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Mac doesn't recognize external hard drives after being installed

l have a late 2015 I mac I did the latest up date to mac OS Monterey 12.01 now my external hard drives won't show


[Re-Titled by Moderator]

Posted on Jan 20, 2023 7:36 AM

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Posted on Jan 20, 2023 12:44 PM

Using Disk Utility, select the external drive that will not mount > click First Aid > click Run and report what happens.

see > Repair a storage device in Disk Utility on Mac - Apple Support

15 replies

Jan 20, 2023 9:16 AM in response to Bobizzo

How are the external drives formatted?


Try disconnecting everything and resetting the SMC.

see > Reset the SMC of your Mac - Apple Support


Desktop computer

  1. Shut down your Mac, then unplug the power cord.
  2. Wait 15 seconds, then plug the power cord back in.
  3. Wait 5 seconds, then press the power button to turn on your Mac.


Then reconnect the external drives one at a time.


If that doesn't help, try resetting the NVRAM.

see > Reset NVRAM on your Mac - Apple Support


How to reset NVRAM

  1. Shut down your Mac.
  2. Turn on your Mac, then immediately press and hold these four keys together: Option, Command, P, R.
  3. Release the keys after about 20 seconds, during which your Mac might appear to restart. For example, you might hear a startup sound more than once, or see the Apple logo more than once.
  4. When your Mac finishes starting up, you might need to adjust any system settings that were reset.

Mac doesn't recognize external hard drives after being installed

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