Resolved: Hard drive not showing files, though they still exist

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On this page, we will demonstrate how to easily resolve such issues and recover all lost files from both internal or external hard drives with the example of "files not showing on hard drive but still exist".

Please make sure you've read the entire guide, recovered all your deleted files, and got your drive working normally again.

Why aren't my files showing up on my internal/external hard drive?

Many Windows users have reported that their local hard drive, external drive, USB flash drive, pen drive, or memory card is showing up in File Explorer, but files and folders are not visible when they open the device.

Why can't I see files and folders saved on an external drive in Windows? Let's find out the reasons.

Reasons Behind Files Showing Missing on External Hard Drive but Actually Exist

The "Hard drive not showing files but they still exist" error often occurs, and it can result from various factors causing the content of your storage device to vanish unnoticed. Some possible reasons include:

• Unstable power supply
• File system corruption that prevents access to file entries
• Files and folders being hidden, with "Show hidden files" disabled
• Viruses or malware that hide, delete, or encrypt files on your hard drive
• Other issues, such as hardware problems or hard drive failure

So, how to find lost files on a hard drive? Just follow the detailed steps below. You will find all existing or lost files on your internal or external hard drive by yourself.

How to Fix a Hard Drive Not Showing Files When They Still Exist

If you're unsure what's causing the drive not to show files, that's okay. Your first priority should be finding a reliable way to view or search for existing files.

To resolve the “no files showing on hard drive” or “no files showing on external hard drive” issue and instantly retrieve all files, we divide the entire process into three stages as shown below:

1. Step 1: Reconnect the External Hard Drive
2. Step 2: Recover Data or Get Files to Show on External Hard Drive
3. Step 3: Repair Internal/External Hard Drive to Make It Work Normally

As shown below, the entire process can also be used to recover unseen files or data from devices like USB flash drives, SD memory cards, and so on. Now, let's get started to find and restore all lost files from your hard drive or external HDD.

Phase 1: Reconnect the External Hard Drive to Display Files

Applies to: Solving the issue where files on internal/external hard drives do not display due to unstable power supply.

Sometimes, when your internal or external hard drive is loosely connected, the device fails to display the saved files on the computer. Hence, the best fix is to reconnect the drive to get the files to show up again.

Step 1: Reconnect the internal or external hard drive to your computer.

Reconnect the hard drive:

- Turn off the computer and open the case using a screwdriver. - Check the power cord and SATA cable. If either is damaged, replace it with a new one. - Reinstall the hard drive in the computer using the power cord and SATA cable. Make sure everything is securely connected, close the case, and then restart your computer.

Reconnect the external hard drive:

• Right-click the external hard drive in File Explorer on Windows.
• Check the USB cable, and replace it with a new one if it's damaged.
• Connect the external hard drive securely to your computer using the USB cable.

Step 2: Check if the files show up on the external hard drive.

Open File Explorer and see if you can access your internal or external hard drive and view the files.

If not, proceed to Phase 2 for an easy recovery of all your files from the hard drive, per the tutorial's instructions.

Step 2: Recover (or show) the files or make them visible on the external hard drive

Recover files that are lost, hidden, or not showing due to device file system errors, hidden files, or virus attacks.

As mentioned above, many factors can lead to the loss of files on your hard drive. For instance, virus infections can delete or hide your files, making them invisible. To recover your lost files, you can try the 4 methods provided below:

• Method 1: Use a File Recovery Program - Easiest
• Method 2: Show Hidden Files and Folders
• Method 3: Use the Command Prompt
• Method 4: Use a Command Prompt Alternative

For the simplest solution, a tool like the Data Recovery Wizard can provide the best fix.

Method 1: Recover Lost Files with a File Recovery Program

Tool for Undeleting Files - Data Recovery Wizard helps you recover invisible files and folders on internal or external hard drives in Windows 11/10/8/7. It's an all-in-one solution for retrieving lost files.

Now easily retrieve all existing or lost, hidden, deleted or inaccessible files from hard drive:

Select your external hard drive, then click the “Scan” button.

Step 2: As the scan progresses, the software will find more and more lost and deleted data, displaying it in the scan results. The recovered data will be well organized. You can quickly locate your target file/folder by file type, or search for it precisely by its name in the search box.

Step 3: You can preview the files found by the data recovery wizard's scanning algorithm. Select the files and click on "Recover." To avoid overwriting your data, we recommend saving the recovered data to a drive different from the original Seagate drive.

Select the files and click on “Recover”

Do not save the recovered files to the original drive. Proceed to Stage 3 to fix your drive so it can safely store files again.

You can also watch this video tutorial to learn how to show files from an external hard drive.

 

Method 2: Show Hidden Files on a Hard Drive or External Drive

To protect certain confidential files, people tend to hide them on the storage device. If you do this or accidentally hide them in the drive, you may encounter the issue of hard drive not showing files, although they still exist.

The best way to do this is to show them. Here's how to display hidden files on your hard drive or external hard drive:

1. Double-click "This PC" to open File Explorer.

Step 2: Find and double-click your hard drive or external hard drive.

Step 3. Go to the View tab. In the Show/Hide section, check the box for Hidden Items.

After that, you should be able to view your hidden or lost files on the hard drive again.

How to Show Hidden Files on USB Drive and Memory Card.

Method 3: Recover Hidden or Deleted Files with CMD

According to some users, viruses or malware can sometimes lead to the “missing files” issue on your hard drive. For instance, a shortcut virus hides the original data and displays shortcuts of the files on the drive.

To restore hidden files that were hidden by a virus or malware, run the following CMD command:

Step 1: Run an antivirus program to scan and remove viruses and malware from your hard drive and computer.

Step 2. If the files don't appear on the external hard drive, connect it to your computer.

Step 3. Type “cmd” in the Windows search box, right-click “Command Prompt,” and select “Run as administrator.”

Step 4. Enter the following commands one by one, pressing Enter after each:

• E (replace E with the drive letter of the hard drive or external disk where the hidden files are located)
• del *.lnk
• attrib -s -r -h *.* /s /d /l

Step 5: When you're done, type exit.

Recover hidden files from the hard drive using CMD:

Step 1: Press Windows + S, and type cmd in the Windows search bar.

Step 2. Right-click Command Prompt and select Run as administrator.

Step 3: Type the command line attrib -h -r -s G:\*.* /s /d and press Enter.

This command will show all the hidden files on your device. You can now open your device to check them out.

4. Type exit to close the Command Prompt.

Method 4: Use the Command Prompt to Find Hidden Files on Your Hard Drive

While for tech-savvy users, executing them manually via Command Prompt might be doable, the risk of making mistakes that can cause more damage is high. Therefore, for safety and convenience, we highly recommend trying an automated Command Prompt tool – CleanGenius. This handy tool lets you check and fix file system errors, turn write protection on or off, and update your system with just one click, without having to type complex commands.

With this one-click repair tool, you can unhide files with these simple steps.

Step 1: Download the CleanGenius tool for free.

Step 2: Launch CleanGenius, then select “Optimize” from the left pane. Click on “File Display” from the right.

Step 3: Select the hard drive, then click “Execute”.

Step 4: When done, click on this link to view your hidden files.

Then, reconnect your device to the computer and check for the hidden files.

Note: This isn't over yet. You have one final step: fixing device errors so that your hard drive can save data again. See Step 3 to learn how to fix hard drive device errors.

Stage 3: Repair device errors and format to reset the hard drive

Applies to:  Fixes file system errors that prevent files on a hard drive or external hard drive from being accessed, and resets the device to a usable state.

If you can't see files or folders on an external hard drive due to file system errors or damaged files, or your USB flash drive not showing data files, try the following two methods to get the drive to show the files again and work normally:

**#1. Fix internal hard drive issues using Command Prompt** Using the Command Prompt is one method to address issues within your hard drive. Follow these steps: 1. Press `Win + X` and choose "Command Prompt (Admin)" or search for "cmd" in the search bar, then right-click the result and run it as an administrator. 2. In the Command Prompt window, type the following command to check for disk errors and automatically fix them: ``` chkdsk /f /r C: ``` Note: Replace `C:` with the drive letter you want to check. If you need to repair another drive, change the letter accordingly. 3. Press `Enter`. The system will prompt you to confirm if you want to run the check on the next startup. Type `Y` and press `Enter`. 4. Restart your computer. The checking process will begin during startup. This may take some time, depending on the size of your hard drive. 5. After completion, the system usually displays a report detailing any issues found and repaired. This process can help fix file system errors and bad sectors, but it's not guaranteed to resolve all hardware failures. If the problem persists, further diagnosis or a hard drive replacement might be necessary.

Step 1: Type cmd in the Windows search bar, right-click on “Command Prompt,” and select “Run as administrator.”

Step 2. Type chkdsk g: /f, and then press Enter.

The "G:" is the drive letter of the external hard drive, so replace it with the drive letter of your own external hard drive.

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The chkdsk command scans and repairs a disk for any damage it finds.

4. When you're done, type exit.

Now, proceed to the next guide to format your hard drive or external hard drive to NTFS or exFAT to reset its file system so that the device can safely save and display files.

Since formatting will lead to data loss, you should first scan the entire disk with the Data Recovery Wizard to locate all lost data.

2. Format or reformat your hard drive/external hard drive

In order to ensure that your hard drive or external hard drive functions properly without any issues, we recommend formatting the disk in Disk Management with a file system supported by Windows. For hard drives, it is recommended to use the NTFS format.

Please refer to the steps here to restore your device:

Step 1. Connect the external hard drive to your computer.

Step 2. Right-click on "This PC" and select "Manage," then "Disk Management."

Step 3. Right-click the target drive or partition and click "Format."

Step 4. Select "NTFS" as the file system, check the box for "Quick Format," and then click "OK" to format the drive.

Now that your device is formatted, you can use it to store data, and save any files you find back to an external or internal hard drive.

Now you can use your hard drive and files as normal.

If your hard drive isn't showing files that you know are on there, but are still visible to the Windows operating system, try reconnecting the hard drive to your computer before trying the above methods.

If you can't see them, disk data recovery software like tools Data Recovery Wizard can help. This is the easiest way to attempt to recover all the files.

After retrieving the hidden files, you can run the CHKDSK command to fix hard drive errors and reformat the device to NTFS to save data again.

Frequently Asked Questions on Hidden Files in Hard Drives

If you have more questions about hidden files on your hard drive, check out the Frequently Asked Questions below – you might find your answer there:

< strong > 1. What is taking up space on my hard drive in Windows 10/8/7?

How do I see what's taking up space on my Windows 7/8/10 computer? You'll need to do two things:

Step 1: Show hidden files on your hard drive.

You can fall back on Method 2 again in Stage 2.

Step 2: Analyze the hard drive to find out what is taking up space:

Go to Settings > System > Storage. Click on your hard drive partition to see what's taking up the most space.

You may want to refer to the What is Taking Up Space on My Hard Drive? article for more detailed information.

**2. How to Show Hidden Files on an External Hard Drive in Windows 10/11?**

1. Open File Explorer and navigate to the "Videos" tab. 2. Click on "Options," then select "Change folder and search options." 3. In the "View" tab, locate the "Advanced settings" section. 4. Check the box for "Show hidden files, folders, and drives," then click "Apply."

3. How to fix an external hard drive not recognized issue?

When an external hard drive becomes unrecognized, it could be due to a malfunctioning USB port, issues with the hard drive driver, a virus attack, or a device failure error.

You might try any of five approaches:

• Try using a different USB port
• Uninstall and reinstall the external hard drive
• Enable USB Root Hub
• Show hidden files
• Use the Registry Editor

You may refer to "Seagate External Hard Drive Not Detected or Recognized" for assistance.