A clicking or tapping sound coming from a hard drive is usually an indication of a mechanical failure within the drive. This clicking noise is often caused by the read/write heads repeatedly trying to access a specific area of the disk platters but failing to do so.

It could be due to a head crash, where the read/write heads have made physical contact with the platters, or a failure in the motor that spins the platters.

In either case, the clicking sound is a clear sign that the hard drive is failing or has already failed, and hard drive file restoration should be attempted as soon as possible.