Troubleshooting: M.2 SSD Not Showing Up in Windows 11

Please provide the English content you want to translate, and I will do my best to help you translate it into Chinese.

Introduction

Many desktop and laptop users have experienced the frustration of an M.2 SSD not being detected. This is more common with NVMe SSDs, but it can also happen with M.2 SATA drives. An M.2 drive can be invisible to BIOS at times and visible to BIOS but invisible to Windows at other times.

Usually, compatibility and configuration issues are to blame. Faulty drivers, the operating system, or, in rare cases, the SSD itself can cause this problem. If you're experiencing this issue, we've listed possible causes and solutions. So, without further ado, let's tackle the problem of the M.2 SSD not showing up in Disk Management in Windows 11.

Quick Guide to Troubleshoot M.2 SSD Issues on Windows 11 (UTF-8)

When faced with this issue, you'll want to fix it promptly. Although there are multiple repair methods, we first need to focus on the reasons behind the M.2 drive not showing up in Windows 11. Additionally, you can help more users understand why they might encounter this error by clicking the share buttons below.

• SSD Infected with a Virus or Malware - If this is your issue, try using antivirus software.
• Incorrect SATA Storage Controller Mode/Protocol - You might need to update or uninstall the motherboard storage controller and IDE ATA controller drivers to resolve your problem.
• SSD Driver Issues - One possible reason why an SSD hard drive isn't showing in Windows 11 could be a driver issue. Windows 11 provides a 'Hardware and Devices troubleshooter' and Device Manager to help diagnose hardware and device issues.
• Hidden Partitions on the SSD - If you can't see the SSD disk partitions, they might be hidden. You'll need to make these partitions visible again.
• Missing or Conflicting Drive Letter for SSD Partition - The Disk Management or Device Manager might show the SSD, but not File Explorer. The drive letter might be missing. In Windows 11, you should be able to assign a drive letter.
• Unrecognized File System of the SSD Drive - For optimal performance with Windows 11 on your computer, the best choices are NTFS or FAT32. To avoid this, you'll need to format the drive to NTFS or FAT32.
• Lost Partitions, Unallocated Space on SSD - Your disk might be labeled as "uninitialized" or "online." If you've lost partitions in Windows 11, you'll first need to recover them.
• New SSD Uninitialized - A new SSD drive that's not partitioned won't show in Windows 11. In this case, you can initialize it. The quickest way is through the built-in Windows Disk Management. Type the following command in Command Prompt and hit Enter to start initialization: "diskpart > list disk > select disk n (where n corresponds to the new SSD's drive number) > attributes disk readonly clear > online disk > convert mbr" (or convert gpt).

Perhaps, it's time to give your computer a thorough hard disk health check.

Solving the Issue of M.2 SSD Not Showing Up in Windows 11 [Solution]

Now that we understand the reasons, we can move on to possible solutions to help you diagnose the M.2 not showing up issue in Windows 11. Let's begin with the first solution…

Solution 1: Use a professional tool - Partition Master to solve the problem of the unrecognizable M.2 SSD!

As a third-party disk management tool, alternatives like tools Partition Master are considered one of the best Windows disk management software in 2020. It addresses the shortcomings of disk management and offers users another solution to the most common hard drive issues. When you encounter problems editing, adding, or assigning drive letters to local disks or external hard drives in Disk Management, you need a tool that solves the issue and lets you proceed with the operation.

Free partition management utilities work similarly to Windows Disk Management when handling hard drives or removable/external ones, including the ability to modify drive letters and paths. It only helps change and add new drive letters to SSD, initialize a new SSD, and create partitions on the SSD that shows up on your computer's hard drive.

Step 1. Right-click the problematic partition.

2. Choose Tools > Check File System.

Step 3: Confirm whether to hide the partition.

Step 4. In the Check Filesystem window, select the option to Try to repair errors if found.

Click “Start” to begin checking for errors on your partition.

This is the HTML code to embed a YouTube video. It will display an iframe on a webpage with a width of 700 pixels and a height of 410 pixels, containing the YouTube video player with the video ID "D8Qx4rRdcZg". The allowed features include accelerometer, autoplay, clipboard-write, encrypted media, gyroscope, and picture-in-picture. The iframe also has the attribute "allowfullscreen" enabled.

Main features

• Fix low disk space errors by extending all partitions.
• Quickly reformat Windows 10 with just one click.
• Easily migrate Windows 11 to a new SSD.
• Convert MBR to GPT format for Windows 11.

Solution 2: Run the Windows and Hardware Troubleshooters

Another way to fix the M.2 SSD not showing up in Windows issue is by running the Windows and Hardware Troubleshooter. This troubleshooting method will get to the root of the problem. Here's how:

1. Right-click the "Start" button and select "Windows PowerShell (Admin)" to open it with administrative privileges. This will run Windows PowerShell with administrator access.

Step 2: Type msdt.exe -id DeviceDiagnostic at the command prompt, and then press Enter. The Hardware and Devices troubleshooting wizard appears.

Step 3: Click on the “Next” button on the wizard to complete the scan and fix process.

Solution 3: Initialize the SSD in Disk Management

One reason for this issue could be that the SSD isn't being initialized in your system. Here's how you can do it:

Step 1: After connecting the SSD to your computer, click the "Disk Management" icon. Right-click on "Start" and select "Disk Management".

Select Disk Management from the Start menu.

Step 2: If your SSD is not initialized, you'll see it marked as Uninitialized. Right-click on it and select Initialize Disk from the menu:

Step 3: Select a partition that is compatible with both MBR (Master Boot Record) and GPT (GUID Partition Table), then click the OK button.

Step 4: In the SSD context menu, select “New Simple Volume.” The wizard will guide you through the process of creating a partition and assigning a drive letter to your SSD.

Select a new simple volume in "Disk Management."

Note: In rare cases, an SSD might become inaccessible. You can make it available again by right-clicking it and selecting Online from the context menu.

Fix 4: Update storage controller driver

One of the main reasons your M.2 drive isn't showing up in Windows is due to an outdated storage controller that needs an update. Here's how to update and fix it:

Step 1: You can access Device Manager by right-clicking the Start menu and selecting it.

Step 2: In the Device Manager, find the Storage Controllers entry that appears. Right-click on it and update the driver.

Step 3: After selecting Search automatically for updated driver software, Windows will search your computer and the Internet for the latest available drivers.

Step 4: After installing the new driver, you should restart your computer.

Fix 5: Check your system's cables and connections

More often than not, an SSD connects to the motherboard via a SATA data cable, and if that connection is damaged, the computer – or even the BIOS – might not detect the drive.

To rule out cable issues, you can install the SSD with its own connection. Some SSDs don't require additional cables, like an M.2 SSD that slots into your motherboard.

To check, try installing the SSD in another computer to see if it's detected.

Solution 6: Format the disk to NTFS

If the issue lies with the file system, you might try formatting it to NTFS using Diskpart or a third-party tool to see if that resolves the problem. First, you can use DiskPart.exe to reformat the drive with a file system compatible with your operating system.

Step 1: Type cmd in the search bar, right-click, and select Run as administrator.

Step 2: At the command prompt, type diskpart, and then press Enter.

Step 3: Type the following command in the text box and press Enter.

1. list disk
2. select disk n (where 'n' represents the number of the disk containing the unsupported or corrupted file system)
3. clean
4. create partition primary
5. format fs=ntfs

Step 4: Type exit to leave Diskpart, and then check that you have done so.

Conclusions

After reading this article, you'll understand that an SSD not showing up in Windows 11 can be caused by various factors. The text delves into possible reasons and their corresponding solutions. You can test each potential option one by one.

If you don't want to lose your data, format the disk as your last resort. We highly recommend using the Partition Master tool to create new partitions, assign different drive letters to partitions, and so on.