Troubleshooting & messages · Moves and copies that didn't finish
Why does it say "The drive became unavailable while moving"?
Short answer: The external drive dropped out partway through. Your original is untouched — reconnect the drive (ideally with a direct cable) and try again; waiting moves resume on their own.
Your external drive disappeared partway through the move — it was unplugged, lost power, or its connection dropped. Your original is safe: Storage Studio never removes the original until the copy is finished and checked.
### What to do 1. Reconnect the drive and wait for it to appear in Finder. 2. Try the move again. Moves waiting for the drive pick up again on their own once it's back. 3. If the drive keeps dropping, try a different cable or port, and plug a bus-powered drive directly into the Mac rather than through a hub.
See external drives.