When you can't eject an external hard disk or storage device, first, as recommended above, make sure that you've saved all files and ended all running processes. Step 6. After this, you can eject the external hard drive from Mac in the normal way.ĭownload: Apple built-in tool, downloading is not necessary. Click “Force quite" to quick the process. Step 4. Select it and click the "Close" icon on the left top pane. Step 3. Go to the Disk tab, find QuickLookUIService in Disk Usage by each process. Step 2. Search Activity Monitor in the spotlight and click to open it. Step 1. Press the Command + Space key to open Spotlight. You can apply this tool to locate the running apps and stop it, then ejecting the disk from Mac. When you can't eject an external hard drive from a Mac computer, it could be one or more programs running with the disk in the background.
Stop Running Apps and Eject External Hard driveĭownload: The tool is pre-installed on Mac, download is not necessary.Īctivity Monitor is an application available in the Utilities folder that helps to monitor and identify the process running on specific disks.
Video Tutorial: How to Use EaseUS NTFS for Mac Tool: EaseUS NTFS for Mac - 1-Click Device Jection Tool Safely Eject External Hard Drive with Automated Ejection Tool Notes: For an automated and reliable fix to safely eject your external storage devices, don't miss automated EaseUS NTFS for Mac. Eject External Hard Drive on Mac via Terminal Stop Running Apps and Eject External Hard drive Once you confirm that you've kept your disk and its data safe and intact by following the Dos and Don'ts tips above, you can follow any one of the 5 methods here to fix this issue: Close all running programs or apps that may use your drive.įix 'Can't Eject External Hard Drive' on Mac in 5 Ways.Make sure no files are being used or occupied on the drive.What do I do if my external hard drive won't eject? Here are some dos and don'ts tips: Mac refuses to force eject drive due to data protection mechanism. The drive is being occupied by a processing program.
Some apps or drivers are using the drive in the background. The external hard drive or files inside the drive is currently in use. So what caused this error? Here are the possible reasons that Mac computer refuse to eject the drive: "The disk wasn't ejected because one or more programs may be using it." When you receive this message or a similar warning on a Mac computer while trying to eject an external hard drive, it means that you didn't or failed to eject the drive successfully: Error: Can't Eject External Hard Drive Mac - Causes & What-To-Do We'll discuss the reason that caused this error in the next part. However, some Mac users reported that they can't eject external hard drives on Mac even following the above three device ejection operations.