Force Eject a CD or DVD that is stuck in your Mac

This is one of those tips that I have written about in the past on Apple Gazette - but after searching the archives here on MacTips I didn’t find it anywhere, and its an important one - so I’m writing about it here too. If you do stumble across it somewhere in the archives of the site, feel free to add the links in the comments.

Every once in a while you may find that you have a CD or DVD stuck in your Mac that just refuses to eject. If it happens - it’s frustrating. There are a few things that you can do to force you Mac to eject the disk.

1) First, try iTunes. Sometimes the iTunes eject button will work, even if your Finder eject button, or keyboard eject button won’t.

2) Open Terminal.app and type “drutil tray eject” - this will eject the disk tray most of the time.

3) If you’re still having no luck, you can restart your Mac and hold down the mouse button. Keep your finger pressed down until the disk ejects, or the login screen appears.

If you’ve tried all three of these, and you’re still having trouble - you may want to call Apple Support.

 
 

Submitted on October 8, 2008 at 2:29 pm - Force Eject a CD or DVD that is stuck in your Mac was written by Michael - There have been 8 comments - Categorized in Easy Tips, General Tips, OS X Tips, iTunes Tips

8 Responses to “Force Eject a CD or DVD that is stuck in your Mac”

1. 
   NickBob
   For those who are leary of Terminal and Unix, there's a more Mac-like way to do this. Fire up Disc Utility (in the Utilities folder in Apps) select the CD/DVD drive, and choose the Eject command (⌘E). That should do the trick. October 8th, 2008 at 5:38 pm
   
   
2. 
   DLM
   It's easier to open disk utility, click on the drive that's not responding, and press eject. October 8th, 2008 at 8:29 pm
   
   
3. 
   Billy Cape
   Very useful and great trick!! October 9th, 2008 at 9:45 am
   
   
4. 
   Pablo
   iTunes, Disk utility ... and if you have it, open Toast and "Eject" October 10th, 2008 at 4:56 am
   
   
5. 
   Partners in Grime
   Add an eject button to Finder's Toolbar (View -> Customize Toolbar) and use it to eject CDs and DVDs. October 12th, 2008 at 8:48 am
   
   
6. 
   Trackback
   Mac Tip: Force Eject a CD or DVD that is stuck in your Mac | Anthony Kosednar

   [...] 3) If you’re still having no luck, you can restart your Mac and hold down the mouse button. Keep your finger pressed down until the disk ejects, or the login screen appears.”  (Taken From MacTips) [...]

   October 23rd, 2008 at 11:11 pm
   
   
7. 
   wiicopy
   If anything above worked for you... This is the last option before calling Apple. (Only laptops with drive without tray) Turn it off. You will need a piece of stiff paperboard or a bussiness card. Place the paper inside the tray under the disc, and don't let it spin when you turn the computer on. Hopefully it will eject the disc stucked. December 7th, 2008 at 12:55 am
   
   
8. 
   wiicopy
   One more thing... lol. I meant by saying "place the paper", to place it but holding it. DO NOT TURN THE COMPUTER ON without holding the paper, VERY IMPORTANT!!! December 7th, 2008 at 12:59 am
   
   

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