I bought a supposedly new WD My Passport 5TB external hard drive (WDBPKJ0050BBK-WESN), and it occasionally makes a mechanical clicking sound when it is idle—sometimes every few seconds, other times about once a minute. The sound resembles the click it makes when powering down. It did not click during a 30 GB file transfer, but the noise returned after the transfer finished.
I also had an inconsistent first transfer: only one of 15 video files copied successfully, although retrying worked and a later 30 GB transfer completed without errors. The quick test in WD Drive Utilities passed, but the complete test aborted after a few minutes. When I tried again, it stopped around 50%, and another attempt stopped around 60%. I first used a USB hub, then connected the drive directly to my MacBook with a USB-C to USB 3.0 Micro-B cable, but the complete test still aborted.
A SMART check in another drive-health utility reported that all values looked normal. However, the drive has several scratches on its underside even though it was sold as new, so I am unsure whether it may have been previously handled or returned.
Is this clicking likely to be normal idle or power-management behavior? Should I be concerned that the complete diagnostic repeatedly aborts, and would you return or exchange the drive?
3 Answers
Check the drive's SMART data with a dedicated health utility and review the actual attributes, not just the overall 'good' status. That can reveal logged errors even when the summary looks fine. Since the complete test fails repeatedly even with a direct connection, documenting the results and requesting a replacement would still be reasonable.
I would return or exchange it, especially since it was sold as new but already has scratches and the full diagnostic keeps aborting. A normal SMART report is reassuring, but it does not rule out every mechanical, cable, power, or firmware problem. Keep verified backups of anything stored on it and avoid trusting this drive until it passes a complete test.
Occasional clicking can come from normal head parking or the drive entering and leaving an idle state, but repeated clicking combined with failed transfers, aborted diagnostics, and unexplained cosmetic wear is not something I would ignore. A replacement is safer than trying to prove whether the sound is harmless.
I checked the SMART information and the values looked normal, which is reassuring. I am still unsure how seriously to take the aborted complete tests, though.