Arduino IDE is not showing any port macOS

Question

My Arduino Uno is plugged in with mac USB port. But Arduino IDE is not showing any port. (macOS- Catalina)

Solution 1

To add to Nikhil Borle's answer, if you check the USB Devices in the System Report and don't see anything, you may have a cable problem. I didn't see my device, and found out that the USB Type-B cable wasn't fully plugged in to my Arduino! (It has been a very long time since I've used Type-B). Apparently it's possible to plug it in halfway and it will still receive power, but won't be able to communicate...

Once I fixed that, I closed & reopened System Information and it showed up as simply "Communication Device", although when I selected that, under the details, "Manufacturer" was listed as "Arduino (www.arduino.cc)" (I've got an Arduino Uno R3).

Solution 2

Try unplugging everything from the Arduino except for the USB cable.

I had a similar problem with Arduino Uno and Mac Catalina 10.15.7. After try multiple solutions I noticed the green on light on my Uno was very faint or kept turning off. After playing with the board for a minute I unplugged all the wires for my project so that only the USB cable was plugged into the Uno and nothing else. After that the Arduino showed in the port menu as expected.

Apparently the setup of my project was causing some kind of short that prevented the Uno from starting up properly, or was causing a reboot.

Solution 3

This problem can occur due to two main reasons.

1. Your computer does not recognize your Arduino board
   
2. Your Arduino Board is damaged

Sometimes your computer does not recognize your arduino board. You can check it by opening Device Manager > Other Devices If a device named Arduino Uno is there, probably it is due to the driver issue.
You can solve it by manually configuring the driver from here.

If the Arduino Board is still not recognized, it can be due to a damaged cable or the Arduino board is damaged. Try using a different cable to connect it to your computer. If the board is still not recognized, the Arduino board might be damaged, You may have to repair the damaged board by giving it to a shop or may have to buy a new board which seems the easier way.

Solution 4

I fixed this problem by installing the FTDI VCP driver from the FTDI Chip website.

Specifically, my Arduino Duemilanove wouldn't show up under macOS Big Sur (11.4); all I'd see was /dev/cu.Bluetooth-Incoming-Port. But the board showed up under System Information as FT232R USB UART, so I knew the cable was working. Installing the driver fixed it, and now the Arduino shows up as /dev/cu.usbserial-... as expected.

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Comments

[Richard Barber]

is it a genuine arduino or knock off?

[Rasheeq Ishmam]

Genuine. I worked with it before, it was fine. But after reseting the OS it's showing like this.

[Richard Barber]

Did you try switching usb ports?

[Rasheeq Ishmam]

Yes. Didn't work.

[Richard Barber]

does it work with a fresh uno?

[Rasheeq Ishmam]

No, it didn't work.

[Richard Barber]

usb ports otherwise functional?

[Ivan Marinov]

"Try unplugging everything from the Arduino except for the USB cable." - that's it for me. Cable must be plugged in first then connect Arduino.

[Spixel89]

New cable did the trick! Ty

[KAHartle]

Device Manager is a Windows component, not MacOS. Unfortunately I have not found a solution to this issue either and I'm resorting to looking for an old Windows PC. Seems USB 3.0 ports are not supported either

[Casey L]

honestly, +1 for this answer...I am using an Elegoo Arduino knockoff and the included USB Type-B cable head is a little bit snug, so it would still transfer power without being plugged all the way in. After I pushed it all the way in I was able to see the device show up in the Port list.

[David Hempy]

Same. Downloaded the latest driver from ftdichip.com/drivers/vcp-drivers and now the IDE detects my ports and my Arduino Mega.