If You Have Connected Your External Hard Drive To Your Computer Or Laptop but cannot See The Content Inside It, this Article Explains Some Of The Causes Of The Problem and how To Troubleshoot And Fix It.
The problem of not recognizing an external drive (usually a hard disk) in Windows is one of the most frequent problems users may encounter, and it can even lead to the loss of data stored in the drive.
It doesn’t matter if you have connected a brand new drive to the system, industry, or hard drive that you have previously related to the strategy. The problem of not displaying the external hard drive can happen.
The drive may be detected on the computer, but the partitions are not shown, or it may not be detected at all and not show any reaction, which in any case can be just a minor software problem that can be fixed, or it can be a sign of hardware problems.
The possible reasons for not displaying the computer’s external drive are insufficient power supply, faulty USB port, lack of drive name, old drivers, file system, and partition problems.
In this article, we will examine some of the most common reasons for the external drive not displaying on the computer and the available solutions to solve this problem. So, if you are having trouble accessing your files, don’t miss this article.
What do you do when the external hard drive is not shown?
If an external hard drive doesn’t show up in File Explorer, you should first make sure the drive is correctly connected to the computer and that the movement is turning on commonly.
Some hard drives use a separate cable (usually USB) to supply the necessary power or even a separate adapter in addition to the standard USB cable for data transfer. Therefore, check whether you have connected this cable correctly to the power source.
After this, you should check whether the operating system recognizes the hard drive. To do this, you need to use a tool in Windows called Disk Management.
Suppose you see the external hard drive as Unallocated, Not Initialized, or offline in Disk Management. In that case, it will be easy to fix the problem of not recognizing it.
In these cases where the external hard drive is detected but doesn’t show up in My Computer, you can fix the problem by formatting, creating a partition, initializing to MBR/GPT, or bringing the drive online.
If the external hard drive still doesn’t show up in Windows Disk Management (the computer doesn’t recognize, see, or read it), you should detect it by restarting it, enabling Legacy USB Support, and using a different USB port.
Your USB port may be out of order, and the computer cannot recognize the external hard drive. If you’re using USB 3.0, try a USB 2.0 port. Also, connect the drive directly to the computer using a USB hub.
Sometimes, the external hard drive is not displayed due to physical damage. With all these words, now that you have an overview of the issue, follow the methods described in the article to fix the problem of not recognizing the external hard drive in Windows.
Changing the USB port or connecting the hard drive to another computer
The USB port may be damaged if the computer does not recognize the external hard drive. If the external hard drive doesn’t show up when connected via a USB 3.0 port, you can also try a USB 2.0 port to detect the movement.
Additionally, you should try connecting the external hard drive directly to your PC and see if your PC can recognize it. Windows 10 can also not show the USB drive when the USB port’s power supply is insufficient. In this case, we advise you not to use a USB hub because some cannot provide enough power for the external hard drive.
Also, don’t forget to connect your hard drive to another computer or laptop in such cases so that you can determine from the beginning of the troubleshooting process whether the problem is with the laptop, ports, or operating system or whether the pain comes back to the external drive itself.
Check the drive in Disk Management.
Sometimes, an external hard drive that doesn’t show up in My Computer may show up in Disk Management. To check this issue, press the Windows + X keys and click on the Disk Management option from the menu that opens.
The following may prevent the drive from being displayed:
- Unallocated external hard drive
- Failure to initialize the external hard drive (Not Initialized)
- Offline external hard drive
- Lack of letter (Drive Letter) to assign to the hard drive
Next, you can see the steps to fix the above problems.
Create a new partition for the drive.
If the external drive is not partitioned, right-click on Unallocated space and select New Simple Volume.
- Click the Next button.
- Specify the partition size and click Next.
- Select Assign the following drive letter and select a letter to assign to the drive from the drop-down menu. Click Next.
- Select Format this volume using the following settings option. Use the default settings.
- In the Volume label section, enter a descriptive name for the drive.
- Check the Perform a quick format option. Click Next and then Finish.
After completing the steps, the system will create a usable drive space with a partition and a drive letter.
Initialize the drive
Sometimes, when you connect an external drive to Windows that has never been initialized or formatted or is being used on another computer, Windows may not recognize the drive correctly. This drive is shown as Unknown and Not Initialized in Disk Management. Therefore, you can quickly initialize the drive using the following steps:
- In Disk Management, right-click on the Unknown or Not Initialized space and select Initialize disk.
- If the drive hasn’t already been elected, select it.
- Select the MBR (Master Boot Record) option.
- Click the OK button.
Initialize the drive using the Online disk operation
If your dream is not shown in File Explorer and appears Offline in Disk Management, you can use the following steps to fix the problem:
- If the hard drive appears as Offline in Disk Management, right-click on it and select the Online option.
After completing the steps, you should be able to start using the memory as usual. If you can’t bring the storage online (even though it was recently available), the drive may be broken, disconnected, or not get power.
Change the drive letter.
Another way to indicate an unknown or unrecognized external hard drive is to change the drive letter.
- Right-click on the disk partition that does not have a drive letter.
- From the context menu, select Change Drive Letter and Paths.
- Click the Add button in the pop-up window.
- Assign a drive letter to the partition and click OK to confirm.
Wait a moment. The drive appears and works again.
Run the Windows troubleshooter
- In the Windows settings panel, select Update and Security.
- Go to the Troubleshoot tab.
- Scroll down and select Hardware and Devices from the right side.
- Click the Run the Troubleshooter button.
- Wait for the problems to be detected. After the scan is complete, Windows will list the issues found. You should select the problem you want to fix and click Next.
Update,e remove and restore the driver.
If the external hard drive is not displayed on the computer, you can remove the drive in Device Manager (Uninstall or Delete). Then open My Computer or This PC to check if the external hard drive is displayed. If it doesn’t show up, you should restart your computer and check againForor this job:
- Press the Start + X keys and select Device Manager from the menu.
- Expand the Disk drives option.
- Right-click on the hard drive.
- Choose one of the Update drivers, Uninstall device, and Properties options.
- The updated driver helps solve the problem of not recognizing the USB drive due to damaged or outdated device drivers.
- The option to remove the device ( Uninstall device ) removes the external hard drive driver when connected to a defective USB. It is useful when your USB driver is unstable or corrupted. After selecting it, you must remove the USB device from the computer and reconnect it after at least one minute.
- The Properties option will help you better diagnose the error. After clicking on Properties, you can go to the Driver tab and select the Roll Back Driver option.
Finish the rest of the steps by seeing the system prompt.
Reinstall the USB controllers
- In Device Manager, find and expand Universal Serial Bus controllers.
- Right-click on one of the items and select Uninstall device from the context menu.
- Click the Uninstall button in the pop-up window.
- Repeat steps 2 and 3 until all devices under Universal Serial Bus controllers are uninstalled.
- Restart your computer. Windows automatically installs USB controllers.
Enable legacy USB support in BIOS.
Sometimes, your hard drive may not be recognized in the BIOS. This may be due to Legacy USB Support being disabled.
- Restart your computer. Press the corresponding button to enter the BIOS.
- Go to the Advanced tab.
- Select USB Configuration.
- Select Legacy USB Support and set it to Enabled.
- Exit and save changes.
Note: This process will be slightly different in different motherboards.
Disable the USB selective suspend setting.
- In Windows search, type power plan. Choose Choose a power plan option from the search result.
- Next to the currently used plan, click Change plan settings.
- Click on Change advanced power settings.
- Find USB settings and click the + button to expand it.
- Click the + button to expand the USB selective suspend setting.
- Change the setting to Disabled.
- Click the Apply button to confirm and the OK button to close.
Update motherboard chipset drivers
Sometimes, improper installation of computer drivers, especially motherboard chipset drivers, may cause this problem. We recommend you get help from the introductory training article on installing drivers.
To install special drivers for your device, you must first go to the website of the computer or motherboard manufacturer, search for its model from the support or downloads section, and install all the mandatory and essential drivers.
Identifying and removing computer viruses
If a virus attacks your computer, it may be affected by connecting an external hard drive to the computer and becoming inaccessible. To fix the problem, you can use Windows Defender or third-party antivirus software and run a system scan to detect the virus.
The drive will usually return to normal after the malicious agent is identified and removed. But if this does not happen, it is better to back up your drive using special software and then format it.
Unreadable drive
Suppose Windows does not recognize the external drive correctly and appears in Disk Management as Unreadable. In that case, it means that Windows has trouble reading and writing to the industry or the movement has a hardware problem.
Suppose you have already tried the above methods to solve connection, initialization, and format problems and have not received any answers. In that case, the problem may be due to hardware failure, so you should buy a new external hard drive.
Fixing the problem of not opening the external drive
If Windows recognizes the external hard drive, it can’t open it because the file system is unknown to Windows or corrupted. When Windows doesn’t support your hard drive’s file system, you won’t be able to access the industry. For example, Windows does not support the ext4 file system (designed for Linux) and the HFS+ file system (designed for Mac).
Therefore, you will be prompted to format the disk before using it after clicking on the drive. You should know that if you select Format, all your saved data will be lost. If you choose Cancel, you will encounter the message The volume does not contain a recognized file system.
In addition to the mentioned cases, the following reasons may have caused the problem:
- The file system is damaged.
- The drive is in RAW mode.
- The parameter is wrong.
- The file or directory is corrupted and cannot be read.
To fix this problem, try the following method:
- Type cmd in the search box. From the search result, right-click Command Prompt, select Run as administrator, and click Yes.
- * Type chkdsk /r (* for drive letter) and press Enter.
Wait for the process to complete.
Clean the disk with the Clean command.
Sometimes, the drive appears in Disk Management, but formatting the industry is impossible. In these cases, to restore the total capacity of your campaign, you must run the Windows clean command, which converts the movement to its raw state. It will erase everything on the drive, so only run this command if you’ve tried all possible solutions.
- In the start menu, type diskpart and press enter.
- When the prompt appears, type list disk and press Enter to see the disks attached to your system. Please pay attention to the name and capacity of the desired drive to ensure it is selected correctly. We used Disk 2 in this example.
- Type select disk two and press Enter to select the disk you want to erase.
- Type the clean command and press enter to wipe the disk. Next, follow the steps above to format the hard drive from the Disk Management console.
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We hope this educational article has helped you solve the problem of not recognizing the external hard drive in Windows. If you have encountered issues while performing the recommendations and methods mentioned, share your questions with users and us. Which way solved the problem of not recognizing your external hard drive? If you know of other practical strategies, share them in the comments section.
Common Questions
Is that why the external hard drive is not working in Windows?
The connection between the hard drive and the computer may not be fully established in this situation. Also, some hard drives require a cable in addition to the standard USB cable; if your hard drive is like this, make sure the second line is also connected.
Other ways to fix the problem of the hard drive not being recognized are formatting, creating a partition, initializing to MBR/GPT, or bringing the drive online.
How do we solve the Unreadable drive problem?
Suppose Windows does not recognize the external drive correctly, and it appears in Disk Management with the status Unreadable. In that case, it means that Windows is having trouble reading and writing to the industry drive or that the drive has an industryware problem.