1. Find Applications On Mac
2. Open Applications In Mac

By Nathan E. Malpass, Last updated: December 17, 2019

I use an external hard disk drive in order to save most of my pictures, videos, and music. I store my documents in my external hard disk drive too. The problem right now is I’m connecting my external HDD on my MacBook Pro but it’s not showing up. How do I fix this?

You can also force quit an app on Terminal using the app's Process ID (PID) Open a new Terminal window and enter the command: top -o cpu. Then a list of all running applications and processes will appear in Terminal with the app's process ID. Take down the PID of the app that cannot quit. Then open a new Terminal session, type: kill PID.

• Apr 06, 2015  Apple Footer. This site contains user submitted content, comments and opinions and is for informational purposes only. Apple may provide or recommend responses as a possible solution based on the information provided; every potential issue may involve several factors not detailed in the conversations captured in an electronic forum and Apple can therefore provide no guarantee as to the.
• Feb 14, 2020  Force quit the Mac App Store and again launch it by holding the Shift key. If it works for you, then update the Mac App Store. Disable Antivirus for once (ignore if you don’t have antivirus) and check if App Store is working on Mac or not. Fix 1: Check Date & Time of your Mac. Check Date & Time, if they aren’t correctly set up then it might.

~External HDD User

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Part I: Why isn't my hard drive showing up mac

You might be panicking right now because your external hard disk drive cannot be recognized by your Mac device. But you really don’t have to go crazy.

Most likely, nothing has happened to your files within the external HDD. All of it will still be intact within the storage device. But, whatever the reason may be, you simply cannot access these data.

Lucky for you, there are methods you can implement in order for your Mac device to recognize the external HDD and keep you back on your feet. Let’s get started onto why your HDD or flash drive isn’t showing up on your Mac device.

Part II: Reasons For HDDs Not Showing Up On A Mac Device

There are cases wherein you plugged your hard disk drive or flash drive on your Mac and the device cannot recognize it. This could be caused by a broken cable or a faulty USB port. Before you delve into some methods for troubleshooting your system, you should begin with the basics first.

First, you have to make sure that the hard disk drive is really plugged into the device. It might not be plugged properly. After which you have to notice the structure of your USB connector. Is it damaged? Is it misshapen? Ensure that the cable is in perfect condition. There might be exposed wires or it might be frayed.

If you plug your external hard disk drive into an outlet, you should try a different one. It might be the wall outlet that’s faulty. You can also try using another USB cable. The USB cable might be broken even though it’s not obvious or physically damaged.

You can also opt to plug the external HDD to another Mac device. If it works on other Mac devices, your USB ports on the previous Mac might be broken. There might be cases wherein your hard disk drive is formatted to work on Windows computers.

That’s why you should test it out on a laptop or computer with Windows in it. It might be possible that your hard disk drive is formatted to work on Windows PCs and not on Mac devices.

Another thing you can do is to simply turn off your Mac device and turning it on again. Simple rebooting can do wonders on your Mac. You can also try to reboot USB drives.

First, turn off your Mac device, after which, restart it. While in the process of restarting, hold the keys CMD + P + R + Option. Release the said keys when a sound comes up and the screen flashes. Then, let your Mac devices boot itself up as it normally would.

If you have done everything that we have listed above-- inspected your device visually, tested the hard disk drives on different power outlets, cables, and computer devices, and implemented various systems-- and nothing happened, then it’s high time to follow our guide below:

Part III: Methods To Help Your Mac Device Recognize The HDD

There are different ways to let your HDD show up within your Mac device. The first thing would be to modify the settings of Finder. The next would be mounting the external HDD on your Mac device and so on. Let’s get started with the first one:

Method 01: Modifying Settings Of Finder

There is one common reason why Mac doesn’t display or recognize external hard disk drives. The reason we’re stating here is the state wherein the Mac device’ system is not set up to actually show hard disk drives within its Desktop.

This can be fixed easily by following the steps below:

1. Launch a Finder window.
2. Visit the Preferences.
3. After which, visit General.
4. Make sure that the feature External disks are activated.

But what if it doesn’t work after you have done this? Well, the next thing you should do is to mount the external hard disk drive manually on your Mac device.

Method 02: Manually Mounting Your External HDD Within The Mac Device

If Mac still doesn’t recognize the external hard disk drive you plugged into it, the next thing you should do is to force it to recognize the said storage item. Here are the steps you should follow:

1. Go towards System Preferences.
2. Visit Disk Utility.
3. Examine if the external hard disk drive is shown on the sidebar towards the left.
4. Select the hard drive and make sure it is highlighted.
5. Choose Mount. Now, the hard disk drive should be seen within the Finder window under Devices.

Again, what if forcing your Mac drive to display the external hard disk drive doesn’t work? Well, the next step is to utilize First Aid.

Method 03: Running First Aid Through Your External HDD

Mac has a built-in utility called First Aid. This is utilized for the verification and repairing of a wide variety of issues especially with those that are related to apps and files that are corrupted. It also fixes issues with regards to startup and of course, external hard disk drives.

The steps below are for one type of issue. This issue is with that of a hard disk drive that is displayed on your Mac but doesn’t give you access to data. First Aid would be the tool you would use if you have to fix this issue. Simply follow the steps below:

1. Visit System Preferences.
2. Launch Disk Utility.
3. Make sure the external hard disk drive is highlighted or selected.
4. Press First Aid.
5. Choose Run. This will now start the process of diagnosing the Mac for any issues and fixing the corresponding problems.

If your attempt to fix this problem with First Aid is a success, your hard disk drive would now be available for mounting. If this doesn’t work again, you should try the option below:

Method 04: Removing Incompatible Or Conflicting Applications

Did you experience the problem of not having an external hard disk drive show up just recently? If it was okay a few days before (just a couple of days), then the problem might be with an application that is in conflict with it.

Think about it. Have you downloaded and installed apps just recently? These might be culprits. What you can do is to uninstall or remove these programs one by one.

Connect your hard disk drive towards your Mac device after you uninstall each program. Check out which app is causing conflict.

You can simply delete these applications by utilizing Launchpad. Or, for a very simple process, you can drag these apps towards the Trash Bin. However, we do not recommend each of the two methods.

It’s because of the fact that even when an app is deleted, leftovers and associated files are still kept intact in your system. These leftover files might be the ones preventing you to access the hard disk drive.

What we do recommend is for you to useFoneDog’s Mac Cleaner. It has a module called Mac Uninstaller that you can use to uninstall applications without leaving any leftover behind. Here are the advantages and the steps to use the tool:

* It gives you the ability to make your Mac device perform faster by freeing up more space within the said device.

* It scanning mode is very powerful and helps locate duplicate files, system files, junk files, unnecessary applications, clutter, etc.

* It gives you the ability to clear up junk files. It helps you locate and remove duplicate files. It helps you find and clear up similar images. It helps you delete large files and old files. The Mac Cleaner helps you delete unnecessary applications without leaving any leftovers behind. Plus, it helps in securing redundant searching history. Finally, it helps in the management of extensions, shredding of files, and cleaning of browsers.

* All of the features of the Mac Cleaner can be implemented with just a few clicks.

* Scanned results of the Mac Cleaner can be sorted on a variety of factors including date, time, size, etc.

* The Mac device status is displayed by the device including disk usage, CPU status, memory usage, etc.

* It helps you locate and detect files that are identical. Thus, more space is freed up within your device because no two files are exactly the same. Redundancy is removed within your device.

Here’s how to use FoneDog’s Mac Cleaner step by step (The following screenshots are under dark mode on Mac):

Step 01 - Download the tool.

Step 02 - Launch it within your Mac device. The main interface will show a variety of the device’ system status.

Step 03 - Select Uninstaller, the tool under the ToolKit module. Thus, please click the ToolKit icon and select Uninstaller.

Step 04 - Press Scan button. The tool will now do a comprehensive scan of your device.

Step 05 - Once the process of scanning is complete, click View. This will allow you to check scanned results.

Step 06 - Choose a particular application. In this case, Uninstaller will begin to remove the application you select by clicking the Clean button.

Step 07 - Confirm the cleaning operation.

Step 08 - Wait until the cleaning process is finished.

Note that you simply have to select the Mac Uninstaller tool on Step 03. Select the module Cleaner to scan for unwanted files and clean them afterward.

Now, if you have gone through every installed application in your device and still nothing works, it might be because your hard disk drive has already crashed.

Or maybe, it can be completely broken. What you have to do in cases like these is to use a utility called Disk Drill. This tool will help you rescue your files.

Method 05: Disk Permissions Repair

Disk permissions are very important in keeping your files safe and secure. Every single file and folder within your Mac device has permissions associated with it. But sometimes, these permissions can become messed up.

You won’t even realize it. These messed up permissions can lead to a big problem. You can actually fix this on your own using a tool for repairing permissions.

Part III: Conclusion

External hard disk drives can be great for storage. If it is not showing up on your Mac device, you could try out our guidelines above for you to fix it.

The best thing, though, is to back up your data all the time to avoid losing files. Finally, you can use FoneDog’s Mac Cleaner to uninstall programs and applications using the Mac Uninstaller Module.

It helps you get rid of applications without leaving any leftover files behind.

Some Mac users have reported technical issues once they update their OS to the High Sierra Update. To be precise, their App Store feature is not working as it should or at least, as it did before the update. Usually when an app releases its update, it is directly indicated in the App Store, but in this case, you get the update and when you proceed to download it, you get a pop-up showing “No Update Available”. Sometimes, the main culprit could be a ghost update.

Mac OS 10.13 High Sierra Update Features

Apple has wowed its loyal subject, once again, by introducing a new OS update. Beyond the newly enforced automatic security checks on EFI firmware being done each week, this new OS update, the macOS 10.13 High Sierra, comes with cool new features. They include:

Improvements to the Safari Browser – Imagine a browser that stops ad-tracking and auto-playing video media and a broader Spotlight Search in the Mail App. Moreover, when composing emails, the Mail App allows split viewing of the screen and uses over 30% less disk space.

The Photos app has not been left behind in the macOS 10.13 High Sierra update. It has been imbued upon, better sorting tool to boot, accompanied by a new themes courtesy neural networks, and improved Apple devices syncing. Editing in the photos App have been improved as well, the user now has an easier time enhancing the quality of their photos and applying filters without being adept in Photoshop.

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One of the major changes is the file system, Mac has ditched the 30-year old HFS, for the new and improved Apple File System (APFS). APFS supports native encryption and fast metadata operations. It is also a 64-bit file system, that makes your Mac run faster, be more secure and transparent. Apple has also announced that they will discontinue most of Mac’s 32-bit apps in the later macOS High Sierra versions.

The High Sierra update also brings HEVC (H.265) video compression to the Mac, enabling video files compression that streams at higher resolutions. Furthermore, with any Mac that can run the new OS and with a dedicated graphics card installed through Thunderbolt 3, you have the opportunity to immerse yourself in Virtual Reality.

What to Do when High Sierra Update Notification is not Showing on Mac App Store?

Your update may not be showing possibly due to old cache files mishandled during the upgrade and this is an easy problem to fix.

1Shut Down and Restart Your MacBook

This is often the first action to any issues with an Apple device. Before attempting any troubleshooting protocols or tech mysticism, it is recommended that you shut down the system first. Wait a few minutes and reboot the system. It is possible that the increased load to the processor immediately after the update may trigger its misbehavior. Once you restart your machine, the App Store will start recognizing the apps that need updating and those that are up to date.

Remember, do not restart the system, shut it down and give your processor and OS a fresh start.

2Change App Store Settings

If restarting your Mac doesn’t work, your next recourse should be the App Store Settings. You’ll have to change some of them and try to solve the issue.
The first stage is to launch “System Preference” and from there, open “App Store”. On the “automatically check for updates” option, toggle it on as well as all the options therein.

Your system will then begin searching actively for any app updated including the system updates and they will also be downloaded and installed automatically, as soon as you turn all these options on.

You can also check the “app is updated automatically”, and close the App Store app and re-launch it after a few seconds. It will display the message: “Mac app store says no updates available”.

Click on Check Now after a few minutes and do either of the following to see if this fix has worked or not.

1. Check internet connection.
2. Check App Store Purchases.

If you have unwillingly logged out from the App Store with your apple id, no new updates will be installed on your Mac. However, you can still log in to your system with your login credentials and proceed normally with the updates.

3Check Update with Terminal – Force Update

Using Terminal should be the last resort and shouldn’t be attempted carelessly. Always use precaution when working with Terminal. Ensure you have administrator privileges, i.e., admin passwords to effectively execute commands. To check update with the terminal is also considered a force update and should be done in the following way:

From the terminal, execute the following command “sudo softwareupdate –ia”. A message “Finding Available Software”, will be displayed once you execute the command. All the updates should appear on the screen and to install them, type the following command “Sudo softwareupdate – -install – -all”.

If your system is still unresponsive, one last course of action should be typing the command “defaults read com.apple.appstore” and execute it. This command should unmask the issue behind update not showing in App Store.

4Clean Cache of App Store with Finder

Now for this fix, we’ll employ the use of ‘Finder’. Launch Finder and simultaneously press command + shift + G keys.

Alternatively, you can open “Go Menu” and select “Go to Folder”. Then type the following command '~/Library/Caches/'. Go to the filename “com.apple.appstore” and delete it from the folder.

Go back to the top and open 'Go Menu' > 'Go to Folder' but this time, type /private/var/folders and locate “com.apple.appstore” in all the folders and subfolders, then delete it.

Find Applications On Mac

Restart your Mac, and hopefully, the issue will be resolved.

Summary

Open Applications In Mac

The MacOS High Sierra is an update for the Apple Macintosh, and it boasts incredible new features as well as boosting the overall processor speed of your machine. The update itself is not lacking in issues that the Mac community have experienced and created forums on. In this article, there are four ways to troubleshoot “Update not showing on App Store” highlighted for you to exploit. The terminal fix is to be left for advanced users and shouldn’t be trifled with.