Our lives are tightly intertwined with data in the digital age. Our external hard drives, whether personal or professional, serve as storage locations for a variety of important data. The value of safeguarding our data cannot be emphasized, from cherished family images and movies to vital corporate records and initiatives.

Consider the anguish of losing priceless moments documented in photos or films. Consider the impact on your work if critical files that you have meticulously accumulated over months suddenly vanish into the nothingness of data corruption. 

Data loss can cause not only mental distress but also serious financial consequences, affecting both enterprises and individuals.

Furthermore, with the spread of cyber threats and hardware failures, the potential of data corruption is increasing. A corrupted external hard drive can arise for a variety of reasons, including unexpected power interruptions, erroneous drive ejection, file system issues, or physical damage. As a result, having a thorough understanding of how to deal with such events is critical.

But don’t worry, we’ve listed three necessary and practical methods for external hard drive data recovery on macOS. 

Restart, Reconnect, and Repair

Before moving on to more complex remedies, it’s critical to try the simple repairs first. The first step is to unplug the external hard disc from your Mac and restart the system. Connect the external hard disc after your Mac has restarted.

Let’s try to repair the disc using macOS’s built-in Disc Utility next:

  • Go to “Applications” > “Utilities” > “Disc Utility.”
  • A list of drives will appear on the left pane. Locate and choose your external hard drive.
  • In the toolbar, click the “First Aid” button.
  • Select “Run” to begin the disc repair process.

Disc Utility will perform a scan of your external hard disc and make an effort to correct any faults it finds. If this approach is successful, your drive should operate normally once again, allowing you to exhale with relief. But if your drive is still damaged, it’s time to try the next approach.

Use Terminal to Repair the Disk

This approach might come in handy for those of you who are tech-savvy and familiar with Terminal commands. Advanced solutions for fixing your external hard drive are available in Terminal.

  • Open “Terminal” by selecting it under “Applications” > “Utilities.”
  • Enter “diskutil list” after typing it. Your external hard disc will be listed among the drives that are linked as a result. Note the identifier (such as disk2s2) of the object.
  • Next, enter the command “diskutil verifyVolume [identifier]”. “[identifier]” should be changed to the precise identification that you noted in the previous step.
  • Terminal will perform a disc integrity check and scan. If mistakes are found, move on to the following action.
  • To begin the repair operation, type “diskutil repairVolume [identifier]” and hit Enter.

Be patient while Terminal works its magic. After the process is done, reconnect your external hard drive and see if the corruption issue has been resolved.

Retrieve Data and Reformat

Employing external hard drive recovery professionals provides specialized knowledge and expertise in handling challenging data loss situations unique to macOS platforms.

Professionals have specialized equipment and technology for thorough analysis and accurate data recovery.

  • They increase the chances of successfully recovering data from badly damaged drives.
  • During the recovery procedure, data confidentiality and integrity are guaranteed.
  • Professionals work quickly to reduce both individual and business downtime.
  • DIY rehabilitation attempts run the risk of causing more harm, therefore expert treatment is essential.
  • Before beginning recuperation, a thorough review is carried out to enable customised solutions.
  • For additional piece of mind, reputable data recovery services frequently include a “no fix, no fee” policy.

Also Read: How to Recover Data from External Hard Drive?

To sum up

With these three simple and efficient techniques, you can take on a corrupted external hard disc on your Mac without feeling overwhelmed. Restarting, reconnecting, and repairing the disc with Disc Utility should always be your first line of defence. If it fails, don’t be afraid to use Terminal commands to have more control over the fixing procedure. Hiring external data recovery and reformatting are your backup plans in case everything else fails.

To avoid future uncomfortable circumstances, always keep in mind to periodically backup your vital data. Don’t fear the next time you come across a corrupted external hard disc; simply follow these instructions to resume safely storing and accessing your files.