How to Easily Recover Data from an Undetected Hard Drive

Why Can't Windows 10/11 Detect My Hard Drive?

A computer's built-in hard drive is an essential component that houses the operating system and stores data. External hard drives are also crucial tools for backing up and transferring data. However, problems can arise when a computer fails to recognize or detect a hard drive. This is often accompanied by error messages such as:

What do you do when the drive fails due to misuse or just too many read/write cycles? Generally, there are a few reasons why Windows might not recognize your hard disk:

• Hardware issues with the computer's USB port
• Outdated or damaged internal or external hard drive
• Corrupted or damaged file system on the hard drive
• External, irreversible physical damage to the hard drive

Plug the external hard drive into another computer to check if the issue is with the USB port. If the drive works on another computer, then you'll need to fix your USB port. Once the drive connects successfully to your computer, you can recover data from the unrecognized disk and proceed with the methods in this article to resolve the problem.

How to Recover Data from an Undetected Hard Drive

Sometimes, an external hard drive might be invisible in File Explorer but listed in Disk Management because it's a RAW drive without any partitions. So, first press the “Windows key + R,” type diskmgmt.msc in the “Run” dialog box, and hit “Enter” to check whether the drive is shown in Disk Management.

If you can see the hard drive here, you can first use some hard drive recovery software to perform a Data Recovery Wizard to recover data from the undetected drive. This file recovery tool can recover data from RAW drives, inaccessible disks, and unrecognized hard drives.

The following steps will show you how to use data recovery software to retrieve files from an undetected external hard drive.

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Solving the External Hard Drive Not Detected Issue in Windows 10/11

With your data recovered, you can then address the problem of the hard drive not being detected without fear of damaging your data in the process.

Fix 1: Assign a new drive letter to the hard disk

Adding or reassigning a drive letter to the disk might resolve the issue of it not showing up on your computer. You can assign a drive letter by following these steps:

Step 1: Right-click on your internal or external drive and select “Change Drive Letter and Paths.”

Step 2: If the hard drive has no drive letter assigned to it, select "Add." If the hard drive already has a drive letter and you want to change it, select "Change."

Step 3: Here, choose a letter and click “OK.”

Solution 2: Format the RAW Drive

If the hard drive is showing up as a RAW drive with unallocated space, you can format the RAW hard drive to the correct file system so that it can be detected.

Step 1: Connect the external hard drive to your computer > Right-click “This PC” > “Manage” > “Disk Management.”

Step 2: Right-click the external drive and choose Format.

Step 3: Assign a new drive letter to the external hard drive and format it with the NTFS system files, then save all changes.

After that, restart your computer and reconnect the external hard drive. You should be able to use it again.

Fix 3: Update your hard drive driver

If the external hard drive still isn't recognized, you might be able to fix it by updating the driver for the disk drive on your computer's storage controller. To update the driver for your computer's storage controller, do the following:

Step 1: Click the Start button, type Device Manager, and press Enter.

Step 2: Select Device Manager, expand the categories to find your hard drive, and right-click it.

Step 3: Select “Update driver” > Choose “Search automatically for updated driver software.”

If Windows can't find a new driver for the drive, try looking for the latest driver on the device manufacturer's website.

Fix 4: Address undetected hard drive issues in Disk Management

A broken hard drive will eventually get you, too, but it can be fixed.

If the disk is recognized as an “Online Disk,” then its partitions or disk space should be displayed correctly, and you can use data recovery software to retrieve your data from it.

If your failed hard drive or external drive doesn't appear as “Online,” try other methods to fix a failed hard drive.

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Recover Data from and Fix a Damaged Hard Drive

Use data recovery software to retrieve data from a damaged or unbootable hard drive. Afterwards, you can repair the damaged drive by addressing system errors, running disk checks, and more. Read More >>

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How to recover data from an undetected hard drive? FAQ

Here are some more questions about how to recover files from an external hard drive that isn't recognized. If you have the same issue, check out the answers.

How can I recover data from a hard drive that isn't being detected?

How to recover data from an undetected hard drive? Or how to recover data from an undetected external hard drive? Here's a solution using a file recovery tool.

1. Launch the Data Recovery tool on your computer and select the internal or external hard drive from which you want to recover data.

2. The hard drive recovery will begin scanning the disk for your lost data and files.

3. After the scan is finished, you can preview and recover any files that you need.

Why isn't my hard drive being detected?

Here are six common reasons why your hard drive might not be detected:

• The hard drive is not enabled in the BIOS
• The Serial ATA driver is not installed correctly
• Faulty or improperly connected data cable – if the cable is damaged or not connected properly, the BIOS will not detect the hard drive
• The hard drive is not functioning
• The jumper settings on the hard drive are incorrect
• The hard drive is faulty, aged, or not connected properly

How can I recover files from an unmountable hard drive?

Data-recovery tools often can ferret out files from bad hard disks that the operating system cannot recognize or mount.

1. Download and install the Data Recovery Wizard tool on your computer.

2. Connect the unmounted hard drive to your computer using a USB hard drive adapter or a USB cable.

3. Run a data recovery tool software and scan the failed drive thoroughly to recover any data from the drive.

4. Save the recovered data to a removable media or another storage device.