Solving the Unmountable exFAT Drive Dilemma on Mac

In the ever-evolving landscape of technology, professionals often encounter unforeseen challenges that necessitate innovative solutions. A common yet perplexing issue arises when an external hard drive, formatted with the exFAT system, fails to mount on a Mac, displaying as "Not Mounted" in Disk Utility.

Upon investigation, it becomes clear that this predicament is typically the result of improperly ejecting the exFAT formatted disk. Through a diligent search for resolutions across various forums and technical discussions, a viable solution was unearthed within the comments section of a GitHub gist, showcasing the collaborative nature of the tech community.

To address this issue, it's imperative to first ensure the external drive is connected to the Mac. Following this, execute the command below in Terminal to retrieve a list of connected disks:

diskutil list

This command lists all connected disks. Find and note the disk ID of the problematic drive (e.g., disk8s1).

Subsequently, input the following command, substituting <ID> with the previously noted disk ID:

sudo ps -ax | grep <ID>

This produces a new ID, exemplified by:

65633 ??         0:00.96 /System/Library/Filesystems/exfat.fs/Contents/Resources/./fsck_exfat -y /dev/rdisk8s1
65825 ttys000    0:00.00 grep disk8s1

Identify the process ID (PID) associated with the fsck_exfat command, and terminate this process using:

sudo kill -9 65633

You may see an error message, but you should now be able to access your data on the drive

For a comprehensive resolution, navigate to Disk Utility and initiate the "First Aid" process on the drive, restoring it to optimal functionality.

To circumvent the recurrence of this scenario, it's crucial to adhere to the proper ejection protocol for exFAT formatted disks, thereby avoiding abrupt disconnections.

This episode underscores the importance of meticulous attention to data management practices within professional environments. By leveraging collective knowledge and adhering to established protocols, technology professionals can ensure the integrity and accessibility of critical data, furthering the mission of excellence in the field.