External hard drive suddenly invisible

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Level 1

11 points

External hard drive suddenly invisible

I have a Seagate external hard drive I use for all my work. I would like to know why it suddenly is no longer visible on my MacBook Air today, immediately after the update for Numbers, Pages & Keynote finished. I've been using this external drive with this MacBook Air since I bought the computer in April this year. I have absolutely no PCs in the house or use them in any way so the external hard drive has never been hooked to anything but a MacBook Air. I hope these problems don't happen after the 'software updates' regularly. I am now stuck & can't continue my multimedia project because I can't access any of the source files on the external drive. Do I have to go buy a PC to finish this project now????

Posted on Jul 10, 2020 5:57 AM

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Answer 1

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neuroanatomist

Level 8

49,005 points

Jul 10, 2020 7:05 AM in response to sarah72

Check Finder > File menu > Preferences, is it set to display external drives in the side bar and/or on the desktop?

Check Applications > Utilities > disk utility and see if the mounted drive is visible, or if there’s an option to mount it.

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Answer 2

AirGraph

Level 4

1,802 points

Jul 10, 2020 7:31 AM in response to sarah72

Hello, Sarah!

It's not a time for heavy drinking (c) Jethro Tull, and to buy a PC, as I think… May be later… ;-)

Check Finder->Preferences->Sidebar->Location for External disks enabled.
If already enabled – check ->About This Mac->System Report->Hardware->USB. Do you see Seagate HD as one of connected devices?
If yes – Start Disk Utility and try First Aid for this HD.
If no – try to connect HD to another USB port in your MacBook Air.
If still not visible – try to connect HD to another Mac, if it's possible.

Good luck!

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External hard drive suddenly invisible

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