The External Drive Sidebar Clutter
In macOS, the Finder sidebar acts as a quick-access panel for your most important folders and drives. By default, under the “Locations” section, Apple has configured Finder to automatically display any external storage devices you connect. This includes USB flash drives, external hard drives, SD cards, and even disk images (like `.dmg` files you mount to install software). This feature is designed so you never have to guess where your plugged-in drive went.
However, if your workflow involves constantly mounting and unmounting numerous virtual disk images, or if you use an older Mac with multiple permanent expansion drives plugged into a dock that you rarely need to browse at the root level, this setting can quickly bloat your sidebar. Instead of a clean list of your favorite folders, you end up with a constantly shifting list of generic disk icons. If you prefer to manage external volumes directly from your Desktop (where they also appear by default) rather than cluttering your Finder window, you can disable their appearance in the sidebar.
How to Hide External Disks in the Sidebar
You can stop external drives from appearing in the Finder sidebar via the Finder Preferences menu.
- Click the Finder icon in your Dock to ensure Finder is the active application.
- In the top menu bar, click on Finder and select Settings… (or Preferences on older macOS versions).
- In the Settings window, click on the Sidebar tab at the top.
- Look through the list of checked items under the “Locations” header.
- Locate the checkbox labelled External disks.
- Click the checkbox to remove the checkmark.
- Close the Settings window.
From now on, when you plug in a USB stick or mount a `.dmg` file, it will no longer populate your sidebar. You can still access these drives from your Desktop or by navigating to the root `/Volumes` directory.