Fix can't eject external hard drive on Mac Instead, try to close all running programs or apps that may use your drive to make sure no files on this drive are being used or occupied. When you can't eject the external hard drive on Mac, don't rush to directly unplug the external hard drive physically from Mac, it will cause data loss or even severe drive inaccessible error.

A possible malware infection or virus, etc.

A data protection mechanism may be preventing ejection.

Some drivers or apps are using the drive in the background.

The drive is engaged by a processing program.

The external hard drive or files on the drive are currently in use.

Here's how to eject your external hard drive, USB flash drive, SD card, or other storage devices from your Mac: When the drive is ejected successfully, you can physically remove it. Generally, there are three ways to eject a drive on Mac. FAQs about can't eject external hard drive on Mac Why you can't eject an external hard drive on Mac If you're also facing the same issue now, you can follow this post to troubleshoot it to eject or force eject the external hard drive, USB flash drive, SD card, etc., smoothly on macOS. In this case, they can't eject the external hard drive on Mac safely. However, many Mac users complained that they got the warning message ' The disk wasn't ejected because one or more programs may be using it.' when ejecting the WD My Passport or Seagate external disk.

Normally, when you finish using an external hard drive on Mac, the last thing you should do is to safely unmount the disk and then eject it from your Mac machine.

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