How to Solve USB Files Not Showing up on Mac?
It is possible that you can’t find the files stored on your USB drive when you connect the USB drive to your Mac. USB files not showing up on Mac is not equal to USB flash drives not showing up on Mac. The former means that the USB flash drive can show up on Mac, but the files on it are missing. However, the latter shows that the USB may be unmountable or unreadable on Mac because of a corrupted file system, incorrect ejection, poor connectivity, outdated USB driver, and other possible reasons.
When encountering such a situation that you are unable to see USB files on a Mac, you may be asking yourself why is my USB not showing files? As a matter of fact, there are some possible reasons for USB files not showing up on Mac, such as virus infection, hidden files, corrupted file system, mistaken deletion, and so on. In this article, we will provide you with solutions to fix files that disappeared from USB flash drives on Mac and show you how to rescue lost files from USB flash drives on Mac with Mac data recovery software.
How to Rescue Lost USB Files with iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac when You Can’t See Files on a USB Drive on Mac?
Generally, when you connect a USB drive to your Mac computer, the USB drive will be automatically mounted so that you can access files on it. However, sometimes you probably find yourself in such a situation where you can’t see files on a USB drive on Mac. At this time, you just hope to get your files back if these USB files are important to you. Therefore, it is necessary for you to recover lost USB files with a professional data recovery utility called iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac.
iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac is a professional data recovery program that helps you conduct Mac data recovery from USB flash drives. It supports deleted or lost file recovery from USB flash drives. Even if your USB drive is unreadable, unmounted, or formatted, this Mac data recovery program has the ability to implement data recovery on it.
iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac supports a free edition and a professional edition for all users. With the help of its free edition, you are able to free preview the scanning results, free scan HFS+, APFS, encrypted APFS, FAT32, and exFAT drives, and free recover 1 GB data from HFS+, exFAT, and FAT32 drives. Of course, you need to pay for the professional edition, but you will enjoy more privileges. Here is the easy tutorial on using iBoysoft Mac data recovery tool to recover data from USB flash drives.
Step 1 Download, install and launch iBoysoft Mac data recovery software from its official site.
Step 2 Connect the USB drive which doesn’t show files on Mac to your Mac computer.
Step 3 Choose the USB flash drive and then click the Scan button to begin the scanning process.
Step 4 Go on a pre-recovery preview, choose the target files, and click the Recover button.
How to Solve USB Files Not Showing up on Mac?
Solution 1: Show Hidden Files On Your USB Drive
If files on the USB flash drive are hidden by your Mac, then USB files not showing up on Mac may happen. How do you show hidden files on a USB on a Mac? Here are two methods for you.
Method 1: Run command lines via Terminal
Step 1 Open Terminal after going to Launchpad > Other.
Step 2 Input defaults write com.apple.Finder AppleShowAllFiles true and press Enter.
Step 3 Input killall Finder in the next line and press Enter.
After you have entered this command, the Finder will restart. After it restarts, the hidden files are able to be seen.
Method 2: Take advantage of keyboard shortcuts
Step 1 Open Finder on your Mac and view any folder that may store hidden files.
Step 2 Press Command + Shift + Period.
If your USB files are hidden, you can make them visible through the above two methods, but if they are not hidden, what should you do? Don’t be nervous, just refer to the following solutions to fix USB files not showing up on Mac.
Solution 2: Repair your USB drive using First Aid
First Aid is a built-in disk repair tool that has the ability to repair disk errors. If your USB flash drive has a corrupted file system, USB flash drives not showing files on Mac is possible.
Step 1 Open Launchpad in the menu bar, click Other, and select Disk Utility.
Step 2 Connect the USB drive to your Mac, ensure that you have selected Show all devices in the View option, and choose your USB drive listed in the left sidebar.
Step 3 Click First Aid from the top menu of Disk Utility and begin to repair errors in your USB drive by clicking Run.
Solution 3: Format your USB drive via Disk Utility
Formatting is the process of initializing the disk on a data storage device. After formatting your USB drive, all information on it will be lost. Therefore, back up your USB drive before formatting.
Step 1 Connect the USB drive with your Mac.
Step 2 Open Launchpad and click Disk Utility listed in the Other section.
Step 3 Select the USB drive as your target drive and then click the Erase button on the top menu bar.
Step 4 Enter the disk name, choose a format and a scheme.
Step 5 Start to format the USB flash drive by clicking the Erase button.
Final Thoughts
Through the above methods, you may have a better understanding of the solutions to how do you show hidden files on a USB on a Mac, know how to solve USB flash drives not showing files on Mac issue and how to rescue lost or deleted files from USB flash drives using data recovery software iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac. There may be other solutions to handle files stored on USB drives not showing up on Mac. If these solutions mentioned in this article are helpful to you, just have a try.
