Connect and use other storage devices with Mac
External hard drives, thumb drives, USB drives and Flash memory cards are examples of storage devices that you can connect to your Mac. To make the connection, you can use Thunderbolt, USB or USB-C cables, or connect wirelessly using Bluetooth® technology.
Storage devices (such as external hard drives) can also be available on your network. Additionally, you can insert flash memory cards from your camera or other device in the SDXC card slot in your Mac. If your Mac doesn’t have a card slot, you can access the data on the flash memory card using a connected card reader.
After you connect your storage device, you can move files from your Mac to the storage device or from your storage device to your Mac.
If your Mac has a USB-C port, see Use USB-C cables.
Connect a storage device
Connect the device to your Mac using the cable that came with it.
If the cable doesn’t have a connector that fits one of the ports on your Mac, you may be able to use an adapter. See the documentation that came with the device.
Use the Finder to view the connected device.
Move files to or from an external storage device
Make sure your Mac is connected to the external storage device (for example, using a USB cable or over a network).
Click the Finder icon
in the Dock to open a Finder window, then do one of the following to move your files.Move files to the storage device: Select one or more files on the desktop or in a folder, then drag them to the storage device, listed below Locations in the Finder sidebar.
Move files from the storage device: Select the storage device, listed below Locations in the Finder sidebar, then drag the files you want to a location on your Mac.
Get permission to view or work with files on a storage device
If you’re the administrator of the Mac, do one of the following:
Authenticate as an administrator user: Depending on how you’re attempting to access the file, you may need to authenticate as an administrator user.
Change Sharing & Permissions settings for the file: For instructions, see Set up file sharing.
If you’re not the administrator of the Mac, ask the administrator to give you access to the files you need.
Eject a storage device
On your Mac, do one of the following:
Select the item to eject, then choose File > Eject.
In the Finder sidebar, click
next to the item’s name.Tip: You can quickly eject disks from connected optical drives using the Eject menu in the menu bar. Choose Apple menu
in the sidebar (you may need to scroll down). Turn on Show eject in menu bar.Note: If you don’t have an optical drive connected to your Mac, CDs & DVDs settings aren’t available.
On the desktop, drag the item that you want to eject to the Trash.
If you can’t eject a storage device, another app or user may be using one or more files on the storage device. See If you can’t eject a disk on Mac because an app is using it and If you can’t eject a disk because another user is using it.
Erase an external storage device
Make sure your Mac is connected to the external storage device using a cable.
Do one of the following:
Click the Finder icon
in the Dock to open a Finder window, then Control-click the external storage device in the Finder sidebar.On the desktop, Control-click the external storage device.
Choose Erase Disk.
Optionally, enter a new name for the external storage device.
Choose a file system format, then click Erase.
For more information on available formats, see File system formats available in Disk Utility.