Accessing Files from an Undeletable USB Drive on Windows 10

This page reveals practical solutions to the issue of "Can't Access USB on Windows 10," guiding you to easily open your USB flash drive and recover data. Follow the methods provided to resolve the problem on your computer without losing any data, immediately:

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These methods also apply to fix issues like USB not opening, inaccessible USB, USB flash drive not showing, or USB detected but not showing data on Windows 11/10/8/7.

Overview of the issue with unable to open USB flash drive in Windows 10/11

Usually, when you insert a USB flash drive or pen drive, it should be detected by your computer immediately and show up in File Explorer.

However, sometimes, due to certain issues, Windows might fail to recognize or open a USB device. For instance, the USB drive is missing or corrupted, the flash drive is infected with a virus, or it got damaged due to some reason. This issue occurs frequently on Windows 8/7 and has become more severe on Windows 10.

Search online, and you'll find countless users seeking help to access their USB flash drives and the data on them in Windows 10.

If you're one of the victims of USB device not recognized error and unable to access USB drive on Windows 10, stay here. Follow this tutorial page to learn how to locate and fix the 'USB not accessible' issue on Windows 10 without losing your crucial data.

Part 1: Accessing/Opening an Undetectable/Unopenable USB and Retrieving Data

Devoted to: Recovering data from inaccessible or unworkable USB flash drive on Windows 11/10/8/7, urgent data rescue.

When your USB flash drive becomes inaccessible, the most important thing is to open it and recover the data. The sooner you act, the more likely you'll be able to retrieve all your files from the USB.

Here, we offer you a simple solution to try. With the Data Recovery Wizard tool, you can recover files from USB in just 3 simple steps.

No matter what causes the USB to be inaccessible or undetectable, you can simply plug it back into your computer and use this software to recover all your files. No data recovery experience or skills needed. If the files on your USB drive are less than 2 GB in size, you can try our Free Data Recovery Wizard. It works the same as the Pro version.

Download a free data recovery software tool and follow the instructions below to recover your files.

Step 1: Run the USB Data Recovery software.

Connect your USB drive or pen drive to the computer, and then launch the USB Data Recovery tool on the PC. Select the drive labeled “External Drive,” and then click “Scan” to begin looking for lost files.

Step 2. Scan and search for lost files on the USB drive

Data Recovery Wizard thoroughly scans your USB flash drive/pen drive to locate all lost data. After the scan, use the "Filter" option to locate the required files.

Step 3. Recover all lost files from USB

Double-click a file to preview it. Select the target files you want to recover, then click “Recover” to save them to a secure location on your computer or another external storage device.

Note: To prevent further data loss, remember to save your USB data to a secure location. After that, you can proceed to read and learn how you can use the solutions below to access and open your USB.

Video Tutorial: Recover Files from USB Flash Drive

Part 2: How to Find a USB Device Not Showing Up in File Explorer on Windows 10

Applies to: Helps you find a USB drive that's not showing up in File Explorer on Windows 10, making it detectable and accessible.

According to some forum threads, USB users might not be able to find their USB drive in the Windows File Explorer from time to time. Usually, when your USB is not showing in File Explorer, you can try to reconnect the USB or switch USB ports to see if the drive pops up.

If you still can't see the USB device in File Explorer, go to Disk Management to check the USB status. We've gathered solutions for each status that you might see in Disk Management.

Check out the right ways to find and fix your USB so that it can be used again.

Scenario 1: USB Displayed as Unknown

Symptom: The USB is not showing in File Explorer but appears as Unknown in Disk Management.

Cause: The USB was not initialized.

Solution: Initialize the USB

Tutorial: Initialize and make a USB drive accessible

Step 1: Connect the USB cable to your computer.

Step 2. Right-click on "My Computer" or "This PC" and select "Manage" to open Disk Management.

Step 3: Right-click the USB drive and click "Initialize Disk."

Step 4: In the dialog box that appears, select the disk you want to initialize and choose either MBR or GPT partition style.

After that, you should be able to open the USB flash drive again on Windows 10/8/7.

Case 2: USB Shows as Unallocated in Disk Management

Symptoms: You cannot access a USB flash drive if it is unpartitioned. It typically shows up as "Unallocated" in Disk Management.

Reason: The partitions on the USB were mistakenly deleted, or the USB is new and has no partitions.

Solution: Recover data from the USB drive first, and then create a new partition on the USB

Tutorial: How to Recover Data & Create Partitions on a USB Drive

If your USB drive has important data on it, return to Part 1 and use one of the USB recovery programs to retrieve any lost files first.

Step 1: Connect the USB device to your computer.

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

Step 3: Right-click on the unallocated space, and select "New Simple Volume."

Step 4: Follow the wizard to complete the remaining steps.

Scenario 3: USB drive shows as "No Media"

Symptom: The USB is shown as "No Media" in Disk Management and does not appear in File Explorer.

Reason: Severe logical corruption or physical damage to the USB drive.

Solution: #1. Update the USB driver (as provided in Step 3, Part F2 of Situation 3); #2. Take it to a local device repair center for fixing.

Part 3: Fixing the "Unable to Access USB Drive" Error in Windows 10/11

Applies to: Fix errors with USB, SD card, external hard drive, and other storage devices that show up but can't be accessed in File Explorer on Windows 10.

According to most regular users, when they can't open USB flash drive, it usually appears in Windows File Explorer, but becomes unopenable or inaccessible.

In other words, you can see your USB in File Explorer, but you can't open it or access the files saved on it. Check out the symptoms enlisted below and follow the guides if you encounter the same issue.

Case 1: USB turns RAW and Windows asks to format the USB drive

Symptoms: The USB file system becomes RAW, and Windows prompts you to "Format the disk in drive * before you can use it."

Reason: USB file system error, USB not formatted, new USB flash drive not formatted.

Solution: Format the RAW USB and reset the file system to FAT32 or exFAT.

How to Fix the Problem of Windows 10 Not Opening a USB Flash Drive with Formatting

Step 1. Press the “Windows key + R” to open the “Run” dialog box, type devmgmt.msc, and press Enter.

Step 2. Right-click on the USB flash drive or pen drive in Disk Management, and select the “Format” option.

Step 3: Follow the on-screen wizard to select a file system for the drive, such as FAT32 or exFAT. Click OK.

Note that if your USB drive is 32GB or smaller, you should format it with the FAT32 file system. If it's 64GB or larger, use exFAT instead.

Scenario 2: Access to USB Drive Denied

Symptoms: The USB drive won't open, and Windows displays the message "Location is not available. Access is denied."

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Reasons: USB permission issues, outdated USB version; internal USB errors, etc.

Solution: #1. Take ownership of the USB; #2. Scan for hardware changes; #3. Run CHKDSK to fix USB errors.

Follow each tutorial one by one to fix the USB not opening issue and make it accessible again on Windows 10/8/7:

Solution 1: Take ownership of the USB drive

Step 1: Open File Explorer, right-click on the USB device, and select Properties.

Step 2: Click on "Security," then click "Advanced," and then go to the "Owner" tab.

Step 3: If you want to change ownership to a user or group not listed, click Change > Other Users and Groups, type the name of the user or group in the Enter the object name to select box, and then click Check Names > OK.

Step 4. If you want to change the user or group listed:

Click the “Change” box next to New owner and make the change.

To change the owner of all child containers and objects in the tree, select the Replace owner on child containers and objects check box.

Fix 2: Check for hardware changes

Step 1: Click on "This PC" > "Manage" > "Device Manager."

Step 2: Right-click on your USB drive and select "Scan for hardware changes."

Step 3. Check if the hard drive is functioning correctly.

Please insert the disk into the removable disk - Detecting hardware changes

Scenario 3: "I/O Error" and "Access is denied" with USB devices

Symptoms: You can't access the USB and Windows prompts "Location is not available. Drive is not accessible. The request could not be completed due to an I/O device error."

Cause: Incorrect USB connection, USB driver issues, unreadable USB drive letter, transfer mode failure, etc.

Solution: #1. Try a different USB port and reconnect the USB; #2. Update the USB driver; #3. Change the letter assigned to the USB drive; #4. Alter the USB transfer mode.

Try each of these solutions one by one until your USB drive opens up again.

Solution 1: Change the USB port to Open USB in Windows 10

Step 1: Safely eject the USB.

Right-click the USB icon on the taskbar at the bottom-right corner of your screen, and click “Eject USB Brand Name.”

Step 2: Disconnect the USB cable, and plug it into another USB port on your computer.

If you see a pop-up, select Open folder to view files.

If you don't see the pop-up, open File Explorer to access your files from the USB drive.

Solution 2: Update USB drivers and reinstall the USB controller to regain access to USB

Step 1: Connect the USB flash drive to your computer. Press the "Windows key + R" to open Run, then type in devmgmt.msc and press Enter.

Step 2: Click on “Device Manager,” then expand “Disk Drives.” Find the problematic USB drive, right-click it, and select “Update Driver.”

Step 3: Click on "Search for driver software online".

Step 4: Wait for the driver to update, and then restart your computer.

After that, try reconnecting the USB drive to your PC and check if it shows up.

Step 5: Reopen Device Manager and expand the Universal Serial Bus controllers section.

Step 6. Right-click each one in the list and select “Uninstall” to remove them all.

Step 7: Restart the computer to let the USB controller reinstall.

After you've done all these, insert your removable pen drive/flash drive or any USB device and check if it can open.

Solution 3: Open the USB drive by changing its drive letter (for Windows 10)

USB not showing up in Windows 10 is one of the symptoms of the “USB won't open” problem. Most of the time, this issue is caused by drive letter conflict or USB driver problems.

To resolve the issue and successfully open the USB on Windows 10, first try assigning a new path to the USB.

Step 1. Right-click "This PC" and select "Manage". Click on "Disk Management" under the "Storage" menu.

Step 2: Here, right-click on your USB drive and select "Change drive letter and paths."

Step 3: Click "Add," then type in the location where you want to access your USB device, such as "C:\USB". Your flash drive will now be accessible from the new folder location you specified.

Once you've done this, unplug the USB and plug it back into your computer. You should now be able to access the drive and open all files on the USB drive again.

Fix 4: Change USB transfer mode

Plug in your USB to your computer and right-click on "My Computer" or "This PC".

Step 2: Click on "Manage," and then select Device Manager.

Step 3. Expand the IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers branch, right-click on the IDE channel that has the drive you want to work with, and choose Properties.

4. In the Transfer Mode box, select PIO Only, and then restart your computer.

Case 4: Corrupted files or folders on USB

Symptoms: A USB drive becomes inaccessible when its files or directories get corrupted and cannot be read. Windows displays an error message: "Location is not available. USB is not accessible. The file or directory is corrupted and cannot be read."

Cause: The USB storage device has an incorrect or corrupted file system, which prevents it from being read.

Solution: Run the CHKDSK /F /R command to fix the USB file directory

WARNING: While the CHKDSK command can fix this error, it will result in permanent data loss on your USB drive. So, recover all your precious data first using a Data Recovery Wizard tool.

There may be times when you look for solutions to open a USB drive in Windows 10 when it doesn't show data files. This usually happens when the device is corrupted or infected with an unknown virus. In such cases, you can try using CMD to fix a damaged USB flash drive and regain access to your device.

Step 1: Press the "Windows key + X" and choose "Command Prompt (Admin)" from the User Control Panel.

(2) Click “Yes” when the User Account Control window appears, asking you to run Command Prompt as an administrator.

Step 3. In the new Command Prompt window, type chkdsk E: /f /r /x and press Enter. Replace E with the letter of your drive.

This will run chkdsk, checking for and repairing any potential errors, bad sectors, or damaged files on the flash drive. When it's done, exit Command Prompt. Safely eject and re-insert your flash drive, then try opening it again.

If you're not comfortable with the Command Prompt, you can use a command line alternative called CleanGenius. This tool lets you fix file system errors on your hard drive with a single click.

Step 1. Download the CleanGenius tool on your computer for free.

Step 2: Run the software. Click “Optimize” on the left, and then choose “File Display.”

Step 3: Go to "Select Drive" and choose the drive with the file system error. Check the option "Check and fix file system errors," then click "Execute."

Step 4: When the scan is finished, click “Here” to view the results.

Conclusions

A quick fix when you can't access a USB drive on Windows 10, 8, or 7 is to change the USB port and reconnect it to the PC.

If the USB is not showing up or still won't open, you'll need to run a reliable data recovery software like Data Recovery Wizard to scan and recover all your USB data first.

Then, check and select the appropriate method to re-access your USB. If it's showing in File Explorer, proceed to Part 1 and follow the correct fix. If your USB isn't showing in File Explorer but is detected in Disk Management, try the solutions from Part 2.

By executing the solutions enlisted, your data will be safely restored and USB can be opened again.

Frequently Asked Questions About inaccessible Windows 10 USB Drive

After learning how to access a USB drive that's not opening on Windows 10, you might have more questions on the topic. Check here to see if we've answered yours:

**1. How to fix the issue of USB drives not showing up in Windows 10?**

Insert the flash drive into an available USB port on your computer. The USB port is usually located on the front, back, or side of the computer. A dialog box may appear, depending on your computer's settings. If it does, select Open folder to view files.

2. Why can't I access my USB drive?

Here are five common reasons why:

• The disk driver is outdated
• The USB drive is unpartitioned
• No drive letter is associated with the USB drive's partitions
• The current file system is not supported by Windows 10
• The USB drive is in RAW format

3. How can I get Windows 11 to read my external hard drive? To make Windows 11 read your external hard drive, follow these steps: 1. Ensure the external hard drive is correctly connected to your computer's USB port. Use a high-quality USB cable, and try connecting it to a different USB port to rule out any hardware issues. 2. Wait a few seconds for the operating system to recognize and install the necessary drivers. Generally, Windows 11 should automatically detect and install the required drivers. 3. Open File Explorer (you can do this by clicking the folder icon on the taskbar or pressing the `Win + E` keyboard shortcut). 4. In the left-hand navigation pane, check if your external hard drive is visible. It should typically appear under "This PC" or "Quick Access," with a name indicating the brand and model of the drive. 5. If the drive doesn't show up, click the "View" menu and check "Hidden items" to display any hidden devices. 6. If the drive still doesn't appear, right-click the Notifications Center icon on the taskbar, then choose "All Settings." 7. In the Settings window, click "System" > "Storage" > "Manage Disks and Volumes." 8. In the "Disk Management" interface, locate your external hard drive. If it has no drive letter assigned or has an incompatible file system, you may need to assign a new drive letter or format the drive (note: formatting will erase all data, so back up important files first). 9. To assign a new drive letter, right-click the drive, select "Change Drive Letter and Paths," and then click "Add" to assign a new letter. 10. If you need to format the drive, right-click it, choose "Format," and then follow the prompts. Make sure to select the correct file system (e.g., NTFS) and check the "Quick Format" option. 11. After completing these steps, your external hard drive should be visible in File Explorer. If the issue persists, the drive itself might have a problem, or you should contact the hardware manufacturer for further assistance.

To get Windows 11 to recognize your USB drive, plug it into your computer using the USB cable. After connecting, you can access it by navigating to "My Computer" or "This PC," then double-clicking the drive. If Windows 11 isn't reading your USB drive, try using a different USB cable, or plugging it into a different USB port on your computer. You can also attempt to format the drive using the built-in Disk Management tool in Windows 11.

4. Why isn't my USB flash drive showing up?

Here are some common reasons why a USB may not be recognized:

• The drive is not seated properly in the port. • The drive is turned off. This is rare, but some models of USB drives have a physical power switch. • The USB port on your computer is damaged. • The USB drive is damaged.