This Seagate backup software is compatible with Windows and Mac. To use it, you need to connect your Seagate Backup Plus to your computer, and find this program on the disk. Then, click the file (.exe for PC,.dmg for Mac) to install Seagate Dashboard. Click the “Start” button to begin the mirroring process. Depending on the size of your files and the write speed of your hard drive, the mirroring process may take anywhere from a few minutes to several hours. Shop for seagate external hard drive for mac at Best Buy. Find low everyday prices and buy online for delivery or in-store pick-up.
Summary: When plugging your Seagate Backup Plus into a Mac computer, you may find the drive stops working and is not mounting in Disk Utility. Have you been troubled by the issue? This post will give you 7 workable solutions to fix Seagate Backup Plus drive not mounting/working issue on Mac.
Seagate Backup Plus external hard drive is often used for Time Machine backup. But many users reported that they were unable to mount Seagate Backup Plus drive on Mac computers. And some say theirSeagate Backup Plus couldn't work on Mac after plugged in. Here is a real example:
'I really need your help. My Seagate Backup plus just stopped getting detected (led not working anymore) with my MacBook Pro 2016 model (with USB Type C to USB 3 connector) suddenly. It was working fine 1 month before. I tried this backup disk with a Windows computer and the LED light is working in that case but I am not able to get it to work with my MacBook Pro anymore. Any idea guys?'
In fact, this issue is very common, especially for those who frequently share the same drive between different computers. This page will help when Seagate Backup Plus drive doesn't work on Mac.
7 solutions to fix Seagate Backup Plus not mounting, not working on Mac
For some reason, Seagate external hard drives could not be recognized by Mac. If you can't mount the Seagate Backup Plus drive in Disk Utility, the hard drive won't work on Mac. And you can't access the data stored on it. So it's very urgent to fix the problem to make it work again.
Here are solutions to the Seagate Backup Plus not working or mounting issue.
1. Have some basic checks
Sometimes, the Seagate Backup Plus drive won't mount on Mac is due to the bad USB port or cable. Thus, once the Seagate Backup Plus drive stops working, you can first do some routine checks as below.
- Step 1. Check if the cable of the Seagate Backup Plus drive is connected properly to your Mac
If the drive isn't properly plugged in, it will fail to mount as it received not enough or even no power. - Step 2. Make sure the USB cable is not at fault
Try using a different USB cable to see if that fixes the problem. - Step 3. Check if the USB port is damaged
Plug the Seagate Backup Plus into another USB port if you have another one. Otherwise, insert another external storage device in this USB port. - Step 4. Check whether the Seagate Backup Plus external hard drive is powered properly
In general, the current of USB port 2.3 and 3.0 are enough for the most external portable hard drives. But sometimes this amount of current may be insufficient while the drive is spinning up. - In this situation, you can try to connect the Seagate Backup Plus with a USB Y cable if you have one. And for Seagate Backup Plus Hub and Expansion Desktop, a power adaptor is required for power supply.
- Step 5. Access the drive on other Macs
Connect the Seagate Backup Plus drive to another Mac computer to see whether it works on that one or not. If the drive works on another Mac computer, there is something wrong with your Mac computer rather than the drive. What you should do is to ask for help from Apple support. - Step 6. Check if the format of Seagate hard drive is supported by macOS
For example, a Windows BitLocker encrypted drive will not be working on Mac originally. Your Mac computer is not able to mount it. To fix the problem, you can plug the Seagate Backup Plus into a PC and then access the drive on Windows.
2. Check whether the Seagate Backup Plus is showing up in Disk Utility
To troubleshoot this problem, you first need to know if this Seagate hard drive is detected by your Mac. Open the Utilities folder in your Applications folder. Launch Disk Utility and check the left pane then. If you can't see the external hard drive in macOS, the drive probably has been physically damaged. In that case, you should send the drive to the local repair shop. Otherwise, you can move to the next solution.
3. Check if the Seagate Backup Plus drive is mounted in Disk Utility
If the Seagate Backup Plus is mounted in Disk Utility, you should blame the wrong computer settings or outdated computer. Fortunately, it's easy to fix these issues. Just try solution 4 and solution 5. If the external hard drive is greyed out in Disk Utility, it's not mounted. You can try right-clicking the Seagate Backup Plus and choose the 'Mount' button. If that doesn't work, the drive has some file system problems. Please follow the solution 6 to repair the problem.
4. Show the Seagate Backup Plus on the desktop
If the Seagate external hard drive is mounted in Disk Utility, but it still doesn't show up on Mac. First of all, you should make sure the settings in Finder display drive icons on the desktop.
Step 1: Go to Finder > Preferences > General tab.
Step 2: Select 'External disks' under 'Show these items on the desktop' and then the connected external hard drive will appear on the desktop.
5. Repair Seagate Backup Plus drive via First Aid
Seagate Backup Plus not mounting issue on Mac can be caused by file system problems. Disk Utility's First Aid is a built-in tool on Mac to deal with errors related to disks, such as file system corruption. So you can try to fix the unmountable/corrupted Seagate Backup Plus external hard drive in Disk Utility by following the steps below.
Step 1: Go to Utilities Disk Utility.
Step 2: Click 'View' in the top menu bar (Or click 'View' on the top window). Then select 'Show All Devices'.
Step 3: Select the Seagate Backup Plus external hard drive from the left sidebar.
Step 4: Click 'First Aid' on the top of the Disk Utility window.
Step 5: Click 'Run' to perform hard disk diagnostics and fix the not mounting/not working Seagate Backup Plus.
6. Update the software on Mac
Software updates keep your computer and programs secure, deal with quite a few bugs, and provide new features. Out-of-date software can cause a variety of issues. It's possible that the operating system will become sluggish and the connected device may not function properly. Fortunately, you can easily update the software on Mac.
Case 1. Update the software on macOS Mojave or Catalina. If you upgrade to macOS Mojave or macOS Catalina, you should choose 'System Preferences' from the Apple menu, then click 'Software Update' to check for updates. If any updates are available, click 'Update Now' to install them.
Case 2. Update the software on earlier macOS versions. Just launch the Mac App Store, click the 'Update' tab on the top and then choose the 'Update All'.
7. Fix the not mounting or working Seagate Backup Plus drive by reformatting
If First Aid failed on the external hard drive, it might have some serious errors that are beyond its reparation capability. In that case, you need to recover lost data from the Seagate Backup Plus external hard drive as soon as possible.
Step 1. Recover lost data from the unmountable/corrupted Seagate Back Plus
iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac is free external hard drive data recovery software. It can easily recover files when the hard drive is not working or mounting on Mac. Also, it canrecover deleted photos and lost data from formatted drives, unreadable drives, corrupted drives, and recover deleted/lost partitions, etc. It's compatible withmacOS 10.15/10.14/10.13/10.12/10.11/10.10/10.9/10.8/10.7.
- 1. Download and install iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac on Mac.
- 2. Launch iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac.
- 3. Select the Seagate Backup Plus and click the 'Scan' button to scan for all lost data.
- 4. Preview the searching results, choose files you want to get back, and click the 'Recover' button.
Here is a short video tutorial which shows you how to recover lost data from unmountable/corrupted external hard drives:
Step 2: Reformat the Seagate Backup Plus to make it work
After recovering data from the unmounted Seagate Backup Plus, you can now go to Disk Utility and reformat it without worrying about data loss.
• Steps to reformat Seagate Backup Plus external hard drive
If unfortunately, you can't reformat the Seagate Backup Plus drive, it must have physical issues. In this case, you have to look for help from a local data recovery company.
Bonus Part: Introduction to different Seagate Backup Plus drives
You probably use a Seagate desktop drive like Backup Plus Hub and Expansion. Or you could use a Backup Plus Portable drive like Ultra Touch and Slim. No matter which Seagate Backup Plus drive you choose, it could not work on the Mac for some reason.
Therefore, it's important to know the differences between those Seagate Backup Plus drives. This helps you to use the Seagate Backup Plus drive more correctly and efficiently, and then avoid hard disk corruption.
- 1. Seagate Backup Plus Hub: This Seagate Backup Plus Desktop drive has large capacities with cross-platform compatibility, which means you don't have to format the drive for both Mac and Windows again. It's an all-in-one data hub and recharging station for tablet, smartphone and camera.
- 2. Seagate Backup Plus Ultra Touch: Backup Plus Ultra Touch portable hard drives feature password protection and hardware encryption, USB-C compatibility, and file sync. You can't open the Seagate Backup Plus drive on Mac until it's unlocked. Moreover, an NTFS for Mac software is needed to use Backup Plus Ultra Touch on Mac, as it's preformatted with NTFS.
- 3. Seagate Backup Plus Slim: Seagate Backup Plus is small enough for a loaded laptop bag. It's an ideal external hard drive with easy portability and enough storage space. But avoid dropping your Seagate Backup Plus drive during transportation, in case it's damaged and not working.
- 4. SeagateBackup Plus Portable: Backup Plus portable drives offer easy-to-use software tools like Seagate Dashboard, so that you can schedule automatic backup and mirror folders easily.
Conclusion
No matter what caused Seagate Backup Plus not mounting, working, or readable issue on Mac, such as logical problems and physical damages, the most important thing is to back up important data or recover lost data with free Mac data recovery software. iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac is a powerful and reliable data recovery tool on macOS which supports various external drives, including external hard drives, SD cards, USB flash drives, etc.
If you have any suggestions to solve this issue or experience any questions when using iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac, please feel free to let us know.
Quick navigation
How do I transfer files to my seagate external hard drive?
“I have some precious pictures, files, videos, etc on my computer that truly need to bebacked up !!!! Thus, I bought Seagate Backup Plus. It’s said this is a backup drive. But Itdoes not show as a backup drive when I plug it into my Windows 10. What's wrong? How doI backup files on Seagate external hard drive?”
Don't worry about it! This is what I will share with you in the following. As far as Iknow, this is probably a connection issue or the disk driver is outdated. And there are 3different Seagate external drive backup software for you to backup files on Seagate externalhard drive, namely Seagate Dashboard, Backup and Restore, and AOMEI Backupper.
Why backup files to Seagate external hard drive?
Talking about the reason, there are 2 main reasons to backup files on Seagate external harddrive. Let's see them specifically.
- Ensure the security of your precious data. Most computers users savedata on their laptop or desktop, but there is a great risk of data loss in the event offailure, such as, system crash, disk failure, virus attack, ransomware etc. To minimizethe risk, you can backup files toexternal hard drive, like Seagate Backup Plus.
- External hard drive is very portable to take. Aside by the securityissue, you may want to save the common used files to a portable storage device and takeit everywhere, so you can view files on external hard drive anytime. Seagate externalhard drive is one of the portable storage devices.
Seagate Dashboard: use Seagate external hard drive to backup files
This is the first method to backup files on Seagate external hard drive. You will use SeagateDashboard, a seagate external drive backup software, which comes along with Seagate BackupPlus or Seagate Center. Without further ado, let's get started to reveal Seagate backupPlus how to use.
Step 1. Connect Seagate Backup Plus to your computer and make sure it can bedetected. Then, access Seagate external hard drive in Windows Explorer and double-clickthe Seagate Dashboard Installer.exe to install this software
Step 2. Launch Seagate Dashboard and then select PC Backup in the home page.
Step 3. Then, click Protect Now and Back up Now to backupall non-system files.
Notes:
◑ About how do I know when Seagatebackup is complete, you can see the green backup progress bar and percentage. And when thetask is complete, these indicators will disappear.
◑ Seagate Dashboard can also be aSeagate automatic backup software, which allows you to backup all personal folders(non-system files) or specific folders with New Backup Plan option. It supports multipleSeagate automatic backup options, including snapshot, weekly, monthly, daily, hourly, andcontinuously.
◑ About how do I know when Seagatebackup is complete, you can see the green backup progress bar and percentage. And when thetask is complete, these indicators will disappear.
◑ Seagate Dashboard can also be aSeagate automatic backup software, which allows you to backup all personal folders(non-system files) or specific folders with New Backup Plan option. It supports multipleSeagate automatic backup options, including snapshot, weekly, monthly, daily, hourly, andcontinuously.
Backup and Restore: backup files using Seagate external hard drive
As said before, Seagate Backup Plus is one of the backup drives. It’s is compatible withWindows and Mac. Virtual machine mac os free. And it has a great capacity, even up to 8TB. Aside by that, it supports afaster speed. Then, let's have a closer look at how to use Seagate external hard drivein Windows 7/8/10 to backup files.
Step 1. Install Seagate Backup Plus drive on your computer via an adapter.Then, click Use this drive for backup under AutoPlay window, and wait forWindows Backup to start.
Step 2. Pitch on Let Windows choose or Let me Choose, thenclick Next.
Note: If you just want to backup files savedin libraries, on the desktop, in default Windows folders, you can choose Let Windows choose.If you want to backup specific files or folders, you can choose Let me choose.
Step 3. The default schedule setting is set to 7am every week. If you want to change it,click Change schedule. Then, review your backup settings and click Savesettings and run Backup to finish the last step. Wait until you see a promptlike ”Windows Backup has completed successfully”.
Note: Backup and Restore utility (Windows 7)is very useful. It can help you backup files and backup system as longas you have a common external hard drive. However, it may fail to encrypt and compressbackup images. Also, it cannot support differential backup.
AOMEI Backupper: backup files on Seagate external hard drive
Reading here, you may already know how to backup files using Seagate Backup Plus. Franklyspeaking, it’s not a perfect way to backup files.
I strongly recommend you using Seagate automatic backup software AOMEI Backupper Professional. Withit, you can backup files to Seagate external hard drive automatically, even with onlychanged files. It supports daily backup, weekly backup, monthly backup, incremental/differential backup, etc. Also, you can choose tocompress backup files if it's too large In addition, you can encrypt backup files ifthere are any sensitive data.
Then, let's take Seagate Backup Plus as an example and have a closer look at how tobackup files to Seagate external hard drive. Before starting any operation, please connectSeagate Backup Plus drive to your computer and download the free trial filebackup software AOMEI Backupper Professional.
Download Free Trial
Win 10/8.1/8/7/XP
Secure Download
Step 1. Launch AOMEI Backupper Professional. Then, click Backup and FileBackup to summon the next window
Step 2. Click Add File or Add Folder to select files fromthe local computer.
Step 3. Select Seagate Backup Plus drive as the destination path. Tuxera ntfs for mac download free.
Step 4 (Important). Click Schedule, then click dailyunder the General tab and select differential backup under the Advancedtab. Then, click Start Backup if there are no problems.
Notes:
◑ Differential backup is muchsafer than incremental backup, because it will contain all the files in the original backupand the newly added or modified. Even if one of the image file is damaged, you still can restorefiles from backup.
◑ This version of software is only suitable for Windows7/8/10/XP/Vista. If you are using server computer, you could consider upgrading to AOMEI Backupper Server.
◑ Differential backup is muchsafer than incremental backup, because it will contain all the files in the original backupand the newly added or modified. Even if one of the image file is damaged, you still can restorefiles from backup.
◑ This version of software is only suitable for Windows7/8/10/XP/Vista. If you are using server computer, you could consider upgrading to AOMEI Backupper Server.
How to view files on Seagate Backup Plus?
In the minds of many users, where is my backup file may be a question. Here I will show youthe answer. To view files on Seagate backup drive, such as, Seagate Backup Plus, you coulddelete old backup using Seagate Dashboard or use the built-in exploreimage feature in AOMEI Backupper. Details are below.
Method 1: View files using Seagate Dashboard.
Open Seagate Dashboard, select the BackupPlus in the Dashboard, click Info and View Files togo to the target path.
Tip: Also, you see your files in the Seagateexternal hard drive. You can go to (My) Computer and the backup drive, open the folder namedBackup and with your PCname subsequently, click on the C folder and go to Users >Username>Documents, then double-click the files to check it.
Method 2: View files in virtual partition.
You can launch AOMEI Backupper Professional, go to Tools > Explore Image, select backupimage and time point, then click Save As and select a path for the image file, then waituntil the process is completed. Finally, go to the path and see your files.
Note: If you just want to check the integrityof backup files, you can click Settings at the lower left corner and tick Check backupintegrity on complete. It’s much convenient.
How to delete backup files from seagate external hard drive?
Some users reported that Seagate Backup Plus slim full. Do you have similar questions? Seebelow and I’ll show you how to delete backup files from Seagate external hard drive. Hereare 2 ways.
Method 1. Delete backup files using Seagate external hard drive.
You can select PC Backup on the home page and then backup task, click the drop down menu and choose Delete to delete this task. If this is a Seagate automatic backup plan, pleaseselect the box next to Delete backed up files and click Delete.
Method 2. Delete backup image regularly with AOMEI Backupper.
You can Go to Home, click the three bars icon > Edit Backup > Backup Scheme > EnableBackup Scheme, then select a scheme settings from the drop-down menu. After that, it willautomatically deleteold backups by a specific role.
The meaning of creating one or more backups are to continuously protect your data and OS. Ifyou delete all the backups, it is against the original meaning. And you may delete thelatest backup mistakenly. Thus, the second way is more useful. It will keep the latestbackup and delete other backups with a specific role.
Conclusion
Seagate Mirror Image Drive
Honestly, it’s necessary to backup files on Seagate external hard drive, because the backupcould protect and recover your files in case of system crash, virus attack, etc. Of course,if you can create a Seagate automatic backup, so much the better.
All of the given solutions can help you do this. But if you don't want to backup allfiles everytime, the last one will be a better choice. Its incremental/differential backupcan backup the changed files only after the full backup.
Seagate Mac Installer
In addition, this software still supports many useful features, such as, three compressionlevel, encryption, backup scheme to delete backup files, event trigger backup, system backup, diskbackup, universal restore, replaceHDD with SSD, create bootable media etc. Any interest? Please download this softwareto enjoy these features.