---
id: external-drives.why-does-one-drive-show-two-icons
url: https://storagestudio.us/faq/external-drives/why-does-one-drive-show-two-icons
category: "External drives"
subcategory: "Drive formats"
question: "Why does one external drive show up as two drives on my Mac?"
alt_questions:
  - "Two icons for one external drive"
  - "External drive shows twice in Finder"
  - "Why does my SSD have two volumes?"
  - "extra volume appeared on external drive"
short_answer: "The drive is divided into more than one volume or partition, and each appears as its own drive. Check how it's split in Disk Utility (View → Show All Devices); you can remove an unwanted, empty volume there."
tags: ["volume", "partition", "finder"]
related: ["https://storagestudio.us/faq/external-drives/how-do-i-add-a-volume-to-an-external-drive", "https://storagestudio.us/faq/external-drives/disk-utility-only-shows-volumes", "https://storagestudio.us/faq/external-drives/what-is-the-efi-partition"]
applies_to: "all"
last_reviewed: 2026-10-01
---

# Why does one external drive show up as two drives on my Mac?

The drive has more than one **volume** or **partition**, and each one appears in Finder as its own drive. That's normal if you (or the manufacturer) set it up that way — for example a separate Time Machine volume, or a small partition holding the maker's software.

Open Disk Utility with **View → Show All Devices** to see how the drive is divided. If a second volume is unwanted and empty, you can delete it there and its space returns to the others (APFS volumes) or can be merged back (partitions). See [adding or removing volumes](https://storagestudio.us/faq/external-drives/how-do-i-add-a-volume-to-an-external-drive).