I figured it out! I was forgetting to put it into bootloader mode beforehand
I’m using the Arduino ide to try to upload my samd51. So far I’ve verified that the cable and USB port that I’m using work fine. As far as I can tell the board works, the board’s onboard led turns on and I can see the board in my computer’s terminal and the board shows up on my desktop. I’m using a 2017 Mac book pro to try and upload with. In Arduino when I go to select the com port the board is on, the board is detected but when I actually go to upload I get the error “ board cannot be found on port 14501” I can’t figure out the problem. I’ve installed the Arduino sam board profile and the Sparkfun and board profile. Any help would be appreciated, thanks!