A USB flash drive can save you from all the headaches that come with a broken PC. We already talked about creating a bootable USB flash drive for PC recovery and we also highly recommend having another USB flash drive with portable versions of PC repair programs. The first step is to insert your USB thumb drive into the computer's USB drive. Click on 'My Computer' and choose the USB drive that appears. Right-click on the drive and go to 'Properties'. Then choose the 'Tools' tab. Click on the 'Check Now' button. You should be now presented with two repair options, i.e. 'Scan for and attempt to recover bad sectors' and 'Automatically fix file system errors'.
process on Mac and how to repair USB drives.
USB devices have gained widespread popularity due to their ease of use and portability. The major reason why we buy portable USB drives is that they are so simple to carry around and share data. With USB drives, one thing is sure, they will be plugged into various devices and will be constantly on the move.
This opens up various points of failure and we have seen its after-effects in forms of data loss and data corruption. In this article, we are going to help you realize these points of failure, recover lost data and repair a corrupted USB drive.
Part 1: How Does Data Loss in USB Devices Occur?
USB devices have come a long way. Nowadays, devices are faster and better build. But that doesn’t mean that they are immune from damages. There are various factors leading to data loss and we have listed some of the most common reasons!
Drive errors: Drive errors are issues that pertain to the storage section in the USB drive. They can vary from bad sectors or corrupt drive sections. When drive errors occur in a USB drive, they tend to take the data along with it, either corrupting it or deleting it completely.
Unsafe removal: Before you unplug a USB device from a computer, always make sure that you click the option to safely remove the device. If not, the computer may be still transferring data and unplugging it will abruptly stop the data transfer, which will result in data loss.
Virus or Malware: Virus or malware attacks can come announced if you don’t have a powerful antivirus installed in your computer. But they can also affect your USB drive if it has been plugged to someone’s PC having a virus or malware. Viruses and malware can corrupt or even delete the files.
The best free mac cleaner. Incorrect formatting: Formatting your drive changes the file format within it. This file format determines how new data should be written to the device. If you have formatted your USB drive with a file format incompatible with your PC, then it won’t work on your computer.
Improper handling: We understand that USB devices are made for on-the-go. But that doesn’t mean that you should be careless with them. USB devices are prone to break under extreme conditions, and this occurs more often when you carelessly toss the USB drive into your backpack or in your pockets then applying physical pressure of any kind.
We do understand that losing your data is inevitable and will happen to you one way or another. This is why we have included a tool that you can use to recover lost data from your USB device.
Part 2. Recovering Data from USB Drives using Recoverit (IS) Software
If you have lost data from your USB drive, then you must not tamper with it as it can lead to the complete destruction of data. What you must do instead is to use a powerful data recovery software like iSkysoft to get the files back.
The iSkysoft Data recovery tool is specially engineered to recover files that are hidden within the sectors of the hard drive. The software is easy to use and gives you amazing results. More importantly, it gives you peace of mind that you got your data back. Here are some of the reasons why you should prefer the Recoverit (IS) tool above all else.
The best thing about iSkysoft is that it has many features than your standard data recovery tool. These tools make it the perfect software to get your lost files. Some of the revered features of Recoverit (IS) are:
Recoverit (IS)
A Life Saver to Solve Your Data Loss Problems!
Mac and Windows Support: The data recovery tool is available for Windows and MacOS machines.
Extensive file support: The Recoverit (IS) supports a range of media and office files.
Deep Scan: If the normal scan isn’t powerful enough, you can use the more powerful Deep Scan.
Preview features: The software helps you to preview the file before recovering it.
Multi-device support: iSkysoft support both internal and external storage devices.
Repair Usb Flash Drive Tool
3,165,867 people have downloaded it
Even with a ton of features, users will not prefer software that is hard to operate. We are happy to say that iSkysoft Data recovery is very user-friendly, and it only takes a few steps to recover your files. Let us help you through the whole process.
Step 1 Download and install Recoverit (IS)
You can get yourself the latest version of Recoverit (IS) tool from the official website. Install the software on your Mac and launch iSkysoft after completing the installation.
Step 2 Choose Recovery mode
There are numerous recovery modes in the iSkysoft home screen. From the list of options, choose the one that best fits your requirements.
Step 3 Choose the drive to scan
In the list of data storage drives connected to your computer, choose the USB drive on which you want to perform the data recovery process.
Step 4 Preview and Recover the files
Use the preview option to see the type of file, and click Recover on files that you want to recover to your computer.
In just four quick steps, you will have all your files back. If the scan didn’t show the files that you were looking for, then you can use the Deep Scan to perform a more extensive scan. In that case, the process will take more time, but in case of hard to get files. This is the best option to choose.
Part 3. How to repair corrupted USB flash drive on Mac?
If your USB device has been showing signs of damage, don’t lose your hope just yet! There are some things that you can do on your own to fix it. We are going to share some useful tips that will help your fix corrupted USB drive on Mac.
#1 Check the USB port or Cable
Don’t blame the USB device just because it failed to show up on your Mac. A damaged USB port or USB cable can cause the USB drive to become unresponsive to the requests of the Mac. When this happens, the USB drive will not be read by the system. Try plugging the USB drive to another USB port or use a different cable to if the issue goes away.
#2 Update or Reinstall driver
USB devices can only be recognized by the computer if it has the necessary drivers for that function. Check to see if USB drivers are installed on your computer. If not, then you can find the right driver from the drivers' section on the Apple website. Once you have the right drivers, then your Mac will recognize the new USB device as soon as it plugs in. Generally, missing drivers happen after an OS install or on a new system that has some updates missing.
#3 Check the file system format
Did you know that USB devices that work on Windows might not work on your Mac? This is the case if your external hard drive is formatted with the NTFS file format. The NTFS file format is a file format designed for storage devices by Microsoft. However, older Mac systems will not be able to detect this file format, and even the latest version of MacOS can only read the date, it cannot write anything on it. if you want your USB device to work seamlessly across MacOs systems, then you need to format it with the exFAT file format.
First Aid is an inbuilt Apple program that is used to fix disk errors. If your USB drive cannot be read by the MacOS, then using the First Aid option may be able to fix it. The first aid option is accessed by navigating to Utilities>Disk Utilities. In this window, you will see all the drives connected to the Mac. Select the drive that you want to fix and click on First Aid option that is provided at the top section of the window.
#5 Reformat the unreadable USB drive
If you have got an unreadable file format on your USB drive, then there is no option but to reformat the drive to a readable format. Mac can only read and write the following file formats:
FAT
exFAT
APFS
MacOS extended
You can find these file format in the disk utilities. Out of these four file format options, only two are best suited for USB device – FAT and exFAT. Our recommendation is exFAT due to its file capacity advantages.
Conclusion
Data loss in USB devices can happen at any time to anyone without notice. And there isn’t much you can do about it unless you have the right tools for the job. In this article, we have walked you through the process of fixing your USB drive and introduced you to a powerful data recovery tool to use in case if your files are missing.
Make sure you keep your USB device safe and use them with caution to prevent data loss incidents from happening to you!
Summary: Don't know how to fix when USB flash drive is not mounting on Mac? Try these 4 solutions in this page and use iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac to recover lost data necessarily.
Table of contents
1. Why the USB flash drive is not mounting on Mac?
2. How to fix/repair “USB flash drive not mounting” issue on Mac?
3. How to recover lost data from unmounted/unrecognizable USB flash drives?
When I plugged in my USB flash drive on macOS High Sierra, I can't see it in Finder or on the Desktop. So, I went to Disk Utility, it was there. But the USB flash drive was grayed out in Disk Utility and I could not mount it. How can I fix/repair USB flash drive not mounting issue on Mac?
It is user-friendly that Mac will automatically mount the inserted USB flash drives. However, if the USB flash drive is not mounted on Mac, you will lose access to the USB flash drive as well as to the data stored on it. But don't worry, this page talks about the reasons for this issue, and how to fix 'USB flash drive not mounting on Mac' without data loss even if external hard drive is not showing up on Mac.
Why the USB flash drive is not mounting on Mac?
What makes the hard drive not working problems like USB flash drive unmounted on Mac can be various. This is because that this external drive is connected to the Mac computer through USB cable, USB port and many other components. The possible reasons for this issue include:
Faulty connections like broken cable and wobbly USB port
File system errors, volume header corruptions, etc. in the USB flash drive
Disk Utility failure, log file corruption, OS malfunction on this Mac
Physical damage and other factors
How to fix/repair USB flash drive not mounting issue on Mac?
No matter what results in unmountable USB flash drive, it's urgent to fix/repair USB flash drive not mounting issue on Mac. Here are 4 solutions to this unmounted USB flash drive issue according to different causes, you can check them one by one.
Solution 1: Check the USB flash drive in System Information
If you plug this USB flash drive into your Mac computer but get no sign that this drive is mounting on Mac, you can check System Information to see if this USB flash drive is showing up.
Step 1: Go to Utilities and choose System Information.
Step 2: Double-click on its icon to open it and choose USB in the left sidebar.
Step 3: Check if your USB flash drive is detected by the system in the right box.
If your USB flash drive is not showing up in the right box, you can try to re-plug it, or change another USB port and cable to connect it.
Solution 2: Check the Finder Preferences
Sometimes, you just can't find the USB flash drive in Finder and on the desktop, but actually, it is mounted on your Mac and just not showing up. Check the Finder Preferences and see if it will appear.
Step 1: Click Finder and choose Preferences in the top menu bar.
Step 2: Check External Disks in General tab so that the USB flash drive can be shown on the desktop.
Step 3: Go to Sidebar and check External disks so that they can be located in Finder.
Solution 3: Check and repair this USB flash drive with Disk Utility
If you still can't access your USB flash drive thereafter, you can go to Disk Utility which is a built-in utility to fix disk problems. If it is greyed out in Disk Utility, you can manually mount this USB flash drive.
Step 1: Go > Utilities > Disk Utility.
Step 2: Click on View option and choose 'Show all devices'.
Step 3: Click on the name of your USB flash drive.
Step 4: Select Mount in the upper menu bar.
If the Mount button is greyed out and you can't mount this USB flash drive manually, then there could be some disk errors. Fortunately, you can use First Aid in Disk Utility to repair this unmountable USB flash drive.
Step 1: Launch Disk Utility.
Step 2: Choose the grayed-out USB flash drive.
Step 3: Select First Aid in the top center and click Run.
Solution 4: Fix the unmountable USB flash drive by reformatting
However, if Disk Utility fails to repair this external drive because of serious file system corruption, you can only fix this by reformatting. The thing you need to keep in mind is that reformatting will erase all files on this USB flash drive, which means, you need to make sure an existing file backup. Or you can recover lost data from the unmountable USB flash drive before you fix the USB flash drive not mounting issue on Mac by reformatting.
How to recover lost data from unmounted/unrecognizable USB flash drives?
Can't open the unmountable USB flash drive but don't want to lose data? You can still get your files back with USB flash drive data recovery software before you reformat this drive.
As one of the most professional USB data recovery software, iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac is highly recommended. It can recover lost data from unmountable, unreadable, and corrupted USB flash drive, recover deleted/lost files from emptied Mac trash. Moreover, this software performs well in recovering data from hard drives, external hard drives, flash drives, USB sticks, SD cards, and other storage devices. Data recovery is allowed on macOS 10.14/10.13/10.12 and Mac OS X 10.11/10.10/10.9/10.8/10.7.
Step 1: Recover lost data from unmountable USB flash drive with Mac data recovery software
Step 1: Download and install iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac on your Mac.
Step 2: Connect your USB flash drive to the Mac and launch iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac.
Step 3: Select the unmountable USB flash drive and click 'Next' button to scan all lost files.
Step 4: Preview the scanning results by double-clicking, choose files that you want to recover, and click 'Recover' button to get lost data back.
Note: In case you lose the recovered files again in the next reformatting step, you'd better save these files to another reliable drive.
Step 2: Reformatting this USB flash drive without data loss
After recovering data from this unmountable USB flash drive, you can reformat this USB flash drive without worrying about losing anything important.
Step 1: Go > Utilities > Disk Utility.
Step 2: Click the icon of unmountable USB flash drive on the left part of the window.
Step 3: Click the Erase button on the top of the Disk Utility window.
Step 4: Complete the related information(name, format, scheme), then click Erase button.
When the process finished successfully, your USB flash drive will be mountable on the Mac computer again. But the case is, no matter how powerful USB flash drive data recovery software is, the best way to recover files from external drives is to recover them from backups. So, remember to duplicate your files this time.
Usb Flash Drive Repair Tool
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