8 Solutions to Fix Seagate One Touch External Hard Drive Not Working on Mac

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Seagate One Touch external hard drives and SSDs are among the most popular storage solutions for Mac users. Whether you use it for backups, file storage, or data transfers, encountering an issue where the drive isn't recognized or working on your Mac can be frustrating. Fortunately, there are several troubleshooting steps discussed in this article.

In this guide, we will walk you through the possible reasons behind your Seagate One Touch external hard drive not working on Mac and provide solutions to resolve the problem.

Recover Lost Data from Your Seagate One Touch Drive Before Fixing Any Issue

Before fixing Seagate One Touch external hard drive not working on your Mac, you can use Mac data recovery software - such as Donemax Data Recovery for Mac to recover inaccessible/deleted/formatted or lost files from the drive.

Step 1. Just click Download button below to download Donemax Data Recovery for Mac, then install it on your Mac.

Step 2. Connect the Seagate One Touch external hard drive to your Mac and open Donemax Data Recovery for Mac. Select the Seagate One Touch external hard drive to start data recovery.

Step 3. Click on Scan button to deeply scan the Seagate One Touch external hard drive. It will find all existing files, inaccessible files, hidden files and deleted/formatted/lost files.

Step 4. Once the scan is completed, you can preview all recoverable files. Then select the wanted files, click on Recover button to save them.

After data recovery, you can use Donemax Data Recovery for Mac to fix the corrupted Seagate One Touch external hard drive. Just choose Disk Manager, select the Seagate One Touch external hard drive, click on First Aid or Format button.

8 Solutions to Fix Seagate One Touch External Hard Drive Not Working on Mac

After recovering important data from the Seagate One Touch external hard drive, you can use these solutions to fix drive not mounting, not format, not showing up or read-only issue, etc.

Solution 1. Check Physical Connections and Basic Requirements

Prior moving into complex troubleshooting steps, it is significant to check the basics.

▪️ Ensure Proper USB Connection

• Unplug and reconnect the Seagate One Touch drive to your Mac.
• Try using another USB port on your Mac.
• If you are using a USB-C adapter or hub, ensure it is functioning correctly by testing other devices.
• Check if the USB cable is damaged - try using another compatible cable.

▪️ Test the Drive on Another Computer

• Connect the Seagate drive to a different Mac or a Windows PC.
• If it functions properly on another device, your Mac's USB ports or settings are probably the problem.

If the drive still doesn't work, proceed to the next step.

Solution 2. Verify if macOS Detects the Seagate One Touch Drive

Even if the drive doesn't appear on the desktop, macOS might still detect it.

Check in Disk Utility:

1. Open Disk Utility from Utilities via Applications.

2. Look for the Seagate One Touch drive under External in the left sidebar.
3. If the drive appears but is grayed out, select it and click Mount.

Check in System Information

1. Click the System Report from About This Mac via Apple menu.

2. Go to USB under the Hardware section.

3. Look for your Seagate drive in the list.
4. If it appears but doesn't mount, macOS recognizes it but may have a file system or power issue.

Solution 3. Change Finder Settings to Show External Drives

If the drive is detected but not appearing on your desktop or in Finder, the visibility settings might be disabled.

Enable External Drive Display in Finder:

1. Open Finder.
2. Click Finder > Settings in the top menu.
3. Go to the Sidebar tab and ensure "External disks" is checked under Devices.
4. Also, in the General tab, check "External disks" under "Show these items on the desktop."

If your drive still isn't visible, move on to the next step.

Solution 4. Check for Power and Drive Compatibility Issues

Does Your Drive Require External Power?

Some high-capacity Seagate external drives require additional power, especially if they have a spinning HDD inside. If your Mac is not providing enough power:

• Try using a powered USB hub.
• If the drive has an external power adapter, ensure it is plugged in.

Is the Drive Formatted for macOS?

Seagate external drives come preformatted as ExFAT or NTFS. While exFAT is compatible with macOS, NTFS is read-only by default. If your drive is NTFS-formatted, macOS won't allow you to write files to it, and it may not mount properly.

To check the file system:

1. Open Disk Utility.
2. Select your Seagate drive and check the format under "File System" or "Drive Name".

3. If it's NTFS, consider reformatting the drive to APFS, ExFAT or HFS+ (after backing up data).

If you don't want to reformat the NTFS Seagate One Touch external hard drive, you can use NTFS for Mac tool to help you fix Seagate One Touch external hard drive not mounting and read-only issue.

Step 1. Download and install the best NTFS for Mac tool - Donemax NTFS for Mac.

Step 2. Open Donemax NTFS for Mac, select the NTFS Seagate One Touch external hard drive, click on Mount button.

Step 3. To read-write NTFS Seagate One Touch external hard drive on Mac, just click on Enable Writable button.

Solution 5. Mount and Repair the Seagate One Touch Drive Using Disk Utility

Step 1: Manually Mount the Drive

If your external hard drive is appearing in Disk Utility but is grayed out, that means macOS has detected the drive, but it has not been mounted for use. You can attempt to manually mount it:

1. Open Disk Utility from Utilities via Applications.
2. Look for your Seagate One Touch drive in the left panel under External.
3. Click on the drive to select it.
4. At the top of the window, click the Mount button.

What Happens If the Mount Option is Unavailable?

If the Mount button is grayed out, it usually indicates that macOS cannot read the drive's file system. This could be due to:

• Corrupt file system preventing macOS from mounting the drive.
• Incompatible format (e.g., NTFS without proper drivers).
• Hardware failure that prevents the drive from responding correctly.

If mounting fails, proceed to repairing the drive using First Aid.

Step 2: Repair the Drive Using First Aid

macOS includes a built-in repair tool in Disk Utility called First Aid, which can scan and fix minor disk errors. Follow these steps to run First Aid on your Seagate external hard drive:

1. Open Disk Utility.
2. Select the Seagate One Touch drive from the left sidebar.
3. At the top of the window, click the First Aid button.
4. Click Run, then confirm when prompted.

Understanding First Aid Results:

• If First Aid successfully repairs the drive → Try mounting the drive again and check if it appears in Finder.
• If First Aid detects issues but fixes them → Reconnect the drive after restarting your Mac.
• If First Aid fails to repair the drive → macOS may suggest formatting the drive to restore functionality (see Section 7).

Step 3: Check for APFS Encryption or Partition Issues

If the drive is formatted as APFS (Apple File System) and was encrypted, macOS may require a password before mounting it. If the drive was encrypted on another Mac or with FileVault, try unlocking it:

1. Open Disk Utility.
2. Select your Seagate drive and check if it says "Encrypted" next to its name.
3. Click Unlock (if available) and enter your password.

If you don't remember encrypting your drive, it's possible that another Mac or software applied encryption. You may need the correct password to access the drive.

If the drive is not encrypted but still won't mount, check for partition errors:

1. In Disk Utility, select the drive's main name (not the partition listed below it).
2. Click on Partition at the top.

3. Ensure the partition structure is properly configured and formatted for macOS.

Step 4: Try Mounting the Drive Using Terminal

1. Go to Terminal from Utilities via Applications.

2. Type the below command to list all connected drives:

   diskutil list

3. Look for your Seagate One Touch drive in the list. It will have a label like /dev/disk4 or /dev/disk5.
4. Run the following command, replacing diskX with your actual disk identifier (e.g., disk4):

   diskutil mountDisk /dev/diskX

What If the Terminal Command Fails?

• If you receive an error like "Could not mount", your drive may be severely corrupted.
• Try running First Aid again and then retry mounting the drive.
• If nothing works, proceed with data recovery or reformatting.

Step 5: Check macOS Console for Drive Errors

If all previous steps fail, you can check Console Logs to diagnose potential disk issues:

1. Open Console from Utilities via Applications.

2. Select Log Reports in the left sidebar.

3. Plug in your Seagate drive and look for recent logs related to "disk" or "mounting."

If you see errors like:

• I/O Errors → This suggests hardware failure.
• File System Corruption → You may need to reformat the drive.
• USB Power Issues → Try using a powered USB hub.

Solution 6. Update macOS and Check for Driver Issues

Ensure Your Mac is Up to Date:

An outdated macOS version may cause compatibility issues with external drives.

To update macOS:

1. Click Apple menu > System Settings > General > Software Update.
2. Install any available updates.

Install Seagate NTFS Driver (For NTFS Support)

If your Seagate One Touch drive is formatted as NTFS and you want full read/write access, you can install Donemax NTFS for Mac.

Solution 7. Format the Seagate One Touch Drive (If Unrecognized or Read-Only)

If your Seagate One Touch external hard drive is formatted in NTFS and you want full access, or if macOS fails to recognize the file system, you may need to reformat it.

Reformat the Drive in Disk Utility:

⚠️ Warning: This will erase all data on the drive. Back up your data before proceeding.

1. Open Disk Utility.
2. Select the Seagate drive and click Erase.
3. Choose Format:
   • ExFAT (for use on both Mac and Windows).
   • Mac OS Extended (Journaled) (HFS+ for Mac-only use).
   • APFS (for newer Macs running macOS High Sierra or later).
4. Click Erase, then confirm the action.

Once formatted, your drive should work correctly.

Solution 8. Reset NVRAM and SMC (For Mac Firmware Issues)

Resetting the NVRAM and SMC can fix hardware-related issues, including external drive recognition.

Reset NVRAM:

1. Turn Off your Mac.
2. Immediately press and hold Option + Command + P + R for roughly 20 seconds after turning it on.
3. When the startup chime sounds once again, let go of the keys.

Reset SMC (For Intel Macs):

1. Turn Off your Mac.
2. Simultaneously press the Power button and Shift + Control + Option on the left side of the keyboard.
3. Turn on your Mac by releasing the hold after ten seconds.

For Apple Silicon Macs, restart your Mac normally.

Conclusion

Fixing a Seagate One Touch external hard drive not working on Mac involves checking connections, ensuring macOS detects the drive, updating software, and repairing or reformatting the drive if needed. If the drive is physically damaged, consider data recovery software or contact Seagate support for assistance.

To prevent future issues, always safely eject your external drive before unplugging it and keep a backup of important data.