SD Card/USB Drive/Flash Drive Showing 0 Bytes

Possible causes: The USB port is not supplying enough power to the flash drive. Overloading the USB port by inserting multiple USB drives or using a damaged USB cable can cause the USB to display as 0 bytes and no media. Virus infection. The files on the USB drive might be corrupted by a computer virus.

If your USB flash drive shows no media or 0 bytes, you can solve the problem by using the quick navigation bar below:

• Part 1: USB Shows 0 Bytes in Disk Management
• Part 2: USB Displays Other Status in Disk Management

Many users reported that their computer failed to recognize the USB when plugging it in. In Windows Disk Management, the USB shows as No Media with 0 bytes size. This is a common issue for USB flash drives, SD cards, and pen drives. In this article, we'll cover the reasons behind this issue and how to fix it.

What does "USB No Media" with 0 bytes mean?

There can be numerous reasons behind the USB not showing any media or 0 bytes issue. Read on to learn more:

• The files are hidden. They still exist, but have been accidentally set to be hidden.
• The partition on the USB drive is not recognized.
• You removed the USB drive without safely ejecting it first. This can corrupt the storage files on the drive, as well as the MBR or PBR of the device.
• Insufficient power from the USB port. Overloading a port with multiple USB drives or using a damaged USB cable can cause a USB to show 0 bytes and no media.
• Virus infection. The files on the USB drive may have been corrupted by a computer virus.
• Flash drive failure, typically caused by a failing NAND flash. A No Media error can occur when the flash controller is unable to communicate with the NAND flash on the drive. As a result, Windows will register the drive as an empty hard disk.

Now that we know the reasons behind the invisible USB drive, let's quickly look at how to solve this issue.

How to Fix USB Drive Showing 0 Bytes Issue

Aside from showing up as no media and 0 bytes, a USB flash drive can exhibit other error conditions like Unallocated and RAW in Disk Management. For these scenarios, you can find solutions within this article. Keep reading for more details.

Part 1: USB Shows as 0 Bytes in Disk Management

When you see the prompt, it is advised not to format the drive immediately, as this will remove all data from the drive. When your USB drive or any other portable device shows 0 bytes, you should check it in Disk Management.

If your device shows 0 bytes on it in Disk Management, you'll need to take the device to a local data recovery service for help.

2 - Sometimes, Disk Management may not show the correct capacity for the USB, but mark it as 'Online' or 'Healthy'. You can try the solutions below:

• Disconnect and reconnect the device, and then restart your computer.
• Try a different USB port and STATA cable, and then restart your computer.
• Connect a 0-byte storage device to another computer to check the data.
• Connect the USB device to a USB port on your computer's motherboard (a USB port on the back of a desktop computer).

Part 2: USB Shows Up with Other Status in Disk Management

If your USB doesn't show up as 0 bytes in Disk Management, you can resolve the issue by following a guide. First, press "Windows + X" > select "Disk Management," and then inspect your USB.

1 - Show as Unallocated

If the disk shows as unallocated, you can create a new partition to fix this issue. You can follow the manual guide below or use a partitioning software to create the new partition.

Step 1: Connect the unformatted USB/SD card or any other device to your computer. Right-click on "This PC" / "My Computer" and go to Manage > Disk Management.

Step 2: Right-click on the unallocated space and select "New Simple Volume".

Choose the partition size, drive letter, and file system (NTFS). Click “Finish” to complete the process.

2 – RAW Shows Up In Disk Management

If your USB is showing up as RAW and is online and in good state, you will not be able to access the device. To resolve this issue without losing data, you must recover the data first, and then fix the RAW issue.

First, restore the data.

We highly recommend using professional data recovery software to retrieve your data, such as the Data Recovery Wizard. This tool provides comprehensive support for RAW partition recovery and can help solve your issue. Here's what the Data Recovery Wizard can do:

• Recover Data from Dead Hard Drive.
• Perform USB recovery, hard drive recovery, or external hard drive recovery.
• Supports previewing all recoverable files.
• 100% safe for Windows and Mac computers.

Download this tool to safely and quickly recover data from USB drives, SD cards, or any other storage device with a “0 bytes” issue.

Step 1: Select the USB drive to scan

Run 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 types of files quickly.

Step 3: Recover Files from the Flash Drive

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

USB Data Recovery Video Tutorial

Second: Formatting a RAW USB/SD card to 0 bytes

After recovering data from USB, you can format 0 byte RAW partition on hard drive.

Step 1: In File Explorer, right-click on the USB drive.

Step 2: Right click on the 0 byte USB flash drive and select "Format."

Step 3: Choose the file system for your USB as FAT32 or NTFS, then click “OK” to confirm.

Tool Data Recovery Services

Click here to contact our experts for a free assessment

Consult with our Tool Data Recovery specialists for one-on-one manual recovery services. After a free diagnosis, we can offer the following services:

• Repair damaged RAID configurations, unbootable Windows OS, and corrupted virtual disk files (.vmdk, .vhd, .vhdx, etc.)
• Recover/repair lost partitions and repartitioned drives
• Unformat hard drives and repair raw drives (including BitLocker encrypted drives)
• Fix disks turned into GPT protected partitions

Bottom line

Whenever you encounter the "USB flash drive shows 0 bytes" issue, try the solutions above. If your USB displays in another status, don't hesitate to seek assistance from a tool. We always provide professional support. You can reach us via live chat or email (support@tools.com).