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1 August 2019  John Weaver  Senior Program Developer
 

Summary
Many Mac and MacBook users find that their SD cards are not showing up when they have inserted them into the devices. Why? In this essay, we will talk about the reasons and the solutions to this problem.



Why SD Card is not Showing up on Mac or MacBook?

Many issues can lead to a SD card recognize failure on Mac and MacBook. Here are some main reasons:

a. Poor connection： the contacts on the SD card are not clean; the card reader or the USB port is covered by dirt.

b. Unsupported file system: the file system of the SD card cannot be supported by Mac OS.

c. Data damage: the data on the SD card is damaged because of virus and file system corruption.

d. Physical damage: the chip is worn out, sapped or distorted.

How If SD Card is not Showing up on Mac or MacBook?

When the SD card is not showing up on Mac or MacBook, you can try the following methods to check whether the components work well. If they fail, you should exchange a new SD card.
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1. Check for Connection Issues and Reboot Device

The situation that a SD card is not showing up on Mac or MacBook is usually aroused by poor connection. You can test the SD card on different USB ports, computers or card readers.
① Plug out the SD card and see whether there is dirt on the contacts. Use an eraser to slightly clean them.
how to fix a damaged sd card without formatting it
② Plug out the SD card and see whether there is dirt on the contacts. Use an eraser to slightly clean them.
③ Reboot the computer. Then, connect the SD card to the computer again and see if it is recognizable.

2. Check Finder Preferences

① On the Mac desktop, click [Finder] and select [Preferences].
go to mac finder preferences
② Turn to the tab [General] and see whether the option [External disks] has been checked.
check external disks if sd card is not showing up on mac
③ Turn to the tab [Sidebar] and check the option [External disks].
check external disks at sidebar tab when sd card is not showing up on mac
④ Finally, connect the SD card to Mac/MacBook again and see if it is recognizable.

3. Reformat SD Card

If the file system of a SD card (i.e. NTFS) is not supported by Mac OS, the card cannot be detected by the system. You can try to connect it to a Windows computer and test whether it works. If it can, you should reformat the SD card to a file system supported by Mac OS.
① Plug out the SD card and connect to a Windows computer.
how to recover deleted pictures from the SD card when it is connected to pc
② In Windows File Explorer, find the letter of the SD card. Right click at [Format].
recover data from formatted sd card select to format sd card if you dont't know how to repair a undetected micro sd card
③ Then, select a file system supported by Mac OS. Check [Quick Format] and click [Start] to begin the process.
how to format the SD card or reformat a hard drive
④ After that, the system will warn you that formatting will erase all data on the disk, click [OK] to continue the process.
click ok to format sd card
⑤ Finally, connect the SD card to a Mac and see if it is recognizable.
TipsFormatting will erase all data on the disk. Remember to back up all data. If you unfortunately clear all data during formatting, you can try to recover them.

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Supported storage devices Recover data from recycle bin, SD card, external disk, etc.

Supported systems Windows 10, 8.1, 8, 7, Vista, XP, 2000 and Mac OS X10.6, 10.7, 10.8.

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① Connect the SD card to Mac. Launch Renee Undeleter and select [Whole Partition Scan].
select whole partition scan in renee undeleter on mac
② Select the target SD card and click [Next] to go on.
click to select a target drive in whole partition scan in renee undeleter on mac
③ As the SD card is being scanned, you can double click to preview the files and select them, and then click [Recover] to save them.
double click to select files in whole partition in renee undeleter on mac
④ Finally, set where they should be saved and click [Recover] to finish this process.
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TipsIf you want to know more about how to recover lost data from a SD card on Mac, please link to this essay “SD Card Recovery on Mac“.