---
id: external-drives.drive-says-not-set-up-but-i-set-it-up-before
url: https://storagestudio.us/faq/external-drives/drive-says-not-set-up-but-i-set-it-up-before
category: "External drives"
subcategory: "Setting up your drive"
question: "My drive shows \"Mounted, not set up\" even though I set it up before — why?"
alt_questions:
  - "Storage Studio doesn't recognise my drive any more"
  - "Drive marker missing"
  - "Prepared drive now says not set up"
  - "fast drive lost its setup"
  - "Inspect says not set up after reconnecting"
  - "Why did my drive stop being recognised?"
short_answer: "Storage Studio can't find the tag it added at setup — usually a different drive or volume is attached, or the drive was erased or its Storage Studio folder deleted or renamed. Check the right drive and folder are there before setting it up again."
tags: ["not set up", "drive tag", "troubleshooting"]
related: ["https://storagestudio.us/faq/external-drives/my-drive-says-not-set-up", "https://storagestudio.us/faq/external-drives/how-does-storage-studio-recognise-my-drive", "https://storagestudio.us/faq/external-drives/why-is-my-drive-blocked-as-too-slow"]
applies_to: "all"
last_reviewed: 2026-10-01
---

# My drive shows "Mounted, not set up" even though I set it up before — why?

Storage Studio recognises a drive by the tag it added during setup, inside its folder on the drive. If it no longer finds it, the usual reasons are:

- A different drive, or a different volume on the same drive, is connected.
- The drive was erased, or Storage Studio's folder on it was deleted or renamed.

Check that the right drive is plugged in and that its Storage Studio folder is still there in Finder. If the drive was erased, the items that had been moved to it are gone from it too — restore them from a backup, and set the drive up again only once you've checked.