The External Hard Drives are the most portable form of the Data Storage device. They can store a large amount of data and are highly mobile due to a compact size. If you have an external hard drive to store your sensitive data, then you know how convenient it is to use an External drive. The Windows OS, which is famous for throwing weird errors all of sudden to their users. If you are a Windows users, then you may face Hard Drive Not showing up in Windows OS.
That’s the common problem that we face once in a while in Windows OS. If you are currently facing the External Hard Drive or USB Drive not showing in Windows OS, then you should check out the methods we are going to share in this post. You feel a small heart attack when Windows computer does not recognize your external storage device. But, there is nothing to worry, because if you are confident about the health of your external hard drive, you can fix external hard drive not showing up in windows error with the methods we are going to share in this post.
How to Fix External Hard Drive Not Showing up in Windows 7/8/8.1/10
Before proceeding to fix external hard drive not showing up in Windows, we have to check if the Windows recognizes the external hard disk. To check if the hard drive is being recognized, just follow this method.
- First of all, press “Windows + R” key on your Keyboard. It’ll open the RUN window.
- In the Window, type “diskmgmt.msc” without quotes and press ENTER.
- It’ll open the Disk Management Console, where you can see all of the Disk Partitions and Connected Storage Devices.
- If you can see your external hard drive there, you are good to proceed further to try methods to fix external hard drive not showing up in Windows 7/8/8.7/10.
- If you are unable to find the drive in Disk Management, then you have a damaged external hard drive, USB Driver issues or the USB Port issues.
If you are not able to see the drive in Disk Management, then you should check USB Drivers and USB Port. Try to connect other external storage devices and check if Windows recognizes them or not. Also, try to connect the same hard drive to other computers to see if they recognize your hard disk or not. If not, then it’s a problem of your hard drive. Ask Hard Disk manufacturer to replace the drive if it’s in Warranty period.
Here are some of the methods you can try to fix external hard drive not showing up in Windows. These methods are working only if your external hard disk can be seen in the Disk Management Console. Also check how to use tinder without Facebook.
Method 1 – Assign External Hard Disk a Letter
- First of all, we’ve to open the Disk Management Console. As you’ve opened it already, there is no need to open it again. If you haven’t opened it, press “Windows Key + X” key and select “Disk Management” from the options. Alternatively, Press “Windows Key + R“key combination and type “diskmgmt.msc” and press ENTER.
- In the Disk Management, right-click on the external hard disk you’ve connected. You’ve to choose the option “Change Drive Letter and Path.”
- Now, you’ll have to select a letter and assign to that drive. The Letter should be unique and should not be similar to any other Hard Disk Partition.
- Now, you’ll be able to see the External Hard Disk in Windows Explorer.
This is the best solution for fixing hard disk not showing up in Windows 7/8/8.1/10. If you are still facing the problem, then try other methods.
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Method 2 – Update Hard Disk Drivers
Missing or outdated drivers can be the cause behind external hard disk not showing up in Windows. So, updating the driver is one of the methods to fix external hard drive not recognized in Windows.
- First of all, Press “Windows Key + R” key combination on your keyboard and enter the following command in the RUN window and press ENTER.
devmgmt.msc
- Now, the Device Manager Window will open, In the Device Manager, locate your external Hard Disk in “Disk Drives” drop down option.
- Right-click on your external hard disk and click on “Properties.”
- In the Properties, click on the “Drivers” tab and click “Update Driver.”
- Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the driver update.
- Now, disconnect the external Hard Disk and reconnect it to see if it’s showing up in Windows or Not.
This method will solve your issue with the external hard disk not showing up in Windows.
Method 3 – Format the External Hard Drive
If your external hard drive is in the different format that Windows cannot read, then you’ll not see the external disk on your computer. Formatting is the only option you’ve to fix this issue.
- To Format your external hard disk, Press “Windows + R” key combination on your keyboard to open RUN Window and Enter the following command.
diskmgmt.msc
- Now, in the Disk Management console will open and you’ll see your external hard disk. Right click on your drive and choose the option “Format.”
- The Windows Supports the NTFS and FAT32 formats. Make sure you choose any of these formats.
- Now, press OK to complete the formatting process. It’ll take some time depending on your Hard Disk speed and size.
- Once the process completes, check if your hard drive is recognized by Windows or not.
Tip – This process deleted complete data from the external hard disk. Make sure you have a backup of all of the data before formatting.
Final Words | Fix External Hard Disk not Showing up in Windows 7/8/8.1/10
These are the ways by which you can fix the hard disk not showing up in your Windows PC. These methods are working to fix the external hard disk not recognized in Windows OS problem. I hope you’ll try these methods and fix the issue to access the external hard drive on your computer. If you are still facing problems, then please make a comment below, so that we can help you to solve the problem.
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