How to Show Hard Disks, External Drives, and Connected Servers on the Mac Desktop

In earlier releases of Mac OS X, mounted storage volumes—such as the primary Macintosh HD startup disk, connected USB thumb drives, and external backup drives—automatically appeared as prominent desktop icons. In modern versions of macOS (including macOS Sonoma and macOS Sequoia), Apple disabled these desktop volume icons by default in favour of a cleaner, minimalist desktop aesthetic, relegating all drive access to the Finder sidebar.

However, for system administrators, video editors, and power users who frequently hot-swap external storage drives, mount network-attached storage (NAS) shares, or manage multiple partitioned disk volumes, having instant access to physical and virtual drives directly on the desktop saves substantial navigation time. macOS retains complete support for desktop storage icons via Finder Settings.

Understanding Desktop Storage Volume Categories in macOS

macOS divides mounted volumes into four distinct hardware and network categories within Finder preferences:

• Hard disks: Your internal Mac storage drive (commonly named Macintosh HD) and any secondary internal solid-state or spinning disks installed inside modular Macs.
• External disks: Physical external storage peripherals connected via Thunderbolt, USB-C, or USB-A ports, including portable SSDs, external hard drives, and flash drives.
• CDs, DVDs, and iOS Devices: Removable optical media connected via external disc drives, as well as connected iPhones or iPads undergoing local Finder synchronization.
• Connected servers: Remote file shares mounted over the local network using Server Message Block (SMB), Apple Filing Protocol (AFP), or Network File System (NFS), such as enterprise file servers and home NAS units.

How to Show Hard Disks and External Volumes on the Mac Desktop

You can enable any or all of these desktop drive icons through Finder Settings:

1. Click on your desktop background or click the Finder icon (the blue smiling face) in your Dock to ensure Finder is the active frontmost application.
2. Look at the Apple menu bar across the top of your screen and click on Finder.
3. Select Settings from the drop-down menu (or press the keyboard shortcut Cmd + ,).
4. In the Finder Settings window that appears, ensure the General tab is selected at the top.
5. Under the section labelled Show these items on the desktop, you will see four checkboxes:
   • Check Hard disks to display your internal Macintosh HD drive.
   • Check External disks to show all connected USB drives, SD cards, and portable SSDs.
   • Check CDs, DVDs, and iOS Devices if you use external disc media or direct iPhone syncing.
   • Check Connected servers to display mounted network shares and NAS folders.
6. Close the Finder Settings window.

Your selected storage volumes will immediately materialize on your desktop, updating automatically whenever a new external drive is plugged in or a network share is connected.

How to Also Show Storage Volumes in the Finder Sidebar

For consistent navigation across both your desktop and Finder file browsing windows, ensure storage locations are enabled in your sidebar as well:

1. With Finder active, press Cmd + , to reopen Finder Settings.
2. Click on the Sidebar tab along the top toolbar.
3. Scroll down to the Locations header.
4. Ensure checkboxes are enabled for:
   • Your Mac’s Computer Name (e.g., MacBook Pro or Mac mini)
   • Hard disks
   • External disks
   • Cloud Storage and Connected Servers
5. Close the settings dialogue.

When you open any Finder window, the left sidebar will now feature dedicated sections listing every mounted drive alongside your favourites and tags.

How to Eject Desktop Drives Safely in macOS

Displaying external drives on your desktop provides the fastest and safest mechanism for disconnecting storage without risking filesystem corruption or data loss:

• Drag to Trash: Click and drag any external drive icon toward the Trash in your Dock. Notice how the Trash can icon transforms into an Eject symbol. Release the mouse button over the Eject icon to safely unmount the drive.
• Context Menu: Right-click (or Control-click) the drive icon on your desktop and select Eject “[Drive Name]”.
• Keyboard Shortcut: Click the desktop drive icon once to select it, then press Cmd + E on your keyboard.

Once the desktop icon vanishes, you can safely unplug the physical cable from your Mac’s USB port.