External Hard Drive Not Showing Up Windows 10 (2024 Tips)

An external hard drive not showing up in Windows 10 could occasionally appear. On Windows computers or Macs, the issue of an external hard drive not showing up is frequent and can result in data loss. In this article, we go over in depth how to fix this issue in various scenarios and how to recover data from the hard drive.

The first thing in troubleshooting your external hard drive is to check the connectors. Make sure your PC and external hard drive are correctly connected.

Try connecting your external hard drive to another device to check if it functions there if it's still not working. If it functions properly on another device, your computer or laptop is probably the source of the issue, so you should attempt debugging your system.

How to Recover Data from External Hard Drive Not Working

An "external hard drive not showing up" problem can be a nightmare for anyone with important files stored on their hard drive because they can't ensure whether the data or files still exist on the storage device. Fortunately, there are ways to recover data from a hard disk that is not detecting. Thus, we will discuss the best method for recovering data from your external hard drive.

We highly advise you to try the EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard, which will perform a complete scan of the external hard drive and find all files and data there. It is an expert at quickly retrieving deleted, hidden and lost files from USBs, external hard drives, Windows PC hard drives, and other storage media.

The software can directly scan and recover everything lost on the external hard drive:

Step 1. Choose and scan the external hard drive

• Download and install EaseUS Data Recovery on your PC or laptop. 
• Connect the external hard drive to your computer.
• Run EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard and choose the external drive from External drives list. Then, click scan for lost data. 

Step 2. Check the scan results

• EaseUS data recovery software will immediately scan the selected drive for all data, including deleted, corrupted, and existing data.
• You can use the Filter feature to quickly locate the files of one kind, such as Pictures, Word, Excel, PDF, videos, emails, etc.

Step 3. Preview and recover data

• Double-clicking a file from the scanned results to preview.
• Choose the files you want and click "Recover".
• Select a different drive to save the recovered files instead of the original one. 

Video Tutorial of Hard Drive Data Recovery:

If you or your friends who need to fix the problem are Mac users, you can share this post with them and download the Mac version - EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac.

How to Fix External Hard Drive Not Showing Up Windows 10

Find out what might have caused the external hard drive not to show up before you start learning how to fix an external hard drive that is not identified. Numerous causes could be to blame for this problem. Some of these can include:

• 📀The Windows driver issue with your device
• 📇Problematic connection
• 🗂️Unsupported files system
• 👁️‍🗨️The hard drive is unallocated or not initialized

To fix the external hard drive not showing up in Windows 10, you can watch the video tutorial:

1. 00:31 - Check for Physical Problems
2. 00:52 - Inspect the Cable
3. 01:59 - Update USB Drivers
4. 03:43 - Format External Drive in Disk Management
5. 04:22 - Use Diskpart to clean the drive
6. 05:50 - Outro: Final Verdict

We have 6 methods for you to troubleshoot the external hard drive not showing up Windows 10 problem. You can review them from the table below.

6 Methods	About the Method
🔌Check the Connection of the Hdd and PC	The first thing to do when your external hard drive is not showing up is to check the cables and connections. Ensure that the cables are securely connected to your computer and the external hard drive.
🚩Update or Reinstall the External Drivers	Outdated drivers can cause the external hard drive not to show up on Windows 10. You can update the drivers to try showing the devices on your PC.
❌Disable USB Selective Suspend	This works well for the most part, but Windows occasionally gets it incorrect and turns off the port even when it is needed. To solve this issue, you can completely deactivate this setting.
🧹Format the External Hard Drive	If the external hard drive is not showing up on Windows 10, formatting the drive might be the solution. However, this process will erase all the data on the drive.
🩺Check Hardware via Recovery Service	If none of the above solutions work, there might be a hardware issue with the external hard drive. Try connecting the drive to another computer to see if it's recognized.
🔢Change or Assign a Drive Letter	If your external hard drive is not showing up on Windows 10, it might be because it doesn't have a drive letter assigned. You can assign a drive letter.

Fix 1. Check the Connection of the Hdd and PC

To determine if it can be detected, you can see if the external hard drive is correctly attached, try plugging the USB cable into another USB port or plug it into another PC. Try the other remedies listed below if it is still not appearing in your system.

Fix 2. Update or Reinstall the External Drivers

If the problematic external hard drive can appear after checking the connection to the PC, you can update the drive by the following steps to avoid the error happening again.

Step 1. Press Windows key + X and select "Device Manager".

Step 2. Expand the "Disk drives" option.

Step 3. Right-click on the external hard drive and select "Update driver".

Step 4. Follow the prompts to update the drivers.

If your hard drive is still unrecognized, you can't update drivers as you typically would by right-clicking the device and selecting "Update driver." Instead, go to the hardware manufacturer's official support website and download the most recent driver for the item you bought.

Fix 3. Disable USB Selective Suspend

Windows has a feature called USB Selective Suspend that enables it to turn off specific USB ports when they are not in use to conserve power.

Step 1. Search for Control Panel by pressing Windows Key + S. Go to the first result.

Step 2. Select "Power Options" under "Hardware and Sound".

Step 3. On the electricity plan that is active right now, click "Change plan settings".

Step 4. Change advanced power settings.

Step 5. After expanding the USB settings, select "USB selective suspend" from the drop-down menu.

Step 6. Set the setting to Disabled if you're using a desktop. You can choose to disable this setting for either one or both of the On battery and Plugged-in settings if you're using a laptop.

Step 7. Click "Apply" to finish, and then shut the windows.

Fix 4. Format the External Hard Drive

If the external hard drive is not showing up on Windows 10, formatting the drive might be the solution. However, this process will erase all the data on the drive. Ensure that you have backed up your files before formatting the drive. You can format the drive by following these steps:

Step 1. Press Windows key + X and select Disk Management.

Step 2. Locate your external hard drive on the list.

Step 3. Right-click on the drive and select Format.

Step 4. Follow the prompts to format the drive.

Fix 5. Check Hardware via Recovery Service

If none of the aforementioned fixes work, the external hard drive may have a hardware problem. Try attaching the drive to a different computer to see if it is recognized. If the drive is still not recognized, there may be a problem with the drive itself. You might need to take your data to a specialized data recovery service to get it back.

Fix 6. Change or Assign a Drive Letter

If your external hard drive is not showing up on Windows 10, it might be because it doesn't have a drive letter assigned. You can assign a drive letter by following these steps:

Step 1. Press the Windows key + X and select "Disk Management".

Step 2. Locate your external hard drive on the list.

Step 3. Right-click on the drive and select "Change Drive Letter and Paths".

Step 4. Click on "Add" and assign a letter to the drive.

Summary

External hard drives not showing up or being detected is common in daily computer use. If you find this problem occurred to you, please try the methods mentioned above to handle it. This post was instructive and useful for opening a hard drive in Windows 10. To learn more about how to fix Windows issues, visit our website again.

What's more, losing data from your external hard drive can be a frustrating experience. However, you can still recover valuable data with the right software EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard. By following these tips, you can retrieve your lost data and prevent future data loss from happening.

External Hard Drive Not Showing Up Windows 10 FAQs

Here are 3 additional questions about fixing external hard drives not showing up in Windows 10. Check here for the answers.

1. How do I get Windows 10 to recognize my external hard drive?

• Click 'Device Manager' by selecting the Windows symbol from the toolbar's context menu.
• Locate your hard disk by expanding 'Disk drives'.
• Right-click your hard drive and choose 'Update driver'.
• Adheres to the on-screen directions after selecting 'Automatically check for driver software updates'.

2. How to repair an external hard drive that is not detected?

Chkdsk can assist in resolving problems with your drives.

• Search for Command Prompt in Start, then select Run as Administrator.
• Enter the command chkdsk /f X: where X: is the drive letter that isn't being recognized.
• Hold off until the procedure is complete.

3. How do I enable my external hard drive on my PC?

If it isn't connected, connect one end of the USB cable to a USB port on the computer and the other to the hard drive. The opposite end of the USB cable should be inserted into a computer's USB port. Your computer's operating system should automatically detect the external hard disk after being connected to it.