Mac OS X 10.6: If a CD or DVD doesn’t appear on the desktop

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If a CD or DVD doesn’t appear on the desktop

If you insert a CD or DVD into an optical drive in your computer or connected directly to your computer, but it doesn’t appear on the desktop, you may need to change your preferences to make CDs and DVDs appear on the desktop.

Try these suggestions:

  • Open a Finder window to see if the disc appears in the sidebar. If it does, your Finder preferences are set not to show CDs and DVDs on the desktop.

    To change this setting, choose Finder > Preferences, click General, and then select the “CDs, DVDs, and iPods” checkbox.

  • Check your CD & DVD preferences by choosing Apple menu > System Preferences and clicking CDs & DVDs. If you’ve set the computer to ignore a CD or DVD when it’s inserted, you won’t see your disc on the desktop or in a Finder window. Choose Open Finder from the appropriate pop-up menu to have CDs and DVDs appear on the desktop when inserted.

Last Modified: Aug 6, 2013
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