SSD not detected in disk utility

Is the SSD an original Apple SSD or a third party SSD?

If it is an original Apple OEM SSD, then your SSD has most likely failed.

If it is a third party NVMe SSD, then you will need to boot using a macOS 10.13+ installer in order to see the third party NVMe SSD since older versions of macOS don't have the necessary NVMe driver required for a third party NVMe SSD. Your picture shows you using an older version of macOS as evidenced by the old version of Disk Utility in the picture. Try booting into Internet Recovery Mode using Command + Option + R to see if you can boot to the online macOS 11.x Big Sur installer. Unfortunately sometimes a Mac will only boot to the installer for the OS which originally shipped with the Mac from the factory. If this is the case, then you will need access to another Qualifying Mac compatible with macOS 10.13, 10.15, or 11.x in order to create a bootable macOS USB installer using the instructions in this Apple article:

How to create a bootable installer for macOS - Apple Support

Here is an article which shows which versions of macOS are compatible with various Apple hardware so you can identify a Qualifying Mac to use for creating a bootable macOS USB installer. Note: the Qualifying Mac does not need to currently be using the OS you want to download.

https://eshop.macsales.com/guides/Mac_OS_X_Compatibility

If you have a third party NVMe SSD installed and macOS 10.13+ doesn't see the SSD, then either the SSD has failed or perhaps the SSD Adapter is bad if you are using an M.2 SSD.

There is also a slim possibility the Logic Board could be bad, but I find 99% of the time the SSD is the weakest link here unless there is liquid damage involved.

You will want to download a Knoppix v8.6.1 or v9.x DVD .iso file with "EN" in the name for "ENglish". Use the downloaded .iso file as a source for Etcher (Mac/Windows/Linux) which will create the bootable Knoppix USB stick. Option Boot the USB stick and select the orange icon labeled "EFI". While Knoppix is booting the Mac may appear to be frozen on the Apple boot picker menu so make sure to give Knoppix lots of time to finish booting.

When Knoppix reaches the desktop, click the "Start" menu icon on the lower left corner of the Taskbar and navigate the menus to "System Tools --> GSmartControl". Within the GSmartControl app double-click on the icon for the laptop's internal SSD if it shows up in order to access the SSD's health information. Post the complete report here.

If you don't see an icon for the laptop's internal SSD within the GSmartControl app, then we try the following options. You will need to launch one of the terminal apps (there are several available on the menus), but I believe there is an icon on the Taskbar near the "Start" menu for easy access. Try these commands to see if the SSD is seen (feel free to post pictures of the results).

To look for block devices like an SSD and other drives:

sudo  lsblk  -f

This command will filter the system log to hopefully see if the SSD is communicating at all (I haven't done this in a long while with Knoppix so I'm not sure if it will work properly):

sudo  dmesg  -Hkt  |  grep  -iE  '^ata|^scsi|^ahci|^sd|^nvme'

If Knoppix only boots to a command line, then I can provide instructions for checking the health of the SSD using another method if these two commands show the SSD is present.

You can check to see whether the currently installed SSD is an Apple OEM SSD or whether the SSD is a third party SSD. If it is an Apple OEM SSD, then the SSD has most likely failed since the physical drive is not showing up in the pictures. If it is a third party NVMe SSD, then you will need to boot to macOS 10.13+ (installer or full OS) in order to check the SSD. With a third party M.2 SSD the SSD adapter could be at fault since reading these forums it appears only the Sintech adapter is most reliable & compatible.

Except for putting this Mac into Target Disk Mode and connecting it to another Mac running macOS 10.13+, I have given you all the methods possible for checking on the internal SSD. Personally the two best options are installing macOS 10.13+ to an external USB3 SSD or by using the instructions I have provided for using a bootable Knoppix Linux USB stick.

Trying a third party NVMe SSD will not help you if you are not booting into macOS 10.13+. Plus a third party NVMe SSD requires updated system firmware which can only be achieved by having previously installed macOS 10.13+ prior to using a third party NVMe SSD.

I would not go spending any money on SSDs until you confirm the identity and condition of the current SSD using the methods I have described in this thread across multiple posts.

Edit: Forgot to include the link for Target Disk Mode:

Transfer files between two Mac computers using target disk mode - Apple Support

aderoju115 wrote:

I did the following steps but terminal only listed a few disks which is the Mac os x base system

Again, what OS are you booted to here? If the Mac is using a third party NVMe SSD, then the command line will yield the same results as the Disk Utility GUI if you are booted to macOS 10.12 or earlier.

If you cannot boot to a macOS 10.13+ installer to confirm, then I can provide instructions for creating and using a bootable Linux USB stick to check for the SSD and even check its health. Let me know if you are interested in this option.

Hi,

Resetting NVRAM could solve internal drive related issue.

Reset NVRAM or PRAM on your Mac - Apple Support

aderoju115 Said:

"SSD not detected in disk utility: i own a MacBook pro 2014, it got stuck y'day while I was working, had to force shut it down, tried turning it back on, and it started showing question mark with a folder, went into disk utility and couldn't find my SSD anymore, please help"

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Thank you for the photo.

Getting a Drive to Show:

Try restarting this a few more times. Perhaps it will pop up?

View it in Terminal in Recovery Mode:

Report back if the following shows this. I am eager to know.

1. Go to: Utilities menu (top of screen)
2. Select: Terminal
3. Use this command:

diskutil list

4. Is it shown?

aderoju115 Said:

"SSD not detected in disk utility: i own a MacBook pro 2014, it got stuck y'day while I was working, had to force shut it down, tried turning it back on, and it started showing question mark with a folder, went into disk utility and couldn't find my SSD anymore, please help"

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Thank you for the screenshot.

Try this One Another Device:

Without it being seen, there's not much you can do. So, be certain it is plugged in all the way. Also, be certain it not formatted with FAT, FAT32, or NTFS, as those are all Windows type of partitions. So, what happens when you plug this into anther Mac? What happens when you plug this into a PC? Is that an option for you? If so, report back what is seen.

Screenshot Rotated:

aderoju115 Said:

"I did the following steps but terminal only listed a few disks which is the Mac os x base system"

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Please Provide a Photo:

Can you provide a photo? If there are "a few disks", then I'd assume it is shown, and just needs to be mounted.

Hi,

DiskUtility is also not able to find internal drive?