How to Fix External Hard Drive Not Showing Up In My Computer - Hard Drive Not Detected On Windows 10

How to Fix External Hard Drive Not Showing Up In My Computer - Hard Drive Not Detected On Windows 10

What do you do when your external hard drive won't show up on your Windows computer? Keep watching and I'll show you 3 solutions you can try. This works with any external USB hard drive that powers up and is not making any strange noises. However, please watch the entire video before making any changes to your hard drive to avoid losing important data. So when I plug in my device, naturally it would just show up. Here are some simple things to check. Try plugging the drive into another USB port or computer. If the hard drive doesn't show up, then try using different USB cable. For me, swapping out USB cables has worked in the past.

But what if your hard drive powers up but still won't show up in Windows Explorer? It's possible that the drive hasn't been unassigned a drive letter. Without it, the computer knows the drive is there but I can't access it. So let me explain what's happening. When I plug my drive into a USB port, I can hear the chime alert. But it's not listed in the Devices and Drives sections. What I need to do is right click on the Windows Start button and click on Disk Management. In the next window it'll show me a list of all the drives connected to this computer. On the problem disk it has no letter assigned to it. But my computer knows it's there but it's not letting me access it.

Here's how to make it work. Right click on the drive and click Change Drive Letter and Paths. In the next window click the Add button. Then make sure the circle is selected where it says Assign the Following Drive Letter. And in the drop down menu choose a letter. I'll select H. Then as soon as I click OK the contents of my drive pop up and now I can use it like normal. And just so you know, there is no risk of losing data on your external drive by changing drive letters. But the drive letter you choose could affect programs that have linked this hard drive under a different letter. I hope that makes sense!

One situation I've run into before is connecting 2 drives that have been assigned the same letter. If this is the case, the 2nd hard drive will not show up. But following my instructions to change the drive letter will make the 2nd hard drive accessible again.

If nothing else works it's possible that the drive is corrupted or malfunctioning. There may be no way to fix a drive that is suffering from mechanical malfunctions. But if the data is corrupted there is something you can try... but it will also erase all your files! So I want to emphasize that the next step will delete everything on your hard drive! So only proceed if nothing else works!

Once again I've plugged in my external hard drive but it's not showing up in Windows Explorer. I'll right click on the Windows Start button and click on Disk Management. When I've determined that I absolutely can't recover the files on my drive, I'm going to have to reformat it. To do this, right click on the problem drive and this time choose Format. Here I can rename the drive and choose a type of formatting. If you work on Windows only then choose NTFS. If you want the drive to work on both Windows and Mac then choose exFAT. And when you're ready to delete everything click OK. Since my drive is working I'm going to cancel out. But please remember, once you click OK everything on your hard drive will be deleted and there's no way to get it back!

Ok and here's one last thing. It's possible that your drive has been formatted for Apple computers. So it's worth plugging it into a Mac to see if the hard drive will show up there. A Mac formatted drive won't work on a Windows computer and it has to be reformatted so Windows can read it. If any of these tips work, I would immediately back up the drives to a working hard drive to avoid any loss later. Hopefully some of these tips help you get your hard drive working again! If this video was helpful please give me a thumbs up and hit the subscribe button to stay up to date on all my weekly videos!

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[cuefnky]

Didn't think I'd ever understand what exactly the problem was let alone be able to diagnose where it lay and never in my wildest dreams think I'd be able to fix it. But, with your clear and simple instructions, the extreme panic lifted - and I can now access my external hard drives. Still can't believe it!!!! I am so happy!!! May I add my heartfelt thanks to the huge number already posted.

[nsomniak]

Thank you so much. I saved a lot of time and frustration checking the cord with another drive and vice-versa which was much easier than trying all of the other solutions first.

[FXpopat]

Whilst others are showing "Format HDD" solution, you're doing a hero's job! Worked like a charm 🤗

[prestigepropertymedia]

I had tried a couple other fixes but your suggestion and directions to assign a drive letter did the trick. Thank you so much! I need the external USB drives to work so I can back up photos.

[mikeburgardt]

Thanks so much. The Disk management worked like a charm. Sadly I have been trying to open this drive for over a year now. Other websites told me to use a different computer. That worked but they didnt tell me how to make it work on my computer. What is even sadder is the information I had came from much more popular websites and youtubes with more views. Glad I found you.

[markg]

Thank you, didn't even have to follow the video to the end b4 the problem was solved. Assigned drive letter and works perfectly. I am now a new subscriber.

[davehoweth]

assigning a letter worked a treat! nice one. Although I couldn't just right click and select a letter, it only gave me a few options and opened a setup wizard when i had to press next to get to the part where I could assign a letter. Nice one mate.

[RoderikConnors]

Thank you! Had a brand new external hard drive that wasn't working. Followed your steps to assign a drive letter. Now it works!!!

[darrelmorgan]

This doesn't work. Mine doesn't even register in disk mgmt. It is however listed in device mgr but doesn't show up in dsk mgmt. It opens just fine on another laptop. I find it astonishing that there seems to really be no computer people anywhere I have seen on the net who seem to really understand this issue very well. No offense to the uploader. From what I am seeing this is in fact more often a problem with the host computer and not the hard drive itself. The cable being the issue is even more rare. If an ext HD has opened on your computer for a long time with no issues and then one day it doesn't, it is likely something to do with the computer, not the HD.

[killerlunalove]

2 years later and you’re still helping people. Thanks man, you’re a life saver! 😂😁

[PorterCrow]

The video is a little out dated at this point in time, but you nudged me in the right direction and I was able to figure it out. Thank you so much!!

[zegercm]

you just saved me a hundred bucks man! You rock! Power went out here in Upstate NY near Syracuse in one of our famous snow storms and did something to my new external hard drive. Your video got it working again.

[t.alexmoore]

Wow the disk management step at around 2:20 worked perfectly! Thanks man

[JMVD]

Thank you very much, the explanation about Disk Management and assigning a new Drive Letter is VERY important to me. 👍

[jamesacuna]

thank you.. I've been watching other videos with no avail but your instructions just fix my problem. thank you again

[PlayGirlShani]

Thank you. I couldn't access my external hard drive for over a year. But it's now fixed & I can store games to it again.

[John-gjjr]

I got to the point where you right click on the drive. The "Change Drive Letter and Paths..." is greyed out. The only options available are the "Delete Volume" and "Help". I thought sure this would work when I saw it. I have 4 partitions on the drive, all of which say "Healthy; (Primary Partition)" and are respectively as 1.00 GB, 500 GB, 500 GB and 862.02 GB. I should say this drive was originally used to store DVR recordings on Dish satellite.

A little help, if you please. Thanks,

[Alaa.M]

Excellent informative video, really I so appreciated for being this video solved my problem with my usb external hdd…thanks so much 👍👍👍

[mariib.c.]

Oh my goodness, THANK YOU!! THIS HELPED MY ISSUE SO MUCH!

[theothesir]

Dude! I finally fixed my hard drive issue thanks to your video. I never met you but I love you sir!