Unable to View Hidden files (or partition) in external drive

Question

Level 1

65 points

Unable to View Hidden files (or partition) in external drive

Using CCC yesterday on an external 2TB SSD I stopped a backup and disconnected the drive. When I reconnected it, the folders (or partition: I think it is just a folder with music files), weighing in at 850 GB, were invisible— in the finder, in Disk Utility, in DaisyDisk, though the total missing is evident (esp. in DaisyDisk). Is there any way to bring them out of hiding so that I can manipulate their contents? This has never happened to me before.

MacBook Pro 14″

Posted on Nov 1, 2025 9:48 PM

Reply

Answer 1

jinet Author

Level 1

65 points

Nov 2, 2025 8:51 AM in response to jinet

Just took a radical step and I erased the existing snapshots visible in Disk Utility that were taking up a lot of space. That did the trick. I now have 1GB free again.

Reply

Answer 2

Owl-53

Level 10

102,433 points

Nov 2, 2025 1:27 AM in response to jinet

Open a Finder window and press the Command + Shift + . (period) keys simultaneously. This shortcut will toggle the visibility of hidden files, which will appear with a semi-transparent or faded icon. Press the same shortcut again to hide them.

Reply

Answer 3

jinet Author

Level 1

65 points

Nov 2, 2025 8:35 AM in response to Owl-53

Thanks. I tried it immediately after posting the message above—no dice.

SAME result with DaisyDisk:

The snapshots are taking up the space, which suggests that a CCC action never got completed. I'd like to erase that free space without erasing the rest of the drive, but I don't see a way.

Reply