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Windows or macOS cannot find my drive

Answer ID 14925   |    Last Updated 09/26/2016
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There are many reasons an Operating System (OS) does not recognize a WD drive. Please follow the instructions below for assistance determining why a drive is not found.




NAS & My Cloud Drives:



Depending on how the PC and network are configured, network drives, including the My Cloud product line may not be seen by Windows or macOS. In order to make the drive appear, please follow the instructions below:

  1. Restart the network router

  2. Reset the device:


  3. Check that both the power cord and network cable are securely plugged in on both ends

  4. Verify that the original power adapter or an authroized replacement is being used. Please see Answer ID 1378: What is the correct power supply to use with your Western Digital external hard drive? for assistance replacing the power adapter if needed.

  5. Power on the device

  6. Once powered on the LED on the device should be lit. For older NAS products please refer to your user manual for LED behaviors. For My Cloud products, please see the information below:

    • The front power LED should be blue when the device is ready
    • If the power LED is red, please check the connections on both ends of the network cable
    • If the power LED is blinking blue, the system is booting or busy, please wait for the power

  7. Disconnect any USB devices connected to the NAS

  8. If the device has previously been mapped, remove the mapping:
    • Windows: For assistance, please see this Microsoft Article.

    • macOS: Open Finder. Find the Shared section located to the left-hand side of the screen and highlight the drive. Once highlighted, click on Eject on the right of the drive name

  9. If the router has a network map option, log into the router and verify that the device is seen.

  10. Verify that the drive is listed with an IP address in the ARP table:

    • Windows Users: Open a Command Prompt and type arp -a
    • macOS Users: Open Terminal and type arp -a | more. Use the space bar to advance to the second page if needed.

  11. Map (or remap) the drive:


  12. If the drive does not appear in the ARP table or is unable to be mapped, Power Cycle the drive

  13. If the device is still not recognized, restore the router to its factory default settings and repeat steps 1-12 above. Please contact your router manufactuer or refer to the routers user manual for assistance restoring the router

  14. If the drive still can not be seen by the OS, please check the drive for damage. For assistance, please see Answer ID 14920: How to check if a WD drive is damaged or defective

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Internal Hard Drives and SSDs

STOP Critical: Special handling is required to protect hard drives from damage. Hard drives can be damaged by excessive physical force or from Electrostatic Discharge (ESD). For more information on how to avoid ESD damage please see Answer ID 1486: How to properly handle Western Digital internal hard drives

Internal drives do not come preformatted and may need to be initilized. Please see the answers below for assitance formatting your drive:

Once initalized and formatted, internal drives should automatically be seen by most operating systems. If the drive does not appear, please follow the instructions below:


  1. Shut down the computer the drive is connected to

  2. Verify the SATA cable is in working condition and replace if needed

  3. Check that both the power supply cable and data cable are securely plugged in to both the drive and the motherboard/controller card of the computer

  4. Turn the computer on

  5. Windows Users:See if the drive is seen in Disk Management. For assistance accessing Disk Management, see Answer ID 1284: How to access Disk Management in Windows to manage hard drives
  6. Test the drive on another SATA port on the motherboard

  7. Test the drive on another computer

  8. If the drive still can not be seen by the OS, please check the drive for damage. For assistance, please see Answer ID 14920: How to check if a WD drive is damaged or defective

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External Hard Drives

External drives should automatically be seen by most operating systems. If the drive does not appear, please follow the instructions below:

  1. Shut down the computer the drive is connected to

  2. Verify the data cable is in working condition and replace if needed

  3. Check that both the power cord (for Desktop drives) and data cable are securely plugged in to both the drive and the computer

  4. Turn the computer on

  5. Run the official diagnostics program designed for the model drive not being detected:
  6. Test the drive on another computer

  7. If the drive still can not be seen by the OS, please check the drive for damage. For assistance, please see Answer ID 14920: How to check if a WD drive is damaged or defective

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