Solving the Issue of SanDisk Cruzer Not Being Recognized

What to Do When Your SanDisk Cruzer Is Not Recognized by the Computer

When your SanDisk Cruzer is not being recognized by your computer, here are some basic data protection recommendations:

• Stop using the SanDisk Cruzer and avoid saving or inputting new data.
• Remove viruses and malware from your computer and storage device.
• Ensure that the SanDisk Cruzer is properly connected to your computer.

When your SanDisk Cruzer flash drive, external hard drive, USB drive, SD card, or other storage device is not recognized by your computer or becomes unremovable, follow the troubleshooting solutions below to fix the problem and recover your data.

Part 1: Resolving Issues with Undetected SanDisk Cruzer

There are three main methods to help you resolve the issue of your SanDisk Cruzer USB not being recognized or detected. Keep in mind that the methods get more complex but more effective as you go.

Method 1: Try a Different USB Port or Computer to Reconnect Your SanDisk Cruzer (1 minute)

When your SanDisk Cruzer or any other brand of USB, external hard drive, or USB flash drive is not recognized for the first time, try these quick fixes:

Step 1: Try another USB port, and reconnect the SanDisk Cruzer to the computer. If you continue to receive an unrecognized device error, proceed to Step 2.

Step 2: Connect the USB drive to another computer.

Step 3. Check if your SanDisk Cruzer is detected.

After that, you can open File Explorer and Disk Management to see if the USB drive shows up. If it does but is not accessible, click the link "USB Drive Detected But Not Accessible" for reliable solutions. If it doesn't show, move on to try Methods 2 and 3.

Method 2: Run the Device Troubleshooter (2-3 minutes)

If your USB device is not recognized, you can run the built-in troubleshooter in Windows to check and fix errors on the USB drive.

Step 1 Connect the unrecognized Cruzer USB drive to your computer.

Step 2. Right-click the Windows icon and select “Settings.”

Step 3: Click on “Troubleshooting,” and then scroll down and choose “Hardware and Devices.”

Then, the troubleshooter will run to detect and fix your USB device. After that, check if the “USB device not recognized” issue has been resolved.

Method 3: Update or Reinstall the Cruzer USB Driver (3-5 minutes)

When your USB driver is outdated, your Windows computer might fail to detect or recognize the device. Fix this issue immediately with these steps:

1. Update the SanDisk Cruzer USB Driver

Step 1: Connect the Cruzer USB drive to your computer. Right-click on "My Computer/This PC" and select "Manage."

Step 2. Click on “Device Manager,” then expand “Disk Drives.”

Step 3. Right-click on the SanDisk Cruzer USB or removable device and select Update Driver.

Step 4: Click on “Search automatically for updated driver software” and wait for the process to complete.

After that, try plugging the USB drive back into your computer and see if it shows up.

2. Reinstall the SanDisk Cruzer USB driver

Step 1. Connect the Cruzer USB to your computer, right-click on “This PC/My Computer,” and select “Manage.”

Step 2. Click on “Device Manager,” then expand “Disk Drives.”

Step 3: Right-click on the SanDisk Cruzer USB or Removable Disk, and select “Eject.” Click “OK” to confirm that you want to remove it.

4. Restart your computer and connect the USB to your computer. The USB driver will install automatically once Windows restarts.

After that, you can reconnect the USB to your computer and check the saved data. If you're still unable to access the saved data, it's advisable to first recover data from SanDisk Cruzer.

You may also watch this video to learn more about effective ways on how to fix the SanDisk Cruzer not recognized issue.

Part 2: Recover Data from SanDisk Cruzer

Most professional SanDisk data recovery software can scan and retrieve data from inaccessible storage devices. We recommend that you try the Data Recovery Wizard tool, which allows you to scan and search for important data from various storage devices, including SanDisk Cruzer, Toshiba USB drives, Seagate external hard drives, Samsung SD cards, and more.

Amazing features of Data Recovery Wizard:

• Recover deleted files from Recycle Bin on HDD, SSD, USB, flash drives, SD cards, external hard drives, and more
• Restore over 1000 types of files, including photos, videos, documents, emails, and more
• Repair corrupted files during data recovery on Windows 11/10/8/7
• Retrieve lost files due to deletion, device formatting/damage, partition loss, system crashes, and more

Follow the below given steps to restore data from SanDisk Cruzer immediately:

Step 1: Select the USB drive to scan

Launch the Data Recovery Wizard, select the USB drive where you lost your important files, and click “Scan” to start.

Step 2: Preview and check USB Drive Data

Once the scan is complete, you can use the filtering options and search function to locate specific file types quickly.

Step 3: Recover Data from Flash Drive

Once the scan is complete and the lost USB drive files are found, click “Recover” to restore them. Save the recovered files to a secure location on your computer and not back to your USB drive.

Part 3: Format SanDisk Cruzer to FAT32

To make sure there aren't any other issues with your USB device, the final step is to format your SanDisk Cruzer and change its file system to FAT32.

Here we will format to FAT32 with Disk Management:

Step 1: Connect the USB to your computer, right-click on "This PC"/"My Computer", and select "Manage".

Step 2. Click on “Disk Management,” find the SanDisk Cruzer, right-click on it, and select “Format.”

Step 3: Choose FAT32 as the file system for your USB device.

Format the SD card to NTFS using the built-in tool:

After this, you can continue to use the device and save files to it again.

In short, follow the fixes in this article when your external hard drive, USB, or SD card is not recognized by your computer. If you can't access your saved data, the Data Recovery Wizard tool is on hand to help.