Mac can't detect WD Elements SE 2TB Drive

WD External Drives WD Portable Drives
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Mac can’t detect WD Elements SE 2TB Drive. It spins up for a second when I connect it, then stops. Disk utility can’t see it. I have a second working drive and have tested the port and cable which are both working fine. I downloaded WD Drive Utilities and although it does detect the drive if I click on ‘Run Drive Status Check’ or any of the other options, nothing at all happens. What else should I try?

Thanks,
Thomas

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is it the first time that u try to connect this drive to the mac or did it worked in the past? i would try to connect the drive to a computer with windows. if you don’t have one then ask a friend. Unfortunately i know nothing about Mac’s but in windows is a driver called “WD SES Device” needed for some WD devices. if you have any drivers installed, try to reinstall them and then test again but first i would test the drive on a computer with windows. if the drive won’t get detected on any machine, then your drive might be died.

Edit: i just have read again your text. so after installing wd drive utilities the mac does detect your drive but u can’t access, right? check if there is any missing driver that you need, for example the one i mentioned above. install any similar tool like CrystalDiskInfo, if there is no freeware alternative then check it with CrystalDiskInfo on a machine with windows. there could be problems with pending\reallocated sectors. sometimes a full format (not quick format) can help

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Thomas, You’ve confirmed the port and cable are functional. WD Drive Utilities recognizes the drive, but running any checks doesn’t yield results. To troubleshoot, try connecting the drive to another Mac or PC to see if it’s recognized elsewhere. If not, it might indicate a hardware failure within the drive. Additionally, check if the drive appears in macOS System Information. If still unsuccessful, considering the symptoms, consulting WD Support or a professional data recovery software might be your best course of action.
Remember, always maintain backups of important data to prevent loss in such situations.