I checked in owner’s manual for the format of the stick, it was “Fat 32,” I formatted the stick and added the Mp3 files I wanted, With this stick and others I tried, the message I was getting, “USB Device not recognized, noway were these sticks going to be accepted. While it’s not easy to pinpoint the exact reason why your computer won’t recognize the USB stick, you can work through various possible solutions until it works again. We’ve rounded up some effective solutions that can work when you’re experiencing USB connection issues. 2 – Go to the Universal Serial Bus Controller drop-down. 3 – Select Generic USB Hub from the dropdown and right click on it. 4 – Select the Update Driver Software option. This step will update your driver software and fix the Flash Drive not recognized problem in the computer. Methods to Fix “Flash Drive Not Recognized” Problem in Mac.
- “One of the USB device attached to this computer has malfunctioned and Windows does not recognize it. For assistance in solving this problem, click this message.'
- 'The device you connected to this computer malfunctioned, and Windows does not recognize it.'
- “Flash drive not recognized”
- 'Drive did not load successfully.'
These errors when you connect the USB drive are really scary!! These errors generally appear when an external device is connected to the computer and the operating system is unable to recognize it or read it. It doesn’t mean that the drive is corrupt. It’s just one of the common issues associated with connecting an external device to your computer. It’s time we dig deep and fix ‘flash drive not recognized’ problem.
It is normal for your mac to see so many partitions and not know what to do with them. But not normal that you can't see the USB as a bootable device. You should also download our latest version (v55) which is much newer than your v47 stick. How long have you waitied at the boot-option screen?
However, such issues can arise in both Windows and Mac systems. It may be an initial indication of your flash drive corruption and losing access to data in it. Hence, try to fix the issue as soon as possible. Here, you will find few methods to fix such not recognizing USB error.
But, before going ahead with the troubleshooting process, you need to secure your data. Yes, in the process of fixing the USB error there are chances of losing or corrupting your data. Hence, before proceeding with this process, recover your data and save on a secure drive.
Recover data from not recognized USB flash drive – Remo Recover
In order to recover data from an unrecognized USB drive download Remo Recover software. This tool will scan your USB drive & extracts all files from USB drive. The software works on both Windows and Mac computers of all latest versions & helps in recovering files from corrupt flash drives securely. You can also use this software to recover deleted photos from the CF card on Mac. The entire recovery process takes few minutes:
Follow the below steps to Restore files from USB flash drive that is not recognized:
- First download and install Remo Recover software on your computer & launch the tool
- From main screen select ‘Recover Drives’ option
- Now click on ‘Formatted Recovery’ option on the consecutive screen
- Here list of available drives will be displayed and choose the one from which you need to recover files
- Software now scans the drive and displays all recovered files from the drive
- You can then preview and save files on any secure storage medium
Once, your data from flash drive is securely stored, you can now proceed with the troubleshooting methods. As said earlier, both Windows and Mac will have different methods. Read through the below procedure:
Easy Methods to Fix “Flash Drive Not Recognized” Problem in Windows
Method 1: Scan the Flash Drive for Issues
Every computer has an inbuilt mode of scanning any USB drive attached to it. You can use this method to find out any error in the connection or the device.
1 – Plug the USB drive on the computer
Snapchat messenger for mac. 2 – Go to This PC (My computer for earlier versions) and right click on the flash drive and go to Properties
3 – Open Tool tab and click Check Now
This will scan and show you the results for any issues with your USB device. You can further troubleshoot the issues or use any third party element to fix them.
Method 2: Flash Drive Reformatting
In order to do this, follow the instructions;
1 – Right click on the flash drive icon and click Format; this opens the format window.
2 – Go to the File system.
3 – Toggle between NTFS and FAT32 and click Start
This will reformat your flash drive and it will fix the flash drive not recognized issue. In case this method fails to fix the error, then follow the next method.
Method 3: Update Driver
To update the driver, you have to go to the device manager window. Do keep in mind you have the administrator rights to use and change the system settings.
1 – Open the Run command and Type devmgmt.msc and click OK to open the Device Manager tab.
2 – Go to the Universal Serial Bus Controller drop-down
3 – Select Generic USB Hub from the dropdown and right click on it
4 – Select the Update Driver Software option
This step will update your driver software and fix the Flash Drive not recognized problem in the computer.
Methods to Fix “Flash Drive Not Recognized” Problem in Mac
If you are a Mac user and facing the same issue with your system, here are some methods to eliminate it. I will take you through 3 methods to troubleshoot and fix the Flash Drive Not Recognized problem. If your are looking to recover data from USB flsh drve click here.
Method 1: Connect the USB Flash Drive Manually
In order to perform this first select a port to connect the USB flash drive.
1 – Go to Applications and click on Utilities
2 – Select “Ask me What to do” from the Devices pop-up box
3 – Go to Devices and click External Devices.
Many a times, connecting USB flash drive manually will fix the issue. If this doesn’t help you, then try the next method.
Method 2: PRAM Fix
To perform this troubleshooting you have to return the PRAM.
1 – Shut down the Mac
2 – Press the Power button and hold Command + Option along with P+R while the system starts.
3 – As the system starts boot release the buttons.
Method 3: Format Drive
This method solves the issue after the drive is formatted and reconnected to the system. In order to do that, here are the steps;
1 – Press Command + Spacebar and connect the flash drive.
2 – Open Application and click on Disk Utility Option
3 – Select the Flash Drive on the left pane.
4 – Click on Erase button to complete the process
This will resolve your issue and now you can reconnect the flash drive to your computer and start using it. If you have accidentally quick formatted your USB drive you can recover data from it.
Now, your flash drive will be free from errors and use the drive. As said earlier, fixing these issues or formatting the flash drive will result in deletion of all the files in that drive. So make sure to recover all the important documents, photos, videos etc. from the drive before performing any troubleshooting.
Summary :
Sometimes, when you connect an external hard drive to your computer, it might not show up or get recognized. This problem occurs frequently in Mac/Windows 10, and could lead to data loss.
There are some useful fixes to the external hard drive not detected issue. Please read this page to know how to access the drive without data loss.
Quick Navigation :
External Hard Drive Not Showing Up PC
Whether you're plugging in a new hard drive or an old one to your computer, it is possible that you can't see it. Some people even reported that the external hard drive is showing up in devices but not in my computer. This is not a rare issue; it has ever happened to many people and will be happening to more.
What are the possible causes for external hard drive not showing up on computer issue?
- Insufficient power supply
- Lack of drive letter
- Outdated drivers
- File system issues
- Partition problems
- Dead USB port
- …
In the following content, I’ll mainly discuss external hard drive not showing up/recognized on Windows 10 in 2 different situations. After that, I’ll tell you what do I do if my hard drive is not detected.
External Hard Drive Not Showing Up in File Explorer
Seagate external hard drive not showing up.
I know there are a million posts about this issue, but I haven't come across one that fixed my issue and I really don't want to have to shell out a ton of money recovering my data. Running Windows 10 on an Asus K55N and connecting a Seagate Free Agent Go Flex Desk 2TB external drive. When I connect the drive, it shows in Disk Management and the Safely Remove Hardware icon, but I can't get it to populate in File Explorer. I have not tested on another computer, but I have tested with a different USB cable and was able to connect two other external drives. I did the trial of the Seagate Recovery Suite and was able to see all my files listed, I was just hoping to not have to pay to recover the data (if that's what it boils down to, so be it).- said Corey_23 on Tom’s Hardware Forum
It’s easy to find that an external hard drive doesn't appear in File Explorer after you connected it to a Windows 10 computer. You should go to open Windows Disk Management to check whether your disk shows up there. If you find the external hard disk showing up in Disk Management as unallocated/not initialized/offline, it would be easy to fix the external hard drive not recognized problem. This is what people described as external hard disk detected but not showing in My Computer.
Please read Recover Data From Disk Shows As Unknown Without Damaging It to learn how to fix this.
Tip: If Seagate external hard drive not showing up on Windows 10, can you access data in it? Please read Exciting News: Seagate Hard Drive Data Recovery Is Simplified and learn how to finish Seagate external hard drive recovery.
External Hard Drive Not Showing Up in Disk Management
WD external hard drive not recognized Windows 10.
Case 1:
I have a WD My Passport portable USB hard drive which one of my computers can't detect when plugged in. It doesn't show up in My computer, Device Manager or Disk Management. The only way to get the device recognized is to reboot the computer with it connected, enter BIOS (and do nothing), and reboot again. The drive works fine on my other computer. It has the WD Unlocker Software built in.- posted by Lagnaetti on Windows 10 Forums, Drivers and Hardware
Obviously, Lagnaetti finds that his external hard drive is not being detected by My computer, Device Manager or even Disk Management. He wants to know how to fix the external hard disk not detected issue. In fact, there are some cases in which an external hard drive doesn't show up due to it being broken physically. Yet, there are still chances that the unrecognized hard disk can be repaired.
Tip: The WD external hard drive is used widely by people throughout the world. And I advise you to recover data from WD external hard disk which is not detecting. To know “how do I fix my WD external hard drive not showing up on my computer”, please read the next part of this article.
In addition, there are also some people who said their PS4 external hard drive is not recognized or Xbox One external hard drive is not detected/not showing up. I suggest that they connect the external hard drive to the computer and check.
How Do I Get Windows 10 to Recognize My External Hard Drive
- Change a USB port.
- Check the drive in Disk Management.
- Run the Troubleshooter.
- Update/uninstall/roll back driver.
- Reinstall USB controllers.
- Enable legacy USB support in BIOS.
- Update system to the latest version.
- Disable USB selective suspend setting.
- Update motherboard chipset drivers.
- Fix the system built-in drivers.
- Kill virus on the computer and external drive.
There are many useful workarounds for fixing the external hard drive not being detected in Windows 10 (how to repair hard disk not detected in Windows 7 is basically the same).
Method 1: Change a USB Port
The most direct reason why an external hard drive is not detected by computer is a broken USB port. You should try to connect the hard drive via another USB port or on another computer. If the USB device not recognized problem is solved, it is the USB port that should be blamed.
Additionally, the USB drive not showing up Windows 10 may also occur when the power supply of a USB port is not sufficient. In this case, I advise you not to use USB hubs because some of them are not able to provide enough power supply to the external hard drive.
Method 2: Check & Fix the Drive in Disk Management
Sometimes, an external hard drive not showing in Windows Explorer could appear in Disk Management. How to open Disk Management:
- Press Windows + X keys.
- Click on Disk Management option from the pop-up menu.
What prevents a drive from showing up:
- External hard drive Unallocated
- External hard drive Not Initialized
- External hard drive Offline
- No drive letter
How to fix the problem in the above 4 cases:
Case 1: create a new volume.
- Right click on the unallocated space.
- Choose New Simple Volume (or other volume types you need).
- Click on the Next button in the New Simple Volume Wizard Welcome window.
- Specify the volume size and click Next.
- Finish Assign Drive Letter or Path and click Next.
- Finish Format Partition and click Next.
- Click on the Finish button in the New Simple Volume Wizard Completing window.
- Wait for the operation to complete.
Watch how to Create Partition with MiniTool Partition Wizard.
Case 2: Initialize Disk:
- Right click on the unknown, Not Initialised disk.
- Choose Initialise Disk from the context menu.
- Choose a partition style from MBR and GPT and click on the OK button to confirm.
- Wait for the operation to complete.
Use MiniTool Partition Wizard to Initialize to MBR Disk or Initialize to GPT Disk.
Case 3: set Online:
- Right click on the disk which shows Offline.
- Choose Online from the pop-up menu.
- Wait a second.
Case 4: Change Drive Letter and Paths:
- Right click on the disk partition which has no drive letter.
- Choose Change Drive Letter and Paths from the context menu.
- Click on the Add button in the pop-up window.
- Assign a drive letter to the partition and click OK to confirm.
- Wait a second.
Change Drive Letter more easily with MiniTool Partition Wizard.
Do you want to recover your files from external hard drive not detected? If yes, please read the following tutorial.
How to recover files from external hard drive not detected?
Step 1: download MiniTool Power Data Recovery. Then, install and launch it. (To recover files from external hard drive not showing up on Mac, you need Stellar Data Recovery for Mac.)
Step 2: Choose Removable Disk Drive from the main window and select the external hard drive.
Step 3: click on the Scan button to scan the selected external hard drive.
Step 4: browse the scan results during the scan. Alternatively, you can wait until the end of the scan and then select the files you want to restore.
Step 5: press the Save button and choose another drive with enough free space to store the recovered files.
Step 6: press the OK button to confirm the selection and start external hard drive file recovery.
At last, you can check the recovered files to put an end to the recovery work.
Please read this page if your external hard drive seems dead and you need to recover important data from it:
If you are stuck in finding ways to recover files from dead external hard drive efficiently, this passage will be very helpful.
Method 3: Run Troubleshooter
For USB device not recognized in Windows, there is a useful tool to help: Hardware and Device Troubleshooter.
How to run Hardware and Device Troubleshooter:
- Open Settings the way you like.
- Choose Update and Security from Windows Settings panel.
- Go to the Troubleshoot tab.
- Scroll down to choose Hardware and Devices from the right pane.
- Click on the Run the Troubleshooter button.
- Wait for the detecting to complete.
- Once the scan is completed, Windows will list the found issues.
- You should choose the issue you want to fix and click Next.
Method 4: Fix Device Driver Problems
You can open Device Manager to check and fix the issue.
- Press Start + X keys on the keyboard.
- Choose Device Manager from the pop-up menu.
- Expand Disk drives option.
- Right click on the problematic drive.
- Choose from Update driver, Uninstall device and Properties.
- Finish the rest steps by looking at system prompt.
- The Update driver feature helps to fix the USB drive not recognized problem due to a corrupted/outdated device driver.
- The Uninstall device feature is used to uninstall your USB external hard drive with the issue. After that, you should remove the USB device from the computer and then reconnect it after at least 1 minute. This is useful when your USB driver has become unstable or corrupt.
- The Properties feature will help you further diagnose the problem by looking at the error Besides, you can choose to Roll Back Driver by shifting to Driver tab after clicking Properties.
Method 5: Reinstall USB Controllers
Also, you should open Device Manager using the above method or other ways you like. Then, finish the following steps:
- Find and expand Universal Serial Bus controllers.
- Right click on a device and choose Uninstall device from the context menu.
- Click on the Uninstall button in the pop-up window.
- Repeat step 2 and step 3 to uninstall all devices under Universal Serial Bus controllers.
- Restart your computer and Windows will install the USB controllers automatically.
Method 6: Enable Legacy USB Support
Sometimes, you may find your hard disk not detected in BIOS. This may be caused by the disabled Legacy USB Support.
How to enable USB support:
- Restart your PC.
- Press the corresponding button to enter the BIOS utility.
- Shift to Advanced tab.
- Choose USB Configuration.
- Select Legacy USB Support and set it to be Enabled.
- Exit and save changes.
Note: the process will be a little bit different on different computer motherboards.
It’s not an easy task to recover data from a hard disk that is not detected in BIOS especially when the disk is an internal one. The good news is MiniTool Power Data Recovery bootable edition provides an easy way to recover data when the PC won’t start. Webcam games mac. As for how to recover data from undetected internal hard disk step by step, please read:
If you’re stuck in the data recovery from corrupted internal hard disk, the solutions and software provided here will be of great help.
Method 7: Install the Latest Windows Updates
This method has the same functionality as the Update driver.
- Type Windows Update into the Cortana search box.
- Select Check for updates from the Best match.
- Click on the Check for updates button and wait.
- Finish the rest operations according to prompts.
If you find some files get lost after Windows Update, please use MiniTool Power Data Recovery to recover data at once.
Method 8: Disable USB Selective Suspend Setting
- Type power plan into the Cortana search box.
- Select Choose a power plan from the search result.
- Click Change plan settings next to the plan used currently.
- Click Change advanced power settings.
- Find USB settings and click on the + button to expand it.
- Click on the + button to expand USB selective suspend setting.
- Change Setting to be Disabled.
- Click on the Apply button to confirm and click on the OK button to close.
Method 9: Install the Latest Chipset Drivers for Motherboard
- Look for the documentation of your computer to find the name of the motherboard manufacturer.
- Visit the website of the manufacturer.
- Find the drivers proper for your motherboard and install it on your computer.
Method 10: Repair the System Built-in Drivers
- Press F8 or another button to enter the safe mode during the boot process; select restart or shut down the computer and power on it later to enter the normal mode (to repair the registry).
- If the problem persists, please enter safe mode again to choose System Restore in order to restore your system to an earlier point when there’s no such problem.
- If the problem persists, please use the system disk to repair; open the command prompt, enter SFC / scannow, press Enter and insert the original system disk to repair the system
- If the problem persists, please set the CD-ROM as the first boot device in the BIOS; then, insert the system installation disc and press R key to select repair installation.
- If the problem still persists, I advise you to reinstall your OS.
Method 11: Run Anti-virus Program
If your PC is attacked by virus, unfortunately, any external hard drive connected to this PC will be affected. The virus may cause the external hard drive not showing issue. Please run anti-virus software to kill the virus and get Windows 10 to recognize your external hard drive.
RECOMMENDATION:
To recover data from virus infected external hard drive, you can try using MiniTool Power Data Recovery because of its excellent performance, high security, and simple operations. How to recover files after virus attack:
I feel glad to share solutions with users to help them recover files deleted by virus attack quickly and safely.
How to Fix: External Hard Disk Detected But Not Opening
There are also some people saying that their external hard drive could be detected by Windows, but can't be opened. The most direct reason is the file system problem.
When the file system of your hard drive is not supported by Windows, you won’t be able to access the drive. For instance, Windows gives no support for the ext4 file system (designed for Linux) and the HFS + file system (designed for Mac).
After clicking on the drive, you’ll be asked to format the disk before you can use it.
- If you choose Format, you should know that all your data saved here will be lost.
- If you choose Cancel, you will see the message: The volume does not contain a recognized file system.
Actually, themost common causes are:
- The file system is damaged.
- The file system is not supported.
- The drive becomes RAW.
- The parameter is incorrect.
- The file or directory is corrupted and unreadable.
- …
2 Methods for Solving External Hard Disk Detected But Not Opening
- Run CHKDSK in Command Prompt.
- Reformat the drive by using MiniTool Partition Wizard.
There are two useful methods for fixing the external hard drive detected but not opening error: run CHKDSK and format the drive.
Method 1: run CHKDSK.
- Type cmd into the Cortana search box on the taskbar (what if Windows 10 taskbar is not working?).
- Right click on Command Prompt from the search result.
- Choose Run as administrator from the context menu.
- Choose Yes in the User Account Control window.
- Type chkdsk /r * (* stands for the drive letter) and press Enter.
- Wait for the stages to complete.
Method 2: format the drive.
Usb Flash Drive Not Recognized
- Launch MiniTool Partition Wizard.
- Select the drive with an unsupported file system.
- Choose Partition from the menu bar and choose Format from the submenu.
- Choose NTFS or FAT32 as the new file system.
- Click on the OK button to confirm.
- Press the Apply button in the main software window.
- Choose Yes in the pop-up window to apply pending changes.
- Wait for operations to complete.
- Click on the OK button in the Successful window.
Click to see Format Partition Tutorial.
Conclusion
Though it may seem strange, it is not a rare problem that the external hard drive is not showing up/recognized/detected. There are many factors that could lead to this problem. When you find that your external hard drive is not showing up in your computer, please use the methods mentioned above to help your computer recognize the hard drive. You can also refer to this post to learn how to recover data from your external hard drive in different ways.
External Hard Drive Not Showing Up FAQ
Usb Device Not Recognized
? What do I do if my external hard drive is not detected?
First of all, you should go to open the Disk Management tool on your computer. Then, browse all the drives in the list to check whether the target hard drive is displayed here. If the external hard drive is found, please format it properly to make it show up.
According to study, the USB drive could disappear due to a lot of reason. The root reason for causing that is the driver of USB is tool old, missing, or corrupted somehow. You’d better make use of the Device Manager to check the status of USB driver.
The reason why a hard drive is not recognized in computer BIOS is not so complex. Once the connection between hard drive and PC is incorrect or the data cable is damaged, you can’t find it in BIOS. The SATA cables can fall out of their connection easily.
Flash Drive Not Recognized Mac
There are many factors to cause external hard drive disappear from the computer. So the corresponding solutions are diversified. For instance, you can change a USB Port, run the troubleshooter, or update the driver of the external hard drive to try to make it appear.