MAC Not Recognizing USB? Solve With Easy And Effective Process

We all like to use the external USB devices like Media players, digital cameras, portable hard disks to transfer the data to our Mac device. Usually, Mac works without any flaws, but sometimes Mac not recognizing USB issue occurs. Mainly, this problem occurs when you eject the USB as well as unplug it from the system. When you try to connect the USB again, then you cannot find any option on the Mac for the USB. In some cases, the only process to fix this issue is to remove the USB drives and restart the Mac or MacBook until the USB drives show up to the system.

There is a lot of reasons for this issue. It can happen due to the USB ports. If the USB drive is installed to your Mac device, and the system goes to sleep, then it also powers off all the ports of the system. After that, when you open the Mac, then you notice that the USB drive does not respond. Hence, if are looking for the solution, then you are on the right page. Here in this article, we are going to explain some of the easiest ways to fix this issue. Without getting too much worried, you need to go through the below guideline.

Quick Tips

Prior to the appropriate solution, there are certain tips and tricks that you can try and all of them are mentioned in the section below:

• Check the connection of the USB ports for the frayed cables, snug fit or any missing pins.
• If possible, connect the USB devices to their personal power source.
• Try to update the Finder Preferences. It will show the external drives.
• Perform the NVRAM and SMC reset.
• Run the Disk Utility to repair, verify, or mount the drives.
• Use some terminal commands such as ‘diskutil eject disk’, ‘diskutil info disk’, and ‘diskutil list.’

Amazing Tips and Tricks to Fix Mac doesn’t Recognize USB

Here, in the below section, you can find several solutions to fix the ‘Mac not recognizing USB’ issue. You need to try them all as given in the exact order.

Method 1: Make Mac System Detect the USB

Follow the steps given below to eliminate USB drive not recognized Mac issue:

Step 1:

Move the cursor to the Application and hit on it. Now, click on the Utilities. Select the option ‘Select Information.’

Step 2:

After that, you need to check if the Mac detects the external USB drive. Else go to the next step.

Step 3:

Hit on the ‘USB’ option. You can find this option at the left panel of the window. Now, check the information on the USB drive. If you do not find the USB drive on the list, then unplug the USB by disconnecting the drive. Plug it in other USB ports or for this purpose you can use another external USB hub.

Step 4: Reset the USB ports on Mac

1. At first, restart the Mac system. Then, press the Option, Command, P and R keys from the keyboard until you can see the Apple logo.
2. Hit the Esc, Option, Command keys to exit from all the applications which are not responding.
3. Plug the external USB drive that is not showing on the Mac system. If it still does not show, then hit on the Apple logo and choose the option ‘Sleep.’
4. Press any key and hold the key for some times.  
5. After that, shut down the system. Then, unplug the power cable and reattach the cable after 15 seconds.

After following the above steps, if you still facing the problem, then move on to the further options.

Method 2: Check the Finder Preference

To check the Finder Preference of Mac, you need to perform the steps given below:

1. Hit the ‘Finder’ and then, choose the ‘Preference’ option.
2. Now, you need to click on the ‘General’ tab by going to the ‘Show these items on the desktop’ section. Confirm that you have ticked the External Disks.
3. Go to the ‘Sidebar.’ Then, you need to make sure that the ‘External disks’ box is checked by going to the ‘Devices’ section.

If you still face the ‘Mac not recognizing USB’ issue, then you need to follow the next solution.

Method 3: Repair the USB Drive

After performing the above two methods, you need to repair the external USB drive. To perform this, you need to follow the steps given below:

1. At first, you need to click on the Application. Then, go to the Utilities and select the ‘Disk Utility’ option.
2. Choose the external USB flash drive at the left side of the Utility Disk. Look at the upper side of the toolbar and click on the ‘First Aid’ option. Hit the ‘Run.’ Now, the Disk Utility will start to repair the error on the drive by itself.
3. Choose the USB disk, then hit on the ‘Unmount’ option. You can find this option at the top of the toolbar. Now, unplug the external USB cable and then, plug it back after 10-15 seconds.

Now, check if the Mac not recognizing USB still occurs or not, if it does, then you need to moving out to the next method.

Method 4: Check and Fix the Error in USB with the Terminal

Now, you need to check the USB for the error and then, you have to fix the error. To perform this, you need to follow the steps given below:

1. Go to the Terminal from Utilities. Then, type the command ‘diskutil list’ and then, hit the ‘Return’ button.
2. Now, you need to find the number of the disk of the external USB flash drive. Then, type the command ‘diskutil info disk2.’ Then, hit the Return key from the keyboard.
3. Type the command ‘diskutil eject disk 2’ and hit the Return key to run the command.
4. Type the command ‘diskutil list’ and hit the Return key. When the USB drive disappears from the list of the Terminal, then exit the window.
5. After closing the Terminal, you need to go to the Console to examine the errors of the drive.
6. To check the error you need to hit the ‘Errors and Faults’ option.  

Now, you need to reconnect the USB drive again with the Mac and check if the Mac not recognizing USB gets solved or not.  

After that, the USB will be recognized and it starts to work again after performing the operations discussed in the above section. Now, you need to open the USB and check for the existing files of the drive.

Restore Data from the USB Flash Drive:

If the Mac system can recognize the flash USB drive but you are still not able to open the USB drive or if your device got formatted in the process, then you need to recover the data. Hence, you can search for the free data recovery software for Mac online as well as test all the suggested tool for a try.

Or, you also can use the time-saving option. A recovery tool can recover the music, documents, videos, as well as photos from the hard disk of the Mac as well as from the external storage devices in just three steps. Follow the steps given below:

1. At first, you need to connect the USB driver properly with the Mac device. Then, open the Data Recovery software, which you have download earlier. Start to select the flash disk as well as hit on the Scan option to search the softwares lost files in the process.
2. After a deep as well as quick scan, all the files will be shown at the left side of the scan results.
3. Choose the files that you need to recover as well as hit on the ‘Recover Now’ option. Do not store the recovered files to the USB flash drive as it can overwriting the data.

On the Whole

In the above discussion, we have presented some possible solutions to fix the ‘Mac not recognizing USB’ issue. We hope, after successfully performing the above methods you can put an end to this trouble. If you still face any further problem, then you need to connect with a tech expert. You also can raise your issue to the comment section given below.