Why my hard drive clicking?

Every hard drive has a read/write actuator for input and interprets data from the disc. The actuator scans over the hard drive platter either writing or reading those data. This will result in a familiar hard drive clicking sound. Let’s assume You’re in the middle of a huge project, working to meet a deadline, and you hear a click, click sound coming from your hard drive, This click is also known as a death click. Hearing these types of sounds from your system is never a fun experience. Sometimes it’s fixed quickly but there is a situation when this clicking sound can be very dangerous. Waiting too long to solve this problem can lead to a system crash and complete data loss.

If you have been hearing this sound continuously from your hard drive, then you will obviously want to know the reason of this uncertain issue and if it’s fixable. Is this something you should ignore or fix yourself? Or you need the help of any professional. Here we are discussing the most common reasons for hard drive clicking and what you can do to fix it.

Clicking Causes

There is a nuisance of reasons you are hearing these types of sounds coming from your hard drive. If you have an older hard drive then it may be a hard drive issue but if you have a new one hard drive then it may be a hardware or software issue.

Anyway, you will want to discover the main issue before it leads to complete data loss.

Mostly clicking sound is coming due to an actuator arm that is not working properly. There are some major reasons for clicking on any drive which is following.

Insufficient power supply

Every hard drive requires sufficient power or energy to spin up. If your hard drive is not getting the sufficient required power then it will cause you to fail the spinning fully.

Physical damage

Physical damage is one of most offenders. Have you dropped your hard disk recently? Have your hard disk ever been exposed to water, fire, high temperature, or other environmental infections? All these are possible reasons for hard drive clicking.

Corrosion

Nothing will remain forever, as it is hard drives don’t last forever. If you have a hard drive from many years and recently it’s started clicking then it’s mean this hard drive is failing now. Just like a motor engine that at least gives out similarly hard drives are.

This happens when the actuator arm wears out and crashed.

Hardware issue

This is happened due to drained disk head, Spoil service area, damaged PCB, and many more reasons that can cause hard drive clicking.

Head misalignment

If the write/read heads are out of alignment due to not carefully handling or dropping your hard drive. It will cause you to hear the clicking sound of the hard drive.

Damaging disk platter

If the disk platter has assisted in damage, then the actuator arm will not work suitably. It will attempt to locate the platter and swing back and out. This will result in the sound clicking clicking clicking…..

Manufacturer’s flaw

Many hard drives fail due to manufacturer’s fault, damaged parts, or errors with firmware. If you have a new hard drive that has not to sustain any kind of damage then there can possibilities of this could be the manufacturer’s problem.