IMac is a family of all-in-one Macintosh desktop computers designed and built by Apple Inc. It has been the primary part of Apple's consumer desktop offerings since its debut in August 1998, and has evolved through seven distinct forms. In its original form, the iMac G3 had a gumdrop or egg-shaped look, with a CRT monitor, mainly enclosed by a colored, translucent plastic case, which was. Get more done with the new Google Chrome. A more simple, secure, and faster web browser than ever, with Google’s smarts built-in. I can't say enough about Apple's direction with OS X. From a poor replacement for file searching to creation of 'Eye Candy' application switching to basically the destruction of their pro media applications Apple really doesn't care enough about OS X. It's such a great operation system but should lead and should never get it's inspiration from.
Usually, the internal hard drive for a Mac is the startup disk or boot drive. It not only loads the operating system but also stores data. Therefore, it is frustrating if your Mac doesn't recognize the internal hard drive.
When Mac can't find the internal hard drive, you'll see a folder with Question Mark on Mac startup. Then, your Mac won't turn on at all. Consequently, you can't access important files, like documents, emails, videos, on your Mac. They are facing a high risk of loss.
Don't worry. This article will help you recover data from your internal hard drive. Besides, it also provides 4 feasible solutions for fixing Mac not recognizing the internal hard drive issue.
Note: Any operations you'll do on Mac to fix the unrecognized internal hard drive, may write new data to the drive and overwrite the original one. Hence, data recovery is the priority.
Hurry up! Watch this video to get an intuitive guide for recovering data from your unbootable Mac.
iBoysoft Mac Data Recovery is the professional and secure Mac data recovery software. It supports recovering data, like videos, documents, photos, emails, from an unbootable Mac (including the T2-secured Mac).
This software is compatible with macOS Big Sur/Catalina/Mojave/High Sierra/Sierra and OS X 10.11/10.10/10.9/10.8/10.7.
As the Mac is unbootable, you need to run iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac in macOS Recovery mode. If you don't want to watch the detailed steps, you can watch the video above instead.
If your Mac doesn't recognize the internal hard drive or it not being found, macOS Recovery mode can help you do some checks and repairs.
macOS Recovery is part of the built-in recovery system of your Mac. When Mac won't boot, macOS Recovery mode supplies you an entrance to macOS Utilities.
To boot an Intel-based Mac into macOS Recovery mode:
Note: If the above key combinations not working, keep your Mac connected to the Internet. You can hold down Option + Command + R keys when restarting your Mac to enter into Internet Recovery mode. You'll see the spinning globe instead of the Apple logo.
For an M1 Mac, the way to enter macOS Recovery mode on M1 Mac is different.
Under Mac Recovery mode, checking if you can find the hard drive in Disk Utility.
This really matters because if you can see the internal hard drive in Disk Utility, your internal hard drive has no hardware problems. Then, you can try the following solutions to fix the internal hard drive that can't be recognized by Mac.
In macOS Recovery, you can use the First Aid utility to repair certain logical errors on the internal hard drive that may cause it can't be recognized or found.
macOS Recovery mode, the built-in recovery system of your Mac, allows you to reselect the boot volume when your Mac not recognizing the hard drive at first.
Then, wait for moment to check if your Mac can reboot up.
If the internal hard drive is not recognized by your Mac still, then the file system of this internal hard drive could have corrupted.
As the internal hard drive can't be found, is there any other way that you can access the data on this unrecognizable hard disk?
Of course. You can recover lost data from this unrecognizable internal hard disk with iBoysoft Data Recovery Software for Mac. This method is greatly recommended because it is easier and more effective.
After recovering files, it’s time to erase your Mac.
Note: For macOS Catalina / macOS Big Sur, you should right-click the Macintosh HD - Data (or macOS - Data) volume and click 'Delete APFS Volume'. Then, select the Macintosh HD (or macOS) volume and click 'Erase'.
Do nothing else with your Mac until the erasure process finished.
After your startup disk is erased, carry on reinstalling macOS.
The macOS reinstallation will cost some time. Then, your internal hard drive could be recognized and your Mac can boot up again. Of course, the internal hard drive will show up on Mac again.
However, if your Mac can't find the hard drive or not recognizing it even in macOS Recovery mode, you won't find the Mac hard drive in Disk Utility. This internal hard drive might have some hardware problems.
The only way is to send it to a local repair store. Since the internal hard drive that can't be recognized by the Mac has hardware issues, you can't recover data from it. Therefore, backing up your Mac at regular intervals is very necessary.
Conclusion
When your Mac doesn't recognize the internal hard drive, you can't access your Mac. At that time, all data on your Mac has a high risk of loss. Hurry up to recover files from your Mac with iBoysoft Mac Recovery software. And then, try the solutions mentioned in this post to fix your Mac.