Dec 16, 2024 • Filed to: Solve Mac Problems • Proven solutions
Quick access to your Mac hard drive is helpful. It allows you to view and work on various folders, applications of your system that you require regularly. When your Macintosh HD not mounted, the access to your system becomes complicated. Are you experiencing the same? Nothing to worry! We will take you through the meaning of mounted and unmounted disk, as well as the various ways to fix unmounted Macintosh HD and recover lost files on Mac.
Macintosh HD or Mac hard drive is the primary storage medium for Mac users. Sometimes the hard drive fails to mount because of various reasons and prevents you from using the system. Before learning further let's first understand what does it mean by disk mount and disk not mount.
When a drive is available for reading and writing operations by the operating system, it is referred to as disc mounting. If the computer is working, the disk is visible in the left pane of the Disk Utility. You can even manually mount the disk if it is not accessible by the computer. It can be done by selecting the disk and clicking on the mount link. All this is possible only if the hard drive is detectable.
If you are unable to view the Macintosh hard drive in disk utility, here the disk is not mounted. As the hard drive becomes inaccessible, except the erase button, all other operations become disabled or are greyed out. It is also possible that your Mac stops working. There is a high possibility that Mac won't turn on if Macintosh HD not mounted. But why disk does not mount, let's find out the various reasons for it.
When you are unable to view the hard drive on the Mac, it can be due to various reasons:
Before you begin with fixing the Macintosh HD that is not visible in Disk Utility, ensure you have a backup of your hard drive. The backup will be beneficial because while troubleshooting the errors, the original data can be overwritten.
Fix the Macintosh HD not mounted with Disk Utility's First Aid. But it should be performed in the recovery mode.
Once the repairing completes, there are two possible outcomes:
If you fall in the second category, there is nothing to worry about as you can resolve the issue with the next solutions. If Disk Utility helps you mount Macintosh HD successfully but fails to repair other disk errors, turn to this guide - Fix "Disk Utility Can't Repair This Disk".
If your Macintosh HD not mounted is not fixed with the disk utility, you can try it with Terminal.
When Terminal was not able to fix the issue, repair the hard drive with the FSCK command. Run it in single-user mode
To repair the Macintosh HD with FSCK command, it is necessary to ensure that your Mac is in the shutdown state. Hold Command and S key of your Mac simultaneously when you restart it. Release the keys when you view the Apple logo. It will boot the system in single-user mode. From here, you can save your files by repairing the hard drive that fails to start-up.
The command line starts checking Macintosh HD volume. When the damaged disk is repaired, it shows the message "File system was modified." Retype the above command when you view this message.
When the message, "The Volume (name) appears to be OK", is displayed, your Mac's drive is fully repaired. After viewing it reboot the PC.
This method helps to repair minor cryptic disk errors.
Rebooting your Mac in safe mode can also help fix the error, the operating system will scan and repair if you find any errors during this process.
If your Mac has started property, try to restart and boot it as usual.
By converting your failing drive to an external hard drive, you can recover inaccessible files from the target disk. Complete the process with these easy steps.
Does your Macintosh HD fail to fix after trying all the above steps? If it is still showing in an unmounted state, factory reset is the last option you are left with. Macintosh hard drive will be formatted and will reinstall the operating system on Mac. Before starting with a factory reset, make sure you have a backup, as all the data of your Macintosh HD will get deleted in this process.
After clicking on the erase, you will be prompted to give vital information for formatting disk. It can be name, format, scheme, etc. of the disk. Click on Finish once you complete with it and go to the macOS Utilities screen to select Reinstall macOS from the menu.
The moment you observe Macintosh HD not mounted error, save your important data immediately on the hard drive. If you fail to do, you can recover your data with the help of data recovery software.
While fixing the unmounted Macintosh HD, if your data is lost or you fail to bring it in the mounted state, you need to recover your critical saved data from it. To help you, Recoverit Mac Recovery software can do it for you.
The leading data recovery software with the highest recovery rate will help you in retrieving the data quickly. Recoverit Mac HD Data Recovery supports above 1000 file formats for images, multimedia files, archives, and emails. Data recovery from the laptop, internal hard drive, external storage devices, recycle bin/ trash and from a crashed computer is easy with its three simple steps.
Download it to recover data from your macintosh HD not mounted with these steps:
To recover data from your non mounted Macintosh HD, select the location first. Select the drive to start the scan.
Once you make the selection, Recoverit will start with the all-around scan. The scanning can complete in minutes or can take hours if the file sizes are large. During the scanning, you can stop or pause it in between for your convenience. If the files that you are looking for are not found with the all-around scan, you can go for a deep scan to let the software make a deeper search.
Once the scan completes and provides you with the files found during the scan, the software allows you to preview them before recovering. It adds as a benefit as you can assure this way that you are recovering the right files. Click on the recover option after you preview the files and select the targeted ones.
When you click on recover option, after recovering the software will ask you to choose a path to save the recovered files. It is advisable here that you should always select the path different from the original one where they were saved before.
Regular backups of stored information are recommended. But if you forget taking a backup, quickly download and install the recovery software Recoverit and retrieve your data.
Here are the tips that help you to analyze whether the drive is at fault or the issue is arising because of any other reason. Try to fix it with the basic troubleshooting.
While booting up your Mac, if Macintosh HD fails to show up, check why it is not showing up. It is hard drive problem or the fault is with other parts. As discussed in this article look for the exact cause by following the tips and reasons mentioned here. If you are still not able to see Macintosh HD at startup, then fix it with the solutions listed above.
While fixing the Macintosh HD not mounted, if you lose your data, restore deleted or lost files with Recoverit data recovery software.
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Sue Wayne
staff Editor