Is your external hard drive not showing up in Windows 10? Fear not; there's often a simple fix and we'll walk you through the process of elimination to determine where the issue lies.
There are a few possible reasons as to why your USB external hard drive isn't showing up:
If your computer isn’t recognizing the drive, try a different cable as well as another USB port to rule out a faulty connection.
If there is a light on your external drive, this can also provide a quick indication of whether the connection is working and power is being supplied.
If the drive works in a different USB port, the issue is with your computer’s port and you will need to get this fixed. But, if the drive isn’t connecting to another working port, the issue is likely with the drive cable, which you can look to replace.
If your drive is getting power but still not being recognized, then use your System Tray to look for new hardware.
Click on the up arrow (^) at the bottom-right of your screen, and you should see the Found New Hardware icon. To get more information and options for the icons in the tray, right-click on the icon.
If it’s not there — and this may sound cliché — reboot your computer and look for the icon again. If it now appears, than you should be able to open the drive in File Explorer and access your data.
Windows 10 has a nifty diagnostic tool that could help find and fix any issues found with your external drive:
Fingers crossed this has fixed the issue, and your external drive is now appearing in File Explorer.
When you initialize an external drive, Windows automatically assigns the drive a letter.
Updating this preassigned letter can help reset the communication between the drive and the computer, and help Windows recognize it:
This method resolves issues where the currently loaded driver is out of date or has been corrupted, resulting in the drive showing as an Unknown device:
If you're still facing issues after following all these steps, then your external hard drive may be malfunctioning, meaning it's best to contact the manufacturer.
Manufacturers usually have an on-demand support team that can help with technical requests and walk you through any specific issues you might see with their devices.
In a worst-case scenario, your hard drive might need replacing, hopefully while still falling under your manufacturer's warranty.
Crucial external SSDs, such as the X9 Pro or the X10 Pro, come with a full warranty and return policy if you face any issues with your external drive.
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