How To Fix a LaCie Hard Drive Not Showing Up on Mac

Although pricey, LaCie hard drives are some of the top backup and storage solutions for Mac users. With excellent capacity, high-end encryption, and features like water, dust, and crush resistance, they're all but the perfect device.

However, even top-rated drives like LaCie could encounter problems on occasion.

One of the most common issues you could encounter is LaCie not showing up on Mac. Fortunately, even though that can seem like a critical failure, it's rarely so. There are several solutions you could try to fix this common issue. Check them out here.

Why Is My LaCie Hard Drive Isn't Showing Up on Mac

Plugging in your hard drive and having your Mac not respond to it whatsoever can be a nightmare, primarily if you use the drive to store cherished photos and videos, important documents, and other files.

However, while your LaCie hard drive not showing up on Mac can be concerning, there's usually a simple cause with a simple solution.

Some of the most common reasons LaCie doesn't show up on Mac include:

More often than not, it's also possible that there's a random glitch that leads to your Mac not recognizing the LaCie external hard drive. You might even have an unstable power supply that's temporarily causing issues.

In most instances, you can quickly solve the issue and continue using your hard drive as usual.

Perform Basic Checks if LaCie Doesn't Show Up on a Mac

Although most solutions to your LaCie disk not showing up on Mac are relatively straightforward, it's best not to rush to apply them. After all, if the problem is random, such as a damaged cable, you'd only be wasting time and effort trying to format your drive, for instance.

So, to save time and ensure that you don't make matters worse, it's always in your best interest to first perform a few basic checks when you encounter the glitch of your LaCie not connecting to Mac.

• First, inspect the cable. If it's damaged or loose, your drive won't be able to establish a stable connection with your Mac, leading to your computer not recognizing the device. While at it, check the ports, as any accumulated dust or debris could be causing connection issues.
• Also, try rebooting your Mac or connecting your drive to another computer to check if it recognizes your LaCie.
• Of course, you should also do a brief visual inspection of the drive. Even if it's the damage-resistant LaCie Rugged that's not showing up on Mac, it could be that there's still some physical damage on the device preventing it from working correctly. So, look it over and see if there are any signs of damage.

Recover Your Data Before Trying the Fixes

Before you try any of the fixes to your LaCie drive not showing up on Mac, you should try to access and recover any stored data. Otherwise, you might risk losing your data for good.

Tools like Wondershare Recoverit – Hard Drive Data Recovery can help you recover data in any scenario—from virus and malware attacks to file corruption, software failure, and other unexpected situations. However, you can only use it to recover your LaCie's data if the device shows up in your Disk Utility.

Wondershare Recoverit

• Recovers data from all external hard drive brands, including LaCie, WD, Samsung, SanDisk, etc.
• Manages over 500 data loss situations, such as deletion, formatting, and disk corruption.
• The user-friendly interface allows you to recover data in just a few clicks.

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First, connect your LaCie to your Mac, and if it's not showing up, go to System Preferences > Disk Utility. If you can see the drive there, you can use Wondershare Recoverit to retrieve your files.

Download and launch Wondershare Recoverit, then follow the next few steps to recover data from your LaCie:

1. Plug your LaCie hard drive into your computer using a USB cable. Make sure it's properly connected.
2. Open the Recoverit software on your computer.
3. Select your LaCie hard drive: In the main interface, you'll see a list of available drives. Locate and select your LaCie external hard drive to begin the scanning process.

   

4. Recoverit will now scan your LaCie hard drive for lost or deleted files. The scanning process may take some time, depending on the size and condition of your hard drive.

   

5. Once the scan is complete, the software will display a list of recoverable files. You can preview the files and select the ones you want to recover.

   

6. Click the Recover button. Choose a save location on your computer or another storage device (not the same LaCie drive) and click OK to begin the recovery process.

   

Once the recovery process is complete, you'll find all the data in your selected location. Afterward, you can safely attempt fixes to your LaCie external hard drive not showing up on Mac without risking data loss.

How To Fix LaCie Drive Not Showing Up on Mac

If you've performed the basic checks and recovered all essential files through Disk Utility and Wondershare Recoverit, and your LaCie hard drive still won't connect to your Mac, here are the top solutions you could try.

Way 1. Set Up Finder Preferences

When everything's working fine, you can always locate your LaCie and other connected devices in Finder. If your device isn't in Finder, you might need to change your Finder Preferences.

You can perform this fix in three easy steps:

1. Go to Finder > Finder Preferences.
2. Uncheck External disks in the General tab.

   

3. Go to the Sidebar tab and check all folders and devices you want to see in Finder.

   

If the problem was in your Finder Preferences, following these steps should get your Mac to recognize your LaCie external hard drive.

Way 2. Check if the Device Is Mounted

It's easy to assume that your LaCie external hard drive is correctly mounted if you've connected it to your Mac via a cable. However, that's not always the case.

To properly mount your device, check the physical connections first to ensure you've plugged the cables correctly. Then, you'll want to visit your Disk Utility:

1. Go to Finder > Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility.
2. Select your LaCie external device.
3. Click Mount.

   

After you exit Disk Utility, you should find your LaCie hard drive in Finder if improper mounting was the issue.

Way 3. Run First Aid to Fix LaCie Not Showing Up

While improper mounting or wrong formatting are the more common issues causing the “LaCie hard drive not recognized on Mac” problem, you could also deal with disk corrupted or bad sectors. You can solve this issue by running First Aid.

1. Go to Finder > Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility.
2. Select your LaCie device and go to the First Aid tab.
3. Click Run.

   

Running First Aid should repair any errors causing your Mac not to recognize your Lacie disk. However, a prerequisite is that the device shows up in your Disk Utility.

Way 4. Use Terminal to Fix LaCie Not Recognized by Mac

If your problems persist, using Terminal could help you get your drive to function normally. While it does involve running a few commands, which might seem complicated at first glance, it's a simple process that anyone can follow:

1. Go to Finder > Applications > Utilities > Terminal.
2. Once the Terminal opens, type diskutil list and press Enter to run the command.

   

3. Locate dev/disk[number assigned to your LaCie drive] (external, physical).
4. Type diskutil info disk[number] and press Enter.
5. Type diskutil eject disk[number] and press Enter.
6. Run the diskutil list command.

Once you run the eject command, your LaCie should no longer appear on the diskutil list in Terminal. You can now disconnect and reconnect the device to see if you fixed the problem.

Way 5. Format the Drive to the Right Mac File System

Your device might have the NTFS format—a file system exclusive to Windows. Since Mac devices don't support this file system, you might encounter issues with your LaCie external drive not showing up on Mac.

Note: Keep in mind that formatting the drive will erase all existing data on it. Before formatting, make sure to back up any important data you have on the Lacie drive, or use data recovery software to recover your files if the drive is still accessible on another computer.

Here's how to format the LaCie hard drive after backing up the data:

1. Go to Finder > Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility.
2. Find your LaCie external drive and select Info.
3. Under File System, check if the HDD has a Windows (NTFS) format.

   

4. Return to Disk Utility > Erase.
5. Select a Mac compatible format, such as APFS, HFS+, FAT, or exFAT, and click Erase.

Give your Mac a few minutes to complete formatting your LaCie hard drive. When the process is complete, the HDD should be in a format your Mac can recognize.

Way 6. Reset NVRAM on Your Mac

Finally, you can try fixing your LaCie hard drive that won't show up on Mac by resetting your NVRAM. NVRAM, aka non-volatile random-access memory, retains data even when there's no power to the memory chips, and it could sometimes cause glitches.

To reset your NVRAM, you'll need to:

1. Turn off your Mac.
2. Hold the Option, Command, P, and R keys for approximately 20 seconds.
3. Release the keys when you hear the startup chime.

These simple steps will reset your NVRAM and hopefully help you eliminate the glitch causing your LaCie not to show up on Mac.

Final Words

While having your LaCie not show up on Mac when you plug it in can be frightening, it doesn't necessarily mean that your drive is dead or your data has been lost. Try the solutions above to eliminate the problem and protect your data by recovering it using Wondershare Recoverit.