H4N Not Recognized by Mac computer

After a good email exchange with Zoom, they pointed out it could very well be an issue related to my USB cable.

I'm ordering a data cable (USB A to Micro-B) for the H1N to test; all the USB cables I have tested with so far are probably for charging only (i.e. ports 3 and 4 are not active).

https://www.utmel.com/blog/categories/cables/what-is-a-usb-data-cable

It might have been that my old data cable for the H4N (USB A to Mini-B) has shorted on either or both ports and all I had to test with were charging cables. Hence my initial surprise that things had just stopped working.

Update: Thanks, Eric_G1. My Security & Privacy settings already were allowing Zoom, Garage Band and QuickTime to use my microphone, which is why my H4N had been working for years until this issue.

Finding that the H4N is discontinued (https://zoomcorp.com/en/us/discontinued-products/), I decided to purchase a brand new H1N as my primary audio input device.

Same issue. I should be able to plug it in with or without batteries and see the USB screen appear when I connect using a USB cable. I can see the H1N is getting power from the USB port when I try without batteries, but that's it; even the H1N won't be recognized as either an audio or storage device. I again tried more than one port on my machine as well as multiple USB cables. I also failed when trying it on another machine using MacOS 12.4 (Monterey).

I'm wondering if any other owner of a Zoom handheld recorder is having similar issues on their MacOS. Thank you in advance!

Problem solved! The data cable (USB A to Micro-B) I ordered for the H1N works as expected, and I'm able to use the H1N as an audio I/O device.

Understanding the differences between data and charging cables was key.

https://www.utmel.com/blog/categories/cables/what-is-a-usb-data-cable