How to Resolve External Hard Drive Not Appearing on Windows 10

"I connected a 1TB Toshiba external hard drive to my PC, but it doesn't appear on the computer. Initially, Windows displayed a 'USB not recognized' notification when I first plugged it in, and subsequently, it still doesn't show up. The device is only listed under 'External USB 3.0' in the 'Devices and Printers' section of the Control Panel, but it doesn't appear elsewhere."

Possible Reasons for an External Hard Drive Not Showing Up

Whether you attach a brand new hard drive or an old one to your computer, you might encounter the issue where the external hard drive doesn't show up. As described, the external hard drive appears in devices but not in "This PC." This is not an uncommon problem and affects many users. To understand why an external hard drive isn't showing, it's essential to explore the possible reasons.

1. Insufficient power supply/broken USB port
2. Partition issues
3. Lack of drive letter assignment
4. File system errors
5. Outdated device drivers

How to Resolve External Hard Drive Not Appearing (6 Solutions)

When you unexpectedly encounter an external hard drive that your computer fails to recognize, how can you resolve this issue? In the following content, I will guide you on the steps to take if your external hard drive is undetected or not recognized.

1. 1. Open Disk Management for Inspection
2. 2. Troubleshoot Faulty USB Ports
3. 3. Initialize a New External Drive
4. 4. Assign a Drive Letter
5. 5. Modify the File System
6. 6. Update the Driver Software

Method 1: Open Disk Management to Check the Device

The first step is to open Disk Management to check the external hard drive.

Step 1. Right-click the Start (Windows logo) button.

Step 2. Choose "Disk Management".

Open Disk Management to check your external hard drive.

Step 3. Scroll through the drive list to find your external disk.

If you notice the external hard disk appearing in Disk Management as unallocated, not initialized, or offline, resolving the issue of the external HDD not showing might be straightforward (refer to Method 3). This scenario is often described as an external hard drive detected but not showing in File Explorer.

Method 2: Troubleshoot Failing USB Ports

If the external HDD isn't appearing when connected via a USB 2.0 port, try using a USB 3.0 port to detect the drive. Additionally, attempt to connect the external hard drive directly to your PC and check if your computer can recognize the external hard drive.

Method 3: Initialize a New External Drive

If your external hard drive is a brand-new disk, you'll need to initialize it first. Following that, create a new partition on it. This process will ensure that your new external hard drive becomes visible and functional in Windows 10/8/7.

Step 1. Right-click "This PC" (on Windows 10) and select "Manage."

Step 2. Go to "Disk Management", right-click your new hard drive, and select "Initialize Disk".

Step 3. Choose the disk and select its partition style as either MBR or GPT, then click "OK" to begin.

Step 4. Right-click on the unallocated space on your new drive and select "New Simple Volume...".

Click "New Simple Volume" and then click "Next" to proceed.

Step 5. Set the volume size, drive letter, and file system as NTFS for the new hard drive.

Step 6. Click "Finish" when the process is complete.

Next, you'll see the external hard drive appear on "This PC."

Method 4: Assign a Drive Letter

If your external drive is not showing up in "This PC," it might be because it doesn't have an assigned drive letter. You can rectify this issue by changing the drive letter.

Step 1. Go to "Disk Management," right-click on the disk partition that has no drive letter.

Step 2. Select "Change Drive Letter and Paths" from the context menu.

Step 3. Click the "Add" button in the popup window.

Step 4. Assign a drive letter to the partition and click "OK" to confirm.

Click "OK" to start the process.

Most people could find their external hard drive in Disk Management after assigning a drive letter.

Method 5: Change the File System to Make It Recognizable

Your external hard drive might also vanish from "This PC" if its file system is incompatible with Windows 10/8/7. Fat32, exFAT, and NTFS each have their own compatibility and limitations. If you're using an APFS drive on a Windows 10 machine, the drive won't be visible. Hence, changing the file system can resolve the issue of the external hard drive not showing up.

Step 1. Maintain the external hard drive connected to the PC.

Step 2. Open Disk Management and right-click on the external hard drive with the RAW or unknown file system.

Step 3. Choose "Format" and set the file system to "NTFS" or "exFAT" for the external hard drive.

Step 4. Choose "OK" to complete the formatting process.

Method 6: Update the Driver

If the external hard drive functions properly with one computer but is not detected by another, attempt to update the external hard drive driver.

Step 1. Right-click "This PC" and select "Manage."

Step 2. Click on "Device Manager," then expand the category "Universal Serial Bus Controllers."

Step 3. Right-click on the device and select "Update driver".

Step 4. Select "Search automatically for updated driver software" and restart your computer.

Upon completion of the process, open Disk Management to verify if the external hard drive is detected. If these methods prove unsuccessful, reach out to the external hard drive seller for refund and exchange options.

Bonus Tip - How to Retrieve Data from an External Hard Drive

If you have performed the format operation as per Method 5, you might lose your data. However, there's no need to panic. You can recover data from an external hard drive after formatting. All you need is a tool called Data Recovery Wizard. This powerful Data Recovery Wizard tool can help you restore lost photos, files, documents, and videos that were deleted, formatted, lost due to partition issues, OS crashes, virus attacks, or any other data loss scenario. Just follow the steps below to retrieve data from your external hard drive.

Step 1. Select and scan the external hard drive

1. Download and install the Data Recovery tool on your PC or laptop. 2. Connect the external hard drive to your computer. 3. Launch the Data Recovery Wizard and select the external drive from the External Drives list. Then, click on "Scan for Lost Data."

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Step 2. Review the scan results

• Data recovery software will promptly scan the selected drive for all data, including erased, damaged, and currently existing data.
• Utilize the Filter feature to swiftly locate specific file types, such as Pictures, Word documents, Excel sheets, PDFs, videos, emails, etc.

Step 3. Preview and recover data

1. Double-click on a file from the scanned results to preview it. 2. Select the files you wish to recover and click "Recover." 3. Choose a different drive to save the recovered files rather than the original location.

Conclusion

Removable hard drives are quite user-friendly and beneficial to our daily lives. However, occasionally, you may encounter an issue where your PC fails to recognize the hard drive when you connect it. Don't worry, as you now have six proven methods to resolve this error. Incidentally, if you experience data loss during the repair process, you can utilize data recovery software for assistance.