External drives · Mounting and drive problems
Why does my external drive show in Disk Utility but not in Finder?
Short answer: The drive is connected but its volume isn't mounted. In Disk Utility, select the greyed-out volume and click Mount. If that fails, enter the password for an encrypted drive, run First Aid, or check the drive uses a format a Mac can read.
If Disk Utility lists the drive but its volume is greyed out, the drive is connected but the volume isn't mounted. Select the greyed-out volume and click Mount. If it mounts, it appears in Finder straight away.
If Mount fails:
- Encrypted volume — macOS asks for the password; enter it to unlock and mount.
- File-system errors — run First Aid on the volume, then try Mount again.
- A format macOS can't read (for example a Linux drive) — the volume can't be mounted on a Mac at all.
If the volume mounts but still isn't in Finder's sidebar or on the desktop, it's a Finder display setting — see how to show drives in Finder. For a drive that doesn't appear anywhere, see my external drive doesn't show up.