MacBook Pro unable to find external HDD with exFAT format

SravanKrA wrote:

Drive Not Mounted: The disk might be recognized but not mounted. You can check via Disk Utility• .

Just to expand upon this.......

Within Disk Utility the user may need to click "View" and select "Show All Devices" before the physical drives appear on the left pane of Disk Utility. Since macOS 10.13 High Sierra, Disk Utility now hides all physical drives from view by default.

Pcfreak wrote:

yes it is shown in Disk Utility and cannot be mounted, it is an external HDD of 5TB

Try running Disk Utility First Aid on the physical drive. If there are no errors, then run it on the volume(s) on that physical drive.

Even if the First Aid summary says everything is "Ok", click "Show Details" and scroll back through the report to see if any unfixed errors are shown. If there are errors, then run First Aid again until the errors are gone. If after several scans the errors remain, then they cannot be repaired. Since it is an exFAT volume, you could try having a Windows PC attempt file system repairs.

If this is an M-series Mac, then try booting into Safe Mode to see you the drive will mount just in case you have some third party software installed which is interfering. Unfortunately I just discovered that external drives won't mount in Safe Mode on Intel Macs.

Keep in mind @SravanKra's post since power & cable/connection issues could still play a part here. I have seen a few posts on this forum where some people needed to connect their external drive to a USB3 hub before it could be accessed for some unknown reason. Usually a direct connection to the computer is best at least for testing, but testing with a hub may also be necessary.

Disconnect all other external devices in case one of them is causing a problem. And try using another USB port on the other side of the laptop if it has 3+ ports.

Common Reasons macOS Might Not Recognize an exFAT Drive

• Faulty Cable or Port: Sometimes it’s as simple as switching the USB cable or trying a different port on your Mac.
• Drive Not Mounted: The disk might be recognized but not mounted. You can check via Disk Utility.
• Corrupt File System: If the exFAT structure is damaged, macOS might fail to recognize it.
• Power Issues: For larger external HDDs, insufficient power can prevent detection—especially if you’re using a hub.

Does it show up in Disk Utility (as mentioned above)?