proxy.php?image=http:%2F%2Fecx.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FI%2F81B4mrR02YL._SL1500_.jpg&hash=1dc2cca30a9a1126b462fedd8b1ba099)
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.
Still have questions?
Summary: Don't know how to fix when USB flash drive is not mounting on Mac? Try these 4 solutions in this page and use iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac to recover lost data necessarily.
- Table of contents
- 1. Why the USB flash drive is not mounting on Mac?
- 2. How to fix/repair “USB flash drive not mounting” issue on Mac?
- 3. How to recover lost data from unmounted/unrecognizable USB flash drives?
When I plugged in my USB flash drive on macOS High Sierra, I can't see it in Finder or on the Desktop. So, I went to Disk Utility, it was there. But the USB flash drive was grayed out in Disk Utility and I could not mount it. How can I fix/repair USB flash drive not mounting issue on Mac?
It is user-friendly that Mac will automatically mount the inserted USB flash drives. However, if the USB flash drive is not mounted on Mac, you will lose access to the USB flash drive as well as to the data stored on it. But don't worry, this page talks about the reasons for this issue, and how to fix 'USB flash drive not mounting on Mac' without data loss even if external hard drive is not showing up on Mac.
Why the USB flash drive is not mounting on Mac?
What makes the hard drive not working problems like USB flash drive unmounted on Mac can be various. This is because that this external drive is connected to the Mac computer through USB cable, USB port and many other components. The possible reasons for this issue include:
- Faulty connections like broken cable and wobbly USB port
- File system errors, volume header corruptions, etc. in the USB flash drive
- Disk Utility failure, log file corruption, OS malfunction on this Mac
- Physical damage and other factors
How to fix/repair USB flash drive not mounting issue on Mac?
No matter what results in unmountable USB flash drive, it's urgent to fix/repair USB flash drive not mounting issue on Mac. Here are 4 solutions to this unmounted USB flash drive issue according to different causes, you can check them one by one.
Solution 1: Check the USB flash drive in System Information
If you plug this USB flash drive into your Mac computer but get no sign that this drive is mounting on Mac, you can check System Information to see if this USB flash drive is showing up.
- Step 1: Go to Utilities and choose System Information.
- Step 2: Double-click on its icon to open it and choose USB in the left sidebar.
- Step 3: Check if your USB flash drive is detected by the system in the right box.
If your USB flash drive is not showing up in the right box, you can try to re-plug it, or change another USB port and cable to connect it.
Solution 2: Check the Finder Preferences
Sometimes, you just can't find the USB flash drive in Finder and on the desktop, but actually, it is mounted on your Mac and just not showing up. Check the Finder Preferences and see if it will appear.
- Step 1: Click Finder and choose Preferences in the top menu bar.
- Step 2: Check External Disks in General tab so that the USB flash drive can be shown on the desktop.
- Step 3: Go to Sidebar and check External disks so that they can be located in Finder.
Solution 3: Check and repair this USB flash drive with Disk Utility
If you still can't access your USB flash drive thereafter, you can go to Disk Utility which is a built-in utility to fix disk problems. If it is greyed out in Disk Utility, you can manually mount this USB flash drive.
- Step 1: Go > Utilities > Disk Utility.
- Step 2: Click on View option and choose 'Show all devices'.
- Step 3: Click on the name of your USB flash drive.
- Step 4: Select Mount in the upper menu bar.
If the Mount button is greyed out and you can't mount this USB flash drive manually, then there could be some disk errors. Fortunately, you can use First Aid in Disk Utility to repair this unmountable USB flash drive.
- Step 1: Launch Disk Utility.
- Step 2: Choose the grayed-out USB flash drive.
- Step 3: Select First Aid in the top center and click Run.
Solution 4: Fix the unmountable USB flash drive by reformatting
However, if Disk Utility fails to repair this external drive because of serious file system corruption, you can only fix this by reformatting. The thing you need to keep in mind is that reformatting will erase all files on this USB flash drive, which means, you need to make sure an existing file backup. Or you can recover lost data from the unmountable USB flash drive before you fix the USB flash drive not mounting issue on Mac by reformatting.
How to recover lost data from unmounted/unrecognizable USB flash drives?
Can't open the unmountable USB flash drive but don't want to lose data? You can still get your files back with USB flash drive data recovery software before you reformat this drive.
As one of the most professional USB data recovery software, iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac is highly recommended. It can recover lost data from unmountable, unreadable, and corrupted USB flash drive, recover deleted/lost files from emptied Mac trash. Moreover, this software performs well in recovering data from hard drives, external hard drives, flash drives, USB sticks, SD cards, and other storage devices. Data recovery is allowed on macOS 10.14/10.13/10.12 and Mac OS X 10.11/10.10/10.9/10.8/10.7.
Step 1: Recover lost data from unmountable USB flash drive with Mac data recovery software
- Step 1: Download and install iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac on your Mac.
- Step 2: Connect your USB flash drive to the Mac and launch iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac.
- Step 3: Select the unmountable USB flash drive and click 'Next' button to scan all lost files.
- Step 4: Preview the scanning results by double-clicking, choose files that you want to recover, and click 'Recover' button to get lost data back.
Note: In case you lose the recovered files again in the next reformatting step, you'd better save these files to another reliable drive.
Step 2: Reformatting this USB flash drive without data loss
After recovering data from this unmountable USB flash drive, you can reformat this USB flash drive without worrying about losing anything important.
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- Step 1: Go > Utilities > Disk Utility.
- Step 2: Click the icon of unmountable USB flash drive on the left part of the window.
- Step 3: Click the Erase button on the top of the Disk Utility window.
- Step 4: Complete the related information(name, format, scheme), then click Erase button.
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When the process finished successfully, your USB flash drive will be mountable on the Mac computer again. But the case is, no matter how powerful USB flash drive data recovery software is, the best way to recover files from external drives is to recover them from backups. So, remember to duplicate your files this time.
You may also want to know:
HSD not mounting or seen in Disk Utility? Tutorial to fix SD card not mounting on Mac and recover lost data from unmountable SD card on macOS.