Posted by Katrina to Mac Data Recovery Tips on November 3rd, 2017
Summary: This article talks about why disks become uninitialized, how to recover lost data from uninitialized disks with Mac data recovery software and fix uninitialized disks on Mac with easy steps. Keep reading.
When plugging in a disk to your Mac, you may find it showing up as uninitialized in Disk Utility, and can't be mounted at all. This problem usually happens to external hard drives, which are used to extend the computer's capacity or to make backup of important files. Once the disk becomes uninitialized on Mac, you will have no access to tons of data stored on it.
Don't worry. This page will show you all details and tutorials you care about uninitialized disks.
If you use Disk Utility to erase an APFS volume and format it HFS+, you’ll find that the old APFS container sticks around. The same thing happens if you use diskutil the wrong way.
Table of contents
1. Why do disks become uninitialized on Mac?
2. Recover lost data from uninitialized disks on Mac
3. How to fix uninitialized disks on Mac?
4. How to initialize a disk on Mac?
Part I: Why do disks become uninitialized on Mac?
The reasons why your external hard drive becomes uninitialized might be due to partition table damage or loss, virus attacks, sudden power outage, improper ejection, etc. No matter what the cause is, the volumes on the not initialized disk will be invisible in Disk Utility, so as the data on it.
Select your device. Then, from the tabs at the top select Erase. As the article just above explains, in the drop-down sheet select: volume name, “ APFS ” and “ GUID Partition Map.” (Note.
Apple apfs media uninitialized This is a significant problem that many Macworld readers want to make sure others know about. Is there a way to undo this process, or at least recover my Time Machine backup going back 2 years and re-setup my external HD?
Thus, it's urgent to recover lost data from the uninitialized disks on Mac.
Part II: How to recover lost data from uninitialized disks on Mac?
Case 1: AppleAPFSMedia uninitialized on Mac
When I intended to edit one of the working documents on my AppleAPFSMedia (APFS), I couldn't open the drive. Then I went to Disk Utility and found the AppleAPFSMedia uninitialized. I've tried First Aid to repair it, but failed. I have no choice but to erase the uninitialized AppleAPFSMedia. However, some documents in it are so important for me, so how can I recover lost data from uninitialized AppleAPFSMedia?
Case 2: External hard drives uninitialized on Mac
After upgrading Mac to High Sierra, my external disk becomes uninitialized (don't know the exact cause) and is not working as before. Please provide me the solution to fix this uninitialized disk and how can I restore data from it.
Just as the two cases, this error usually happens to AppleAPFSMeida and external hard drives. The truth is, when the disk becomes uninitialized, the data stored on it still exists but becomes inaccessible. What's more, as long as the data hasn't been overwritten, it's possible to be got back.
To recover lost data from uninitialized disks on Mac, iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac, the free Mac data recovery software, will be helpful.
Tyme 2 2018 7 – effective time tracking system. iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac can not only recover lost data from uninitialized AppleAPFSMedia, but also recover lost data from uninitialized external hard drives, including WD My Passport drives, Seagate external hard drives, SD cards, and so on. It supports nearly all file types recovery, such as deleted photo recovery, video, audio, documents and emails recovery, etc.
How to recover lost data from uninitialized disks on Mac?
You can follow the steps to recover lost data from uninitialized disks as well.
Step 1: Launch iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac.
Step 2: Choose the uninitialized disk, click 'Next' to scan the disk.
Step 3: Preview the scanning results, choose files you need, then click 'Recover' and specify a different location to store the recovered files.
Step 4: Go through to ensure you have got all lost files back.
What's more, it recovers data from formatted drives, recovers data from unreadable drives, recovers data from unmountable drives, inaccessible drives, deleted and lost partitions etc. It's fully compatible with macOS 10.15 (Catalina), 10.14 (Mojave)/10.13 (High Sierra)/macOS 10.12 (Sierra) and Mac OS X 10.11/10.10/10.9/10.8/10.7.
Part III: How to fix uninitialized disks on Mac?
After recovering data from uninitialized disks on Mac, you can then go ahead to fix the disk without worrying about data loss. Install apple os from usb.
Solution 1: Fix uninitialized disks in Disk Utility
Disk Utility is a built-in tool on Mac to solve disk related errors. You can try to fix uninitialized disks with this free tool.
Step 1: Go to Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility. Intaglio 3 9 5.
Step 2: Select the uninitialized disk from the left sidebar and click First Aid on the top of the window.
Step 3: Wait till the reparation process ends and click Done.
Then you can unplug the disk and re-plug it to check if the error is fixed. If Disk Utility failed on external hard drives, please move to the next solution.
Solution 2: Fix uninitialized disks by reformatting
Apple Apfs Media Erase Folders
Most of the time, the disk showing as uninitialized in Disk Utility is suffering partition table corruption or loss. Thus, reformatting is the best way to solve this problem.
• Guide to reformat uninitialized external hard drive on Mac
After the erasure finishes, unplug it and then re-plug it in to the Mac. Hopefully you can see the disk mounted correctly in Disk Utility.
Lastly, you can copy and paste the recovered data back to the disk again.
Part IV: How to initialize a disk on Mac?
1. What does initialize a disk on Mac mean?
Initializing a disk prepares the disk for use on Mac computers. Only after a disk is initialized can you partition it to separate sections and format it with certain file systems. Then, you can store various files on to the disk. So, if a disk is uninitialized, you can't access data on it, if any.
2. Does initializing a disk erase data on Mac?
Definitely, yes. It will wipe all data on it. That's why we always ask you to check whether you have a backup copy or to recover lost data with iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac.
3. How to initialize a disk on Mac without data loss?
The Mac operating system automatically detects a disk that needs to be initialized and prompts you to initialize the disk with the error message 'The disk you inserted was not readable by this computer.'
You can simply click the Initialize button and follow the onscreen wizard to initialize the disk on Mac. Just like erasing a disk, you need to provide a Name (what you identify this disk), a Scheme (what partition table you prefer, GUID or MBR) and a Format (how to organize data stored on the disk, known as file systems like APFS, HFS+, exFAT, etc.) for this disk.
Conclusion:
It's possible for us to encounter AppleAPFSMedia uninitialized on Mac, external hard drives uninitialized on Mac or other similar problems. Once it happens, the data will be inaccessible, but not necessarily mean data lost from the disk. You can run iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac to recover lost data from uninitialized disks with ease. Besides, you can also follow the tutorials above to fix the uninitialized disks on Mac, as well as initialize a disk on Mac without losing data.
If you have any question related to uninitialized disk on Mac, feel free to let us know.
Still have questions?
APFS is a file system introduced with the new operating system – macOS High Sierra 10.13. The primary focus of APFS is encryption; it is developed for SSDs and flash drives. Like all media devices, an APFS formatted storage drive can also have trouble mounting on the Mac. An external drive formatted with APFS may not mount due to several reasons such as the logical corruption of the file system. In this blog, we will briefly discuss more reasons behind the unmounting of an APFS drive and ways to recover data from an unmounted APFS drive.
ReadCaseStudy: Whooping 94% data recovered from unmounted external drive on MacBook Pro
APFS Unmounting – Causes & Simple Fixes
Improper Connection – Check the cable-connection at both ends. The connection may be loose, which could be causing the drive to unmount.
Bad Connector – The wire transmitting the electrical signal may have broken from within its protective layer. You should replace the cable; it is always handy if you keep a spare cable just in case you need it.
File System Corruption – To prevent file system corruption you should shut down your Mac using any of the system commands; the command helps synchronize the file systems. As compared to APFS, HFS and FAT formatted drives are more susceptible to corruption. Therefore, you have to recover data from HFS and FAT using a data recovery software.
Faulty Thunderbolt or USB Port – Thunderbolt and the USB are two ports available in a Mac that helps you connect your hard drive and other devices to the Mac. It is highly unlikely, but the ports may have run its course.
Try Mounting your APFS External Drive via Disk Utility
Apple File System Apfs
Though chances are thin, still you can repair and unmount your external hard drive via Disk Utility tool. Follow the below steps to unmount your APFS drive using Disk Utility:
Launch Disk Utility from Application
Select the APFS external hard drive
Press the Unmount button
This may help you to mount APFS external storage drive.
Recover Data from an Unmounting APFS Formatted External Drive
The above 4 simple fixes and the Disk Utility technique do not always work in your favour since an unmounted APFS drive may be severely corrupt. However, a Mac data recovery software will work and recover inaccessible files from an unmounted APFS Solid-State-Drive or a hard drive.
Stellar Data Recovery Professional for Mac has been helping users to recover their lost or inaccessible data for more than two decades. This is a highly reliable software and a handy tool whenever data loss occurs. The software is macOS Catalina, Mojave compatible and runs smoothly on both 64–bit and 32-bit operating systems. It can recover your data from lost, formatted, and encrypted hard drive. Apart from these useful features, if you happen to delete your Time Machine backup or any other partition accidentally, the software will recover it in few clicks.
Apfs File System Mac
With Stellar Data Recovery Professional for Mac, you can even create the disk image of your hard drive if your hard drive is having bad sectors.