My external hard drive suddenly stopped showing up on my Mac, Finder, and Disk Utility. It contains important files that I need to recover without formatting or erasing the drive. What steps or reliable data recovery options should I try?
If the drive does not appear in Disk Utility at all, recovery software cannot scan it yet. First check whether macOS sees the hardware in System Information under USB or Thunderbolt. Try a different cable, port, power adapter, and a direct connection without a hub. Testing it on another computer can help separate a Mac problem from a failed drive or enclosure.
If the hardware appears but the volume will not mount, do not initialize, erase, partition, or repeatedly run First Aid. Ideally, make a full byte-for-byte image first, then scan the image. Disk Drill for Mac can be useful if it can see the physical disk, but recover files to a different drive, never back onto the damaged one.
No hardware detection usually points to the cable, power supply, enclosure electronics, or the drive itself. Replacing the enclosure may work for a standard removable SATA drive, but avoid that if the enclosure uses hardware encryption or the disk is making clicking or beeping sounds. For irreplaceable files, stop powering it on and use a professional recovery lab. Repeated DIY attempts can turn a recoverable mechanical failure into permanent damage.
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If it is truly absent from Disk Utility, there may be nothing software can recover yet. Before assuming that, choose View > Show All Devices in Disk Utility and run diskutil list in Terminal, since the physical disk can appear without its volume. If neither shows it, Disk Drill or any similar app will not help until the connection, enclosure, or drive hardware is working. Do not format it when macOS offers to initialize the disk.
A drive with a bad cable or enclosure is a very different case from a drive with internal mechanical failure. Test another known-good cable, another Mac port, and, if possible, a different enclosure or SATA-to-USB adapter. Avoid USB hubs. If it clicks, repeatedly spins up and down, or disconnects every few seconds, stop powering it on because repeated attempts can make recovery harder.
If the disk becomes visible even briefly, don’t start browsing files or run First Aid. Make a full clone or disk image to another healthy drive first, then recover from that copy. Disk Drill for Mac can scan the image once macOS can detect the source, but running a long scan directly against an unstable drive is risky.
If swapping the connection hardware still leaves the physical disk completely undetected, @xhiddenvectorx is right that software is no longer the next step. For files that cannot be replaced, a professional recovery lab is safer than opening the drive or trying freezer tricks.
A drive that dies the moment you plug it in is a different animal from one that vanishes only after your Mac sleeps or the port drops power. If yours was fine until randomly disappearing, check Energy Saver and any bus-powered setup before assuming hardware death, since a starved USB port fakes a dead drive pretty convincingly.