Fix WD My Passport Not Seen in Finder After Unlocking

If your WD My Passport drive unlocks successfully but still doesn’t appear in Finder on your Mac, you're not alone. This issue can be frustrating, especially when you need immediate access to your files. Fortunately, there are several potential causes—and solutions. This guide walks you through the most common fixes.

Step 1: Confirm the Drive Is Unlocking Properly

WD My Passport drives often come with WD Security software that requires a password to unlock. After entering the correct password, you should see a message saying the drive is unlocked.

If you don’t get a confirmation, the unlock may not be completing properly.

Try unlocking again, and make sure the password is entered correctly.

If you're using WD Discovery software, ensure it's up to date.

Step 2: Check if the Drive Appears in Disk Utility

Even if the drive doesn’t appear in Finder, it might still be visible in Disk Utility:

Open Disk Utility from Applications > Utilities.

Look for your WD My Passport drive in the sidebar.

If it's greyed out, right-click and choose Mount.

If it’s mounted but still not in Finder, continue to the next step.

If the drive does not appear at all, try reconnecting it to a different USB port or cable. If still missing, there could be a hardware issue.

Step 3: Enable External Disks in Finder Settings

Sometimes Finder just isn’t set up to show external drives:

Open Finder.

Go to Finder > Settings (or Preferences on older macOS versions).

Under the General tab, make sure "External disks" is checked.

Then go to the Sidebar tab and check "External disks" there too.

This ensures your drive will appear both on the desktop and in the Finder sidebar.

Step 4: Check the File System Format

macOS may have trouble displaying drives formatted in a Windows-specific file system:

In Disk Utility, check the format under the drive’s name.

If it’s exFAT or NTFS, macOS should still read it (exFAT is ideal for compatibility).

If it's NTFS, your Mac can only read (not write) unless third-party drivers are installed.

If the file system is corrupted, it may not mount properly.

If needed, back up your data on a Windows PC and reformat the drive in exFAT to make it cross-platform compatible.

Step 5: Reinstall WD Software

If you're using WD Discovery or WD Security to unlock the drive:

Uninstall and reinstall the latest version from WD’s official support site.

Make sure the software is compatible with your macOS version.

After reinstalling, restart your Mac and try unlocking the drive again.

Step 6: Try Another Mac or PC

If the drive still doesn’t appear in Finder but does show up on another computer, your Mac may be the problem. Consider resetting NVRAM/PRAM or SMC to resolve USB-related glitches.

Conclusion

A WD My Passport drive not appearing in Finder after unlocking is often caused by display settings, software issues, or file system incompatibilities. By working through these steps—checking Disk Utility, enabling Finder settings, and updating WD software—you’ll likely get your drive working again without losing any data.