Typically, this problem will happen more often when installing an internal hard drive originally from another computer, but it can happen to portable hard drives. There are some useful fixes to the external hard drive not detected on Windows 10. The most direct reason is the file system problem. Obviously, Lagnaetti finds that his external hard drive is not being detected by My computer, Device Manager or even Disk Management. Windows 10 only recognizes drives using a supported file system (NTFS, FAT32, exFAT, or ReFS). Here is what you need to know and when you can get one. Reformat the drive by using MiniTool Partition Wizard. Sarah likes to make friends in life and she’s a huge music fan. You need to unhide the device and make Seagate external hard drive shows up in the Windows Device Manager. If your external hard drive can not be recognized by your computer, don’t worry, it is not telling you that your external hard drive is broken, you need to find out what’s the problem with your external hard drive or computer. Once you complete these steps, the drive should be accessible from File Explorer. Open “Computer”, select “System Properties”. 1. Quick Tip: When assigning a drive letter manually, it's good practice to use the last letter available to avoid future conflicts with automatic assignments. The external hard drive becomes unreadable and corrupted due to carelessly disconnecting or powering down the industry without following the eject drive protocol. First of all, you should go to open the Disk Management tool on your computer. The reason being, there are equal chances of USB Port damage. If the USB and power cables are working, you'll hear the hard drive spinning, and you'll notice a light indicator. According to study, the USB drive could disappear due to a lot of reason. The SATA cables can fall out of their connection easily. I would like to receive mail from Future partners. Disconnect the removable drive from your device. Finish the rest steps by looking at system prompt. If the problem still persists, I advise you to reinstall your OS. If Device Manager shows a yellow or red mark on the external drive, it's likely that this is a driver problem. My WD passport ultra external hard disk suddenly not detected by the pc and laptop. Once you've completed these steps, Windows 10 should detect and configure the drive automatically. If Windows 10 doesn't detect the drive correctly, and it appears in Disk Management with the Unreadable status, you're experiencing read and write errors, corruption, or hardware failure. Setup the required information and click Start. So the corresponding solutions are diversified. On Windows 10, you usually only need to connect an external drive to your computer and wait until it appears automatically in File Explorer to start using it. Check for flashing lights on the unit that indicate activity before moving on. Press the corresponding button to enter the BIOS utility. Unless you're mounting the drive as a folder, it'll require a letter to be accessible from File Explorer. You should choose the issue you want to fix and click. Use MiniTool Partition Wizard to Initialize to MBR Disk or Initialize to GPT Disk. Once you complete the steps, the system will proceed to create a new volume with a partition and a drive letter. Step 4: browse the scan results during the scan. Save big at Amazon right now. Also, you should open Device Manager using the above method or other ways you like. Sometimes, an external hard drive not showing in Windows Explorer could appear in Disk Management. WD external hard drive not recognized Windows 10. Although there are a lot of factors that could prevent an external drive from being detected, these solutions should help fix the most common problems. How to run Hardware and Device Troubleshooter: You can open Device Manager to check and fix the issue. By Sarah | Follow | Last Updated December 23, 2020. There are many factors to cause external hard drive disappear from the computer. If you can't get the storage online, and it was recently available, that could mean the drive is corrupted, disconnected, or it's not getting power. What are the possible causes for external hard drive not showing up on computer issue? If your hard drive cannot be detected and you've tried to connect the external hard drive to another USB port or another computer but the issue persists, then you have to check the following solutions. How to open Disk Management: How to fix the problem in the above 4 cases: Watch how to Create Partition with MiniTool Partition Wizard. Copyright © 2021 MiniTool® Software Limited, All Rights Reserved. Type the … VPN Deals: Lifetime license for $16, monthly plans at $1 & more. Sometimes, you may find your hard disk not detected in BIOS. Go to Desktop > This PC > Right Click & Choose ‘ Manage ‘. Search for Create and format hard disk partitions. Though it may seem strange, it is not a rare problem that the external hard drive is not showing up/recognized/detected. Restart your computer and Windows will install the USB controllers automatically. I am sharing an easy method which will correct almost all the errors related to your external hard drive. To check driver status follow the below steps. Solutions to Fix External Hard Drive not Detected. How to recover files from external hard drive not detected? Formatting will erase your important data. (You can always use OneDrive or File History to back up your data.). A drive letter conflict is a common problem with removable devices, and you can fix this issue with these steps: If the drive is trying to use an existing drive letter, right-click the volume and select the Change Drive Letter and Paths option. Find the drivers proper for your motherboard and install it on your computer. After that, I’ll tell you what do I do if my hard drive is not detected. Love to help other people out from computer problems, disk issues, and data loss dilemma and specialize in these things. You can fix all kind of errors like Hard Drive Not Showing, Not Recognized, etc. Try plugging it into another power outlet, or swap the cable if possible. Once you expand all the notes, you should see the hidden devices. If you're connecting multiple peripherals using a hub, connect the drive directly into one of the other ports available on your computer. At last, you can check the recovered files to put an end to the recovery work. Because sometimes old drivers can prevent the drive to connect to the PC and shows hard disk not detected error. On small and large drives, sometimes the problem can be the USB cable. If you're looking for Surface Pro 8, you'll have to wait a bit longer. You’d better make use of the Device Manager to check the status of USB driver. Alternatively, you can try connecting the drive to a different computer, but if this isn't working, there's a good chance the drive or controller is dead. Right-click the external drive with the problem, click the Uninstall device option. This can be easily resolved by swapping out the cable for another one and see if the problem persists. You can unsubscribe at any time and we'll never share your details without your permission. Although most small drives and pretty much every flash drive don't require a dedicated power connection, if you're connecting a large external hard drive, you need to make sure that it's plugged into a working power outlet. When you find that your external hard drive is not showing up in your computer, please use the methods mentioned above to help your computer recognize the hard drive. Here are the steps: Step 1. "How to repair corrupted internal hard disk? You can also refer to this post to learn how to recover data from your external hard drive in different ways. How to Fix an Unrecognized USB Disk. If the USB device not recognized problem is solved, it is the USB port that should be blamed. 2. If your PC is attacked by virus, unfortunately, any external hard drive connected to this PC will be affected. Thus, plug in your hard drive into another Port to identify the exact cause and confirm whethe… When the prompt appears, type "list disk" and press Enter to see the disks plugged into your system. Then you can try to update the USB flash drive driver to see if it helps. A bad physical connection is among the most common problems that could block Windows 10 from detecting the external drive. Sometimes the external hard drive is not visible in Windows Explorer, but if you check it in Disk Management, it appears there. And there are some aid solutions to fix it. Please read Recover Data From Disk Shows As Unknown Without Damaging It to learn how to fix this. The most straightforward thing you can do is to ensure that your cables and ports are working properly. This is what people described as external hard disk detected but not showing in My Computer. 1. If you plug in an external hard drive and it is not being detected, one of the reasons could be a faulty cable or a busted port. Then, finish the following steps: Fix USB Flash Drive Not Recognized & Recover Data – How To Do. The last attempt is to reformat the drive. You can troubleshoot and fix this problem in at least two ways. If you find the external hard disk showing up in Disk Management as unallocated/not initialized/offline, it would be easy to fix the external hard drive not recognized problem. To recover data from virus infected external hard drive, you can try using MiniTool Power Data Recovery because of its excellent performance, high security, and simple operations. Select the MBR (Master Boot Record) option. Use the drop-down menu from the right and select any of the available letters. • Definite Guide to hard drives not showing up/mounting issues. The process will finish in minutes. 1. For USB device not recognized in Windows, there is a useful tool to help: Hardware and Device Troubleshooter. Sometimes, when you connect an external hard drive to your computer, you may find it fails to show up. If the above simple solution does not repair HDD not detected, you can try the USB Root Hub turn on. Pls let me know is thr anyway to recover data when the pc not detecting the device. Also, it'll show up in Disk Management as "Unknown" and "Not Initialized." Fix: External Hard Drive Not Showing Up Or Recognized, - posted by Lagnaetti on Windows 10 Forums, Drivers and Hardware, How Do I Get Windows 10 to Recognize My External Hard Drive, How to Fix: External Hard Disk Detected But Not Opening, Recover Data From Disk Shows As Unknown Without Damaging It, Exciting News: Seagate Hard Drive Data Recovery Is Simplified, Recover Files From Dead External Hard Drive With Actionable Way, MiniTool Power Data Recovery bootable edition, Data Recovery From Corrupted Internal Hard Disk – Ultimate Guide, To Recover Files Deleted By Virus Attack – It’s All Too Easy, The volume does not contain a recognized file system. Your Command prompt window will open, type the following command inside the display, and hit Enter. All right, now you have found your removable device in Disk Management but still cannot see it in File Explorer? You should try to connect the hard drive via another USB port or on another computer. Click on the top result to open Disk Management. Once the connection between hard drive and PC is incorrect or the data cable is damaged, you can’t find it in BIOS. The virus may cause the external hard drive not showing issue. Step 6: press the OK button to confirm the selection and start external hard drive file recovery. In this case, I advise you not to use USB hubs because some of them are not able to provide enough power supply to the external hard drive. 2. Sarah is working as editor at MiniTool since she was graduated from university, having rich writing experiences. The external hard drive not detected error what do I do if My hard drive drive, it 'll up. Huge music fan a new volume with a Partition and a drive.. To help: Hardware and Device Troubleshooter need to know and when you connect an hard. And she ’ s a huge music fan WD passport ultra external hard detected... The notes, you should see the hidden devices hub turn on by virus, unfortunately, external! 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