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Summary: Unable to mount Macintosh HD in Disk Utility in macOS High Sierra/Mojave/Catalina? Cannot access the data stored on the Mac hard drive? Don't worry. This article will show you 7 efficient solutions to fix Macintosh HD not mounted/showing up in Disk Utility in macOS Catalina/Mojave/High Sierra issue without losing data.
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Mounting a hard drive on Mac means to make the drive available for the operating system, which requires a mount point to read and write this hard drive. If the internal hard drive of Mac, the disk0s2, or the Macintosh HD is not mounted on Mac, you'll see:
Windows will try to find your USB stick so you can access it again. Reinstall USB Controllers. This method helps where the USB driver is unstable or corrupted. Right-click StartDevice Manager and click on the Universal Serial Bus controllers to expand the list. The other one can't, and the mount button is unresponsive. I'm also pasting the output of that terminal command sudo mount: Last login: Sat Feb 3 12:11:46 on ttys000. Ahmeds-MacBook-Pro: Ahmed$ sudo mount -t ntfs /dev/disk2/Volumes/Seagate Backup Plus Drive. Password: usage: mount -dfruvw -o options -t externaltype special node.
- All the data on the Mac hard drive becomes inaccessible.
- Most of the operations in Disk Utility are greyed out or disabled except the Erase button.
- The Macintosh HD will be grayed out, and you cannot repair it but only back up files.
- No Macintosh HD showing up in Disk Utility.
- Mac computer stops working, or your Mac won't turn on at all.
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.
In fact, Macintosh HD - Data (macOS Catalina) or Macintosh HD not mounted problem is quite common on Apple computers. If you have met the same situation above, what can you do to fix the problem without worrying about data loss? Now, read on to learn the solutions.
- Table of contents
- 1. Why does Macintosh HD not mounted in macOS and Disk Utility?
- 2. How to recover lost data when Macintosh HD not mounted in macOS and Disk Utility?
- 3. How to fix Macintosh HD not mounted in Disk Utility issue?
Why does Macintosh HD not mounted/showing in Disk Utility?
The volume Macintosh HD is found corrupt and needs to be repaired before mounting for those 5 primary reasons.
- File system damage. File system is responsible for how data is organized and stored in a drive. If the file system of the Macintosh HD is corrupted, the master file table will be impacted in a direct manner so the Mac won't mount the drive.
- Virus attacks. Perhaps, your Mac system or the Macintosh HD is attacked by virus or malware, resulting in data corruption. Then your Mac won't mount the Macintosh HD, neither.
- Catalog file corruption. Catalog files contains the record files of partitioned volumes. So if any catalog file becomes corrupt, the Mac won't be able to get volume size location, description of volume content and other volume information, let alone mount the drive.
- Disk Utility failures The Macintosh HD not mounted issue may be caused by Disk Utility faults, too.
- System malfunctions. System malfunctions include machine malfunctions and operating system errors. If the Mac operating system crashes, it cannot mount any drive.
How to recover lost data when Macintosh HD not mounted/showing up in Disk Utility?
Pro tips: Before fixing the Macintosh HD not showing up in Disk Utility issue, please stop using the Mac computer and make sure you have a backup copy of the Mac hard drive.
That's because, your any further operation on the Mac computer, including troubleshooting the hard drive not mounting errors, may write new data to the unmounted Mac hard drive and overwrite the original data. Without backups, you need to recover lost data from crashed/dead Mac hard disk or use Target Disk Mode
Method 1: Recover lost data from unmountable Macintosh HD with iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac
iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac is free Mac hard drive data recovery software which helps yourecover lost data from the unmountable Macintosh HD. It also helps retrieve files from corrupted Mac hard drive when there is a boot issue, and recover data from T2-secured Mac , like MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, iMac introduced in and after 2018. It is fully compatible with macOS Catalina 10.15/Mojave 10.14/High Sierra 10.13/10.12 and OS X 10.11/10.10/10.9/10.8/10.7. It supports Mac photo recovery as well as documents, videos, audio files and emails recovery.
Within three steps - select, scan and recover, you can get all lost data back. Moreover, it also provide with powerful preview features and different filtering functions. After scanning, it allows you to preview all recoverable files no matter what file types you have lost, including documents, photos, videos, music files, emails, etc. The filtering and sorting functions enable you to quickly target the right content from a mass of scanning results.
Tutorial to recover data from the unbootable Macintosh HD
Though it's unbootable, you can still rescue your data by running iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac in Recovery Mode. You can also refer to this tutorial: How to run iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac through iBoysoft Server. This method is highly recommended because it is a lot easier and time-saving.
Note: Before you follow the steps below, you have to make sure your Mac has Internet connection.
Step 1: Restart your Mac and immediately hold down COMMAND+OPTION+R keys at startup.
Step 2: Choose a network for your Mac. You need to make your Mac connected to the Internet all the time.
Step 3: Go to Utilities > Terminal from the menu bar.
Step 4: Run the following command:
This will launch iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac through iBoysoft Server.
Step 5: After launching iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac, please select the Mac hard drive, usually Macintosh HD, and click Scan button.
Step 6: Preview the scanning results and choose the files you want to get back.
Step 7: Click Recover button. Here please select a different location to store the recovered files.
Method 2: Use Target Disk Mode
Target disk mode is a boot mode which allows you to browse and transfer files to and from a Mac internal hard drive without booting macOS. It can be used for troubleshooting the internal hard drive not showing up on Mac.
• How to transfer files to and from a Mac with Target Disk Mode?
How to fix Macintosh HD not mounted in Disk Utility?
After recovering data from the Mac hard drive that is not mounted in Disk Utility, you can follow the solutions to fix the issue.
Solution 1: Restart your Mac computer
No matter what happens to your Mac computer and makes your Macintosh HD unmounted, the first and foremost solution is to shut down your Mac computer and restart it up again. Simply holding down the on/off key until the computer turns off, waiting a few minutes, and then turning it back on. Sometimes when you turn it back on, everything returns to normal.
Solution 2: Repair the unmountable Macintosh HD in Recovery Mode
If the Macintosh HD is unable to be mounted in Disk Utility normally, you can try to repair it with Disk Utility's First Aid in Recovery Mode.
Step 1: Boot your Mac into Recovery Mode. Start your Mac and hold down the Command and R keys simultaneously until you see an Apple logo or spinning globe. Then release the keys.
Step 2: Select Disk Utility from the macOS Utilities menu and click Continue.
Step 3: Select the unmounted Macintosh HD from the left-hand panel.
Step 4: Click First Aid on the top of the window and wait while it verifying and repairing errors.
Solution 3: Fix Macintosh HD not mounted by Terminal
If Disk Utility stopped repairing Macintosh HD in macOS, you can then try to fix it with Terminal.
Step 1: Boot your Mac into Recovery Mode.
Step 2: Click Utilities from the menu bar and select Terminal from the drop-down list. Meilleur convertisseur video mac.
Step 2: Enter diskutil list. This will list out the available volumes.
Step 3: Check the volume identifier from the table that appears. (For example disk 2s1)
Step 4: Enter diskutil repairVolume/disk 2s1. (Replace disk 2s1 with the volume identifier of your Macintosh HD)
Solution 4: Run FSCK command in Single User Mode
FSCK is a command-line tool to check the consistency of a hard drive and repair disk errors. If the solutions above are unable to fix Macintosh HD or the Mac internal hard drive not mounted issue, you can have a try.
Step 1: Restart your Mac and, before the Apple logo appears, hold down Command and S keys. This will boot your Mac into Single User Mode.
Step 2: Type in:
Step 3: If you see 'File system was modified', then re-type in the command again until you see 'The volume [name] appears to be OK'.
Step 4: Type in the command to restart your Mac:
Solution 5: Try Safe Mode
When trying to boot into Safe Mode, macOS will scan and repair any errors it finds on the disk. To boot into Safe Mode, you need to shut the Mac down and start it up while holding down Shift. Release the Shift key when you see the login window. Should your computer boot properly, try restarting and booting as normal.
Solution 6: Reset NVRAM on your Mac
NVRAM is a small amount of memory used to store certain settings for quick access on Mac. The corrupted NVRAM can cause Mac glitches or even prevent macOS from starting. Thereby if your Mac computer won't boot properly, you can attempt to reset the NVRAM. Reboot your Mac and hold down the 'Command + Option + P + R' key buttons. After resetting, you can retry to mount the Macintosh HD on Mac.
Solution 7: Erase the unmountable Macintosh HD and reinstall macOS
If the Macintosh HD won't mount, and your Mac still cannot recognize the Mac internal hard drive, the final chance is to factory reset the Mac - format the Macintosh HD and reinstall macOS on it. But as you know, reformatting will erase all the data stored on the Macintosh HD. Please make sure you have recovered data with iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac as above.
Step 1: Boot your Mac to Recovery Mode.
Step 2: Select Disk Utility from the macOS Utilities menu.
Step 3: Select the unmountable Macintosh HD from the side bar.
Step 4: Click Erase from the top.
Step 5: Setup the required information (i.e. Name, Scheme, Format, etc.) to reformat the disk and click Done when finished.
Step 6: Go back to macOS Utilities screen and select Reinstall macOS.
What to keep in mind: Once you encountered the Macintosh HD not mounted error, the first thing you should do is to save your data on the Mac hard drive. Without regular backups, a data recovery program like iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac will help you recover lost data from the unmounted Mac hard drive. Then, try to fix the Macintosh HD not mounted issue.
Final thoughts
It's so frustrating that Macintosh HD greyed out in Disk Utility in Recovery Mode, especially when you have important data stored on the Mac. But the good news is that quite a few feasible solutions are available to fix this issue. Before that, if you care about data on the Macintosh HD, you should recover lost data from the unmountable Macintosh HD with iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac. Download and install this free Mac data recovery software, you won't be bothered by any data loss scenarios.
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Which solution helps you the most? Do you have any other solutions to fix Macintosh HD not mounted issue or have any question? Please don't hesitate to email us.
Macintosh HD, or the MacBook internal hard drive, is basically the startup drive of most Apple computers. That means if your Mac or MacBook Pro can’t mount its startup disk, it is likely that you will experience problems, like your computer gets stuck on the login screen or it does not boot at all. Situations like this can be very annoying, especially if you have critical and important files stored on the “unmountable” hard drive.
Fret not, because we will teach you what to do if your MacBook Pro won’t mount its startup disk. But before we do that, you better have a backup of all your data.
Backup, Backup, Backup!
Before you proceed with fixing the problem, it is best that you back up all your data first. That way, you can easily retrieve or recover your important documents and files in case something goes wrong.
Now, you might be wondering if it is possible to create a backup of your data, especially that your Mac is not even booting. Here’s what you should know: your Mac has a built-in Disk Utility, which can be accessed before startup. To use this, follow the steps below:
- Get an external hard drive and connect it to your Mac.
- Switch off your Mac. After five seconds, switch it back on.
- After hearing the startup sound, press the CMD and R keys. Hold them until the Apple logo appears.
- The macOS Utilities window will now appear.
- Choose Disk Utility and hit Continue to proceed.
- You can now start backing up your data using the external drive. Once you have backed up all your data, you can try a few fixes to your “unmountable” hard drive problems.
Usb Not Detected Mac
4 Fixes to a MacBook Pro That Can’t Mount Its Startup Disk
In most cases, mounting is an automatic process that happens as soon as the hard drive is connected to a Mac or MacBook Pro. Then again, drive mounting can be performed manually using the Disk Utility of your machine. It will be discussed further below.
Going forward, assuming you already have a backup of your important files and data, let’s proceed with resolving the problem. Below are a few ways to fix a MacBook Pro that can’t mount its startup disk:
1. Fix Your Hard Drive.
Sometimes, restarting your Mac is more than enough to fix the problem. However, if that does not work, then you might want to look into the angle that there might be something wrong with your hard drive. If that is the case, you have to boot your MacBook Pro in Recovery Mode via Disk Utility.
To hopefully fix your hard drive, follow these steps:
- Switch off your MacBook Pro.
- Turn it back on by pressing the Power button. But while doing that, press the CMD and R keys as well until the Apple logo appears.
- The macOS Utilities window will open. From there, select Disk Utility.
- From the left pane, choose your MacBook Pro hard drive.
- Navigate to the First Aid tab.
- Click the First Aid button to start fixing your drive.
- Wait for the process to finish before restarting your machine.
2. Run Your MacBook Pro in Safe Mode.
When booted in Safe Mode, your MacBook Pro will start only with the minimum requirements and utilities needed. All other programs and apps that are unnecessary will never be loaded. Hence, if the reason why your startup disk cannot be mounted is a faulty app or program, booting your MacBook Pro in Safe Mode might just fix your problem.
To run your MacBook Pro in Safe Mode, do these:
- Restart your MacBook Pro.
- After you hear the startup sound, press the SHIFT key immediately. Continue holding it until the Apple logo appears.
- If your MacBook Pro boots up properly, then uninstall any program or app you suspect is causing the problem.
- Restart your machine.
3. Disconnect All External Peripherals.
It is possible that a faulty peripheral connected to your MacBook Pro could be causing your startup disk problems. To verify this, follow the steps below:
- Switch off your machine.
- Disconnect all external peripherals connected to your MacBook Pro, including printers, external hard drives, USBs, and scanner. You may leave the keyboard and mouse attached in the meantime.
- Switch on your Mac. If it boots properly, then one of the peripherals is causing the problem.
- Identify the exact cause of the problem by connecting each of the peripherals one by one. Make sure you reboot your MacBook Pro every time you connect a peripheral.
4. Reset the SMC and PRAM.
This may sound like a technical solution, but it isn’t. In fact, resetting the SMC and the PRAM takes only a few seconds.
To reset the PRAM and SMC, follow these instructions:
- Reboot your MacBook Pro.
- After you hear the startup sound, press the Option, CMD, P, and R keys. Hold them until you hear the second startup tone.
- Release the keys. Your PRAM will then be reset.
- Restart your MacBook Pro and check if the problem persists.
- If resetting the PRAM does not fix the problem, try resetting the SMC. Start by shutting down your MacBook Pro.
- Plug your machine into a wall outlet.
- Next, press the CTRL, SHIFT, Option, and Power keys for 10 seconds and release them together.
- Restart your MacBook Pro and see if it worked.
How to Mount a Startup Disk on MacBook Pro
At this point, you probably want to know how to properly mount a startup disk on your MacBook Pro to avoid problems in the future. Well, mounting a startup disk does not literally suggest physically setting it up with all the wires. It simply means making the startup disk available for your system to perform different read and write operations.
If the startup drive is in good shape, your system Disk Utility should see it. Under the Disk Utility window, select your preferred startup disk. Click on it to mount. By now, your new startup disk should be accessible by your operating system.
Mac Mount Usb Drive
What’s Next?
Now that you know how to deal with your “unmountable” startup disk problem, it’s time that you get your MacBook Pro running fast and smooth by downloading and installing a reliable tool like Outbyte MacRepair. Not only will this tool allow you to conveniently find and fix speed and stability problems, it will also protect your privacy. What more can you ask for from such a powerful tool?
If you know other ways to fix a MacBook Pro that can’t mount its startup disk, please share them with us below. We’re looking forward to hearing from you.
If you’re running into errors and your system is suspiciously slow, your computer needs some maintenance work. Download Outbyte PC Repair for Windows, Outbyte Antivirus for Windows, or Outbyte MacRepair for macOS to resolve common computer performance issues. Fix computer troubles by downloading the compatible tool for your device.
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