Why Isn’t My Flash Drive Showing Up on My Mac?
In order to use a flash drive on a Mac, typically all you do is plug it in via the Mac’s USB-A port. If it doesn’t work when you do that, it’s typically:
Bad connectionBad USB portDrive is badDrive is formatted incorrectlyIncorrect Mac configuration setting
Here’s how you can figure out the problem, and what to do about it:
How Do I Get My Flash Drive to Show Up on My Mac?
Follow these steps to try to get your flash drive to appear in the Mac’s Finder. They’re arranged from least to most complicated, so try them in this order.
Make sure the flash drive is plugged in all the way and give the flash drive a little wiggle. Or unplug the flash drive and plug it back in again. If the physical connection is a little bit finicky you might only need to give it a jostle to make the necessary connection. Check your Mac’s settings, because it may not allow external device connections. From the Finder select Preferences > General, then inspect the Finder Preferences menu. Make sure the External Disks setting is turned on under Show these items on the desktop. The drive could be working fine with the Mac, but the Mac isn’t configured to display it on the desktop. So, basically, it’s working but showing you it’s working. Plug the flash drive into a different device to see if it’s recognized. If it doesn’t work anywhere else, the flash drive itself may be broken or corrupted. If it does work, then you’ll know the issue is specifically tied to your Mac. Try physically cleaning the flash drive’s plug and your Mac’s USB port. The easiest way would be to use short bursts of compressed air. You can also dip a cotton swab into a small amount of isopropyl alcohol and carefully rub it along the USB contacts, but be very careful not to get any liquid further into the drive or the port. Open Disk Utility on your Mac to see if you can locate the flash drive. If the drive does appear, inspect it to see if there are any identifiable issues. You might need to erase the drive, restore it, or use the First Aid feature to attempt to repair the drive. The flash drive could be using a format your Mac doesn’t recognize, in which case you’ll need to have the Mac format the flash drive. If necessary (and possible), back up the files on the drive before reformatting so you don’t lose anything important. Once you’re ready, reformat the flash drive to HFS+ (pre-Sierra), APFS (High Sierra and newer), or either exFAT or FAT32 (Windows and Mac).
