---
title: "The drive isn't recognised as set up"
url: https://storagestudio.us/wiki/drive-says-not-set-up
category: "Troubleshooting"
tags: ["troubleshooting", "external drive", "setup"]
summary: "If Storage Studio asks you to connect an external drive, or says a drive is the wrong disk, it hasn't found the drive it prepared. Plug the drive in, or choose and prepare it again with Set Up / Choose External Drive."
updated: 2026-10-01T05:37:52.000Z
---

# The drive isn't recognised as set up

If Storage Studio asks you to connect an external drive, or says a drive is the wrong disk, it hasn't found the drive it prepared. Plug the drive in, or choose and prepare it again with Set Up / Choose External Drive.

Storage Studio needs to recognise your external drive as the one it prepared before it can move apps and folders there. If it doesn't — because the drive isn't plugged in, a different drive is connected, or the setup step was skipped — the Home screen asks you to connect a drive. Choosing the drive again with **Set Up / Choose External Drive…** prepares it and puts things right.

## What you might see

- On the Home screen: **Connect an external drive to do more** — "Moving big apps and files needs a fast external drive. You can still clear caches without one." — with **Set Up…** and **Reinstall…** buttons.
- In the health line: "Your external drive isn't connected."
- In the Advanced view: "External drive disconnected", "Wrong disk at …", or **Mounted but marker missing** on the drive row.

## Likely causes

- **The drive isn't connected**, or hasn't finished appearing after you plugged it in.
- **A different drive is connected.** Storage Studio leaves a small marker on the drive it prepares, and it only treats a drive carrying that marker as yours. Another drive at the same place reads as "Wrong disk at …".
- **Setup didn't finish**, or was skipped, so the drive was never prepared.
- **The drive was reformatted or replaced**, so the marker is gone.

```mermaid
%% caption: Getting Storage Studio to recognise your drive
flowchart TD
  A[Storage Studio asks for an external drive] --> B{Is the drive plugged in and showing in Finder?}
  B -->|No| C[Plug it in and wait for it to appear]
  C --> D{Banner gone?}
  D -->|Yes| E[Done]
  B -->|Yes| F[Open Set Up / Choose External Drive]
  D -->|No| F
  F --> G[Select the drive, then click Use This Drive]
  G --> H{Is ready message shown?}
  H -->|Yes| E
  H -->|No| I[Run Set Up / Reinstall from the More menu]
```

*Flowchart — Getting Storage Studio to recognise your drive. Outline:*

- Storage Studio asks for an external drive
  - leads to Is the drive plugged in and showing in Finder?
- Is the drive plugged in and showing in Finder?
  - No: leads to Plug it in and wait for it to appear
  - Yes: leads to Open Set Up / Choose External Drive
- Plug it in and wait for it to appear
  - leads to Banner gone?
- Banner gone?
  - Yes: leads to Done
  - No: leads to Open Set Up / Choose External Drive
- Open Set Up / Choose External Drive
  - leads to Select the drive, then click Use This Drive
- Select the drive, then click Use This Drive
  - leads to Is ready message shown?
- Is ready message shown?
  - Yes: leads to Done
  - No: leads to Run Set Up / Reinstall from the More menu

## How to fix it

1. **Plug the drive in** and wait until it shows in Finder. If it's already connected, try **Remount Drive** in the **More** menu.
2. **Choose the drive again.** Click **Set Up…** on the Home banner, or choose **Set Up / Choose External Drive…** in the **More** menu. In **Choose External Drive**, select your drive and click **Use This Drive**. If the list says "No external drives mounted.", plug the drive in and click the rescan button next to the title.
3. **Read the result.** Storage Studio points itself at the drive and prepares it. When it works you'll see "“…” is ready — Storage Studio is set up on this drive." If you see "Drive selected, but setup didn't finish: …", the reason follows the colon.
4. **Re-run setup** if it still isn't recognised: click **Reinstall…** on the Home banner, or choose **Set Up / Reinstall…** in the **More** menu. It reinstalls the background service and prepares the drive again. See [The Setup Wizard](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/the-setup-wizard).
5. **Check the result** with **Verify Setup…** in the **More** menu.

## Is anything lost?

No. Preparing a drive adds Storage Studio's own folder and marker; it doesn't erase what's already on the drive. If you're moving to a brand-new drive, use **Transfer to a New Drive…** instead so your moved apps and folders come with you — see [Switching to a new drive](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/transfer-drive-and-backup-drive).

You can still use the parts of Storage Studio that don't need a drive, such as clearing caches, while you sort this out.

See also: [Setting up your drive](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/setting-up-your-drive) · [When your drive is disconnected](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/when-your-drive-is-disconnected) · [Checking your drive's health and setup](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/checking-your-drive) · [Something's not working: start here](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/troubleshooting-start-here)

## What links here

- [Checking your drive's health and setup](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/checking-your-drive)
- [Setting up your drive](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/setting-up-your-drive)
- [Something's not working: start here](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/troubleshooting-start-here)
- [The Setup Wizard](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/the-setup-wizard)
- [When your drive is disconnected](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/when-your-drive-is-disconnected)