How to temporary or permanently map a network drive on a Mac?
Activate a Finder window, select Preferences from the Finder Menu. Click on the General icon in the toolbar. Check the boxes for what you wish to display on the Desktop. Click on the Sidebar icon in the toolbar. You can check what items you wish displayed in the Finder's sidebar. Apple: Mac OS 10.13, Mac OS 10.12, Mac OS X 10.11, Mac OS X 10.9, Mac OS X 10.8, Mac OS X 10.7, Mac OS X 10.6. Microsoft: Windows 10/8.1/8/7/Vista/XP. To easily retrieve lost data from your external hard drive using this software follow these steps: Step 1. Download and install the AnyRecover software and select the External Device Recovery.
Network drive is probably the best alternative for work or home environments where more than one computer is used to share files between them. However, macOS can't automatically detect network devices, unlike installed hardware. So you need to manually install and set them up, afterwards you will need to map a network drive on your Mac. Mapping a network is a process, where you reveal the path to a storage device attached to a network.
There are two methods how to map your network drive on Mac. First would be for temporary use, where you loose your path to network drive after restart. The second would be a permanent one, where your Mac will detect and mount the network drive every time it connect to the same network with attached storage. Speaking about business, network storage usually comes in the form of server storage, SANs (storage area network), NAS (network attached storage) and cloud services. However, home users also can use the same technologies, but SANs requires higher budget, so NAS or cloud storage would be more efficient.
Table of Contents:
It is recommended to run a free scan with Malwarebytes - a tool to detect malware and fix computer errors. You will need to purchase the full version to remove infections and eliminate computer errors. Take photo on mac. Free trial available.
What is a network drive?
In case you're not an experienced computer user, you probably wonder what actually is a network drive, although what SAN and NAS is and what is their differences and possibilities?
A network drive is basically any type of storage connected to your router. In most frequent cases these are made up of computers, who's acting like servers to provide storage. A NAS device might be either an external hard drive (even usb flash key) connected to your home router, either assigned NAS device builded with own hardware and multiple drives. However, storage connects to you router and permits to authorized users to reach it. A SAN is basically a more complicated NAS, that can have numerous drives available in same network. These are frequently used in enterprise.
View Mac Hard Drive On Pc
How to temporary map a network drive
Using this method your network drive will be connected and mounted for one time use, which means that it will disappear if you disconnect from network or simply reboot your Mac.
First open Mac 0010OS Finder app, that press Command and K buttons to launch Connect to Server window. Enter the route to the network drive you desire to map, for example: smb://networkcomputer/networkshare and click Connect.
Enter your log in details and click OK to mount the network drive. From now till reboot your network drive will be shown on your desktop and in the Finder's window sidebar. You can access the network share like a usual folder at this point.
Map a network drive to Mac OS which automatically re-mounts after reconnection
Using this method will leave you an openings to reboot your Mac and keep the network drive mapped as well as network reconnections. Your Mac will automatically remounts the drive, so you will be able to find your desktop shortcut whenever you connect to network.
First open Mac 0010OS Finder app, that press Command and K buttons to launch Connect to Server window. Enter the route to the network drive you desire to map, for example: smb://networkcomputer/networkshare and click Connect.
Enter your log in details and click OK to mount the network drive. Once your drive is mounted, you need to enable automatic mounts, so open System Preferences from the Apple menu. Click on Users and Groups (or Accounts in older OS) and choose Login Items. Click on add (+) button to add another login item, locate the network drive you have mounted before and click Add. From now on your network drive will be mapped and automatically remounted every time you reboot your Mac.
However, if you disconnect or loose connection to network where the mapped network drive is located, it won't reconnect automatically until you reconnect to the network and reboot your computer. What is more, shared drive will be accessible through Finder as usual folder.
Make network drive accessible from Mac desktop
Good news that you may access your network drive through your Mac's desktop icon. Just follow several steps and create an icon which always appear on desktop when you connect to network.
First open Finder preferences from a menu bar in very top of you window, this appears when Finder is launched. Click the General tab and select the checkbox next to Connected Servers. This step ensure you to see the drives icon on your desktop, uncheck it and it will be only accessible in Finder window sidebars.
Mount a mapped network drive with a one click
There is a very useful additional step which allows you to create an alias of the mapped network drive, so you will be able to reconnect to the share with just one click. To create an alias, just right-click your mapped network drive icon on the desktop and select Make Alias. Once you've created alias just double-click it and your Mac reconnect to the network drive instantly. This is really useful, if you reconnecting to a network repeatedly.
Video Showing how to map a network drive on Mac:
Summary: In this blog, we'll share different methods to address the ‘external hard drive not showing up on Mac' issue on macOS Catalina and other lower versions. The methods we'll cover are:
1. Check USB connectivity
2. Enable visibility of external hard drive
3. Update macOS
4. Repair external hard drive by using Disk Utility
5. Repair external hard drive by using Terminal
6. Erase the external hard drive
7. Replace the external hard drive
Download the free-to-try Mac data recovery software to recover your lost data from external hard drive on Mac.
Video Showing how to map a network drive on Mac:
Summary: In this blog, we'll share different methods to address the ‘external hard drive not showing up on Mac' issue on macOS Catalina and other lower versions. The methods we'll cover are:
1. Check USB connectivity
2. Enable visibility of external hard drive
3. Update macOS
4. Repair external hard drive by using Disk Utility
5. Repair external hard drive by using Terminal
6. Erase the external hard drive
7. Replace the external hard drive
Download the free-to-try Mac data recovery software to recover your lost data from external hard drive on Mac.
'Hi friends, when I connected my 2 TB Seagate external hard drive after a long time on my MacBook Air (running on macOS Catalina), the drive did not show up in Desktop or Finder sidebar. This drive has all my important digital memories. Could anyone please help me out to recover my data from the drive? Thanks.'
When you connect an external hard drive to your Mac running on macOS Catalina, the storage drive may not show up on Desktop, Finder, or even on the Disk Utility app due to several reasons.
Common Reasons for External Hard Drive Not Showing Up on Mac
- USB connectivity problem
- Not setting preferences in macOS
- Partition map damage
- Device incompatibility
- Physical damage on a hard drive
The next sections describe multiple troubleshooting methods to fix the ‘external drive not showing up on Mac' issue on macOS.
1. Check the USB Connectivity
Your external hard drive may not be connected properly to the USB port present on your MacBook Air, iMac, or Mac mini. Try the following steps:
- Try reconnecting the drive to the same or another compatible USB port.
- If that doesn't fix the issue, try changing the USB cable and reconnect.
- If you have another Mac, then even try connecting the external drive to it.
2. Enable visibility of external hard drive
In macOS Catalina, you need to enable the visibility of external disks. For setting your preferences, do the following:
- Go to Finder > Preferences > General. Under ‘Show these items on the desktop', check the ‘Hard disks' and ‘External disks' checkboxes.
- Similarly, go to Finder > Preferences > Sidebar. Under ‘Show these items on the sidebar', check the ‘Hard disks' and ‘External disks' checkboxes.
- Also, go to Finder > Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility. In Disk Utility, to view all mountable and non-mountable drives, go to View > Show All Devices.
3. Update macOS
Try updating your macOS Catalina to fix subtle issues of external hard drive connectivity. But before that, back up your Macintosh HD by using Time Machine to avoid any data loss. Ensure your Time Machine drive is connected to your Mac. Go to Time Machine > Back Up Now. Once the backup is taken, perform the following steps to update your macOS.
- Go to Apple menu > System Preferences.
- In the System Preferences window, click Software Update.
- In the Software Update window, let macOS to check for updates.
- When updates are available, click Update Now.
- Click Download and Restart. Wait till the update is over.
4. Repair external hard drive by using Disk Utility
When your Mac is not recognizing the external hard drive, use Disk Utility to mount and repair the unrecognized external drive. Steps are as follows:
- Go to Finder > Applications > Utilities. Double-click Disk Utility to launch it.
- If Disk Utility lists the external hard drive in gray, then select your external hard drive from the sidebar.
- From the top pane, click the Mount tab to mount your unmounted external hard drive.
- If the drive is yet inaccessible, click the First Aid tab from the top pane, then click Run to initiate the external hard drive repair process.
- Wait till Disk Utility repairs your external hard drive. If Disk Utility fails, it will show a message that the drive can't be repaired and you need to back up and replace the drive.
5. Repair external hard drive by using Terminal
When Disk Utility can't repair your external hard drive, use your Terminal application available in macOS to mount and repair the affected drive. Steps are as follows:
- Go to Finder > Applications > Utilities. Double-click Terminal to launch it.
- At the command line, type diskutil list, then hit Return. Note disk# of the external hard drive.
- Type diskutil mountDisk /dev/disk#, then hit Return.
- Type diskutil repairVolume /dev/disk#. then hit Return.
- When the repair process is completed, go to Terminal > Quit Terminal.
6. Erase the external hard drive
Show Hard Drive On Desktop Windows 10
In case the external drive's data is not accessible due to file system corruption, you can still recover the data by using a data recovery software for Mac.
Watch the video—Implementing Stellar Data Recovery Professional for Mac to Recover Unmounted External Drive on Mac.
After recovering the inaccessible data, erase the drive by using Disk Utility to fix any logical issues. Finally, restore the recovered data to the external hard drive.
7. Replace the external hard drive
If your external hard drive is not visible in Disk Utility even if you have chosen the Show All Devices option in the View tab, then the drive may have undergone physical damage. You need to replace the inoperative drive with a new one.
Note: To recover data from a dead hard drive, get in touch with a data recovery service provider.
Tips to Prevent Permanent Data Loss on External Hard Drive
- Implement a 3-2-1 backup strategy (3 copies of data on 2 different storage media with 1 copy offsite) to safeguard against any data loss incident.
- Do not erase the external hard drive straight away if it is not recognized by your Mac unless you recover that data by using a Mac data recovery software.
Conclusion
Show Hard Drive On Desktop
The blog highlighted common reasons with troubleshooting strategies to resolve ‘external hard drive not showing up on Mac' issue. To perform any critical troubleshooting process, back up your drive. In case of data loss, do not lose hope. Recover your lost data by using a Stellar Data Recovery Professional for macOS Catalina or earlier. The Mac data recovery software supports a variety of storage devices including external hard drives formatted with APFS, HFS+, HFS, NTFS, FAT, and ex-FAT file systems. The software is available for a free trial.
