Imagine a situation. You enjoy a beautiful day alone or with your loved ones, performing your daily tasks and minding your business. You open your computer and insert a pen drive, but the computer can’t find the USB, and suddenly, the beautiful day turns into a nightmare. You are left flabbergasted, wondering, “Why is my USB not showing in Windows?”
Have you ever faced a situation like this and are at a loss for ideas, hoping to find a solution to mitigate your problem? If yes, look no further; we have brought you this article where you will find detailed step-by-step methods to help you find the root cause of the problem and help you solve the issue of the connected USB drive not showing up in the Windows system.
Diagnose the USB drive.
When you face the problem of your pen drive not being detected in Windows, the first thing you should do is to find the root cause of the problem. Is your pen drive the problem, or is the issue with the computer in use? To figure this out, try these simple troubleshooting solutions.
- Try connecting the USB drive to a different Computer
- Try changing the USB ports
- If you use a USB Connector, connect the USB drive directly to the computer.
Suppose you have tried all these troubleshooting solutions and found out where the issue is. In that case, the next thing you would want to do is figure out whether the pen drive is not showing in File Explorer but is showing in Disk Management or whether the USB drive is not showing in either File Explorer or Disk Management. Depending on the case, the cause of your problem and the approach to deal with it may vary.
To open the Disk Management window on your Windows computer, right-click on the start menu and select Disk Management. Alternatively, you can search for Disk Management in the Windows search bar on your Toolbar.
Scenario 1: When the USB drive is not showing in File Explorer but shows up in Disk Management
The first scenario may be where your USB drive is not showing in File Manager but shows up in the Disk Management window. It may appear with format-protected partitions, as an unallocated space, or as RAW.
Why is my USB drive not showing in Windows File Explorer but showing up in Disk Management?
Several possible factors can lead to this type of scenario. These include.
- There is no Drive letter assigned to the USB drive, or there is a drive letter conflict.
- The space in the USB drive needs to be properly formatted.
- The file system of the USB drive is corrupted or not compatible with Windows.
- The USB drive is set as Hidden Drive in File Explorer.
- The USB port is damaged.
- The USB drive got infected by a virus or malware.
- There are file explorer glitches or errors.
- The partition table in the USB is damaged.
There are methods to resolve the problem for each case.
Methods to fix USB Drive not showing in File Explorer but show up in Disk Management
There are various methods to solve the issue of a pen drive not showing in Windows in this scenario, catering to each cause of the problem.
Method 1 Update Windows Operating System
If your Windows Operating system is outdated, it may fail to recognize external devices like USB drives. So, before doing anything else, you first want to check if your Operating system is up to date. To update your OS, follow the steps.
- Go to your Windows search bar in your Toolbar.
- Search “Search for Updates” and press enter.
- A window will open. If there are any updates available, they will be displayed here. Press Install now if updates are present.
- When the Updates are downloaded and installed, restart the computer.
Restart the computer and verify if the problem has been resolved. Updating your operating system also resolves file explorer errors, which is also one of the causes of the pen drive not showing in File Explorer.
Method 2: Update your USB Drive Driver
If the first method does not work and you observe that the USB Drive is not showing in File Explorer but shows up as unallocated space in disk management, you should update your USB drive driver. Follow the steps.
- Press Windows + R. Enter the command Control Panel in the window that pops up, and press enter.
- Go to the Hardware and Sounds tab. Under Devices and Printer, you can find Device Manager. Open it.
Note– Alternatively, you can directly search for Device Manager in the Windows search toolbar and open it.
- Expand Disk drives.
- Right-click on the problematic USB drive from the list of drives.
- Click on the Update driver option.
- Select Search automatically for drivers.
Method 3: Create a New Simple Volume
If your pen drive shows unallocated space even after updating your disk driver, creating a new simple volume is advised to prepare the drive for data storage. To create a new simple volume, follow the following steps.
- Right-click on the Windows key. Select Disk Management.
- The USB drive is showing as unallocated space. Right-click on the unallocated space and select New Simple Volume.
- A New Simple Volume wizard will open. Enter Next and finish the process.
Check if the USB drive is now visible in File Explorer.
Method 4: Assign a new letter to USB Drive
Sometimes, the problem of the pen drive not showing in File Explorer may arise because one of the drives on the system may have the same letter assigned to it as the name assigned to the USB drive. In this case, the problem can be solved easily by simply assigning a new letter to the USB drive. Follow the steps to do so.
- Right-click on the Windows key. Select Disk Management.
- Right-click on the USB drive volume and select Change Drive letter and Paths.
- On the new popup window, select Change. From the list of letters, assign a new letter and finish the process.
The problem would have been solved.
Method 5 Use Diskpart to clean protected partitions from the drive
Another reason this problem arises is when multiple unwanted hidden partitions are created, which can make the volume unusable. In such a situation, it is essential to remove these hidden partitions to solve the problem.
You can use Disk Management to delete the partitions, but the problem is that it will also delete the data stored in the volume. Additionally, the Delete Volume option is sometimes greyed out in disk management. Hence, we advise you to use Diskpart. It might seem complicated, but following these simple steps will be a piece of cake.
Note– This method involves the final step of formatting the drive. Formatting will remove all data from the drive. You should use data recovery tools to recover data from the drive before formatting. You can use Remo Recover Software for the same or if you accidentally formatted the drive.
- Click Windows + R. Enter Diskpart and press enter.
- Enter command list disks. A list of all the disks will appear. Based on the storage space of the USB, you can identify where the USB drive is on the list.
- Enter the command select disk #, where # is the number assigned to the USB drive in the list.
- Enter the command list partition. This will list all the partitions present on the drive.
- Enter the command select partition n, where n is the number assigned to any particular partition on the list.
- Enter the command delete partition.
- Repeat steps 5 and 6 to delete all hidden partitions.
- Close diskpart.
- Now, the drive should be ready to be formatted. You can use the drive after formatting.
Method 6 Format Drive to fix File System Errors
In some cases, when you use a drive-in different system like Mac and Linux, and the drive is not properly formatted for reasons like not ejecting the drive properly, etc., The Windows operating system will fail to recognize the file system. Hence, the USB is not showing in File Explorer. To remove this, you can simply format the drive and assign a new file system like NTFS or FAT32, which Windows can read.
Note– This method involves formatting the drive. Formatting will remove all data from the drive. You should use data recovery tools to recover data from the drive before formatting. You can use Remo Recover Software for the same or if you accidentally formatted the drive.
- Right-click on the Windows key. Select Disk Management.
- Right-click on the USB drive volume and select Format.
- Select the new file system (NTFS, exFAT, FAT32) and finish the process.
- The drive would be formatted and should now be visible.
Scenario 2: When the USB drive is not showing in either File Explorer or Disk Management
The other scenario may be where the USB drive is not showing in both File Explorer and Disk Management.
Why is my USB drive not showing in Disk Management and File Explorer?
The possible causes of this problem may include
- Physical damage to the drive.
- The drive gets infected with viruses and malware.
- Faulty cable or port.
- The flash drive is not enabled in BIOS;
- The flash drive driver is outdated;
- There are some bad sectors on the flash drive
Methods to fix USB not showing in File Explorer and Disk Management
You should consider following various methods if you cannot find the connected USB Drive in the File Explorer or the Disk Management.
Method 1: Check USB port and Device Compatibility
In some cases, when the USB port is damaged, the BIOS cannot detect the USB drive. Some new 3.0 USBs with their advanced technology may require more power, and the USB port of your device may not be compatible with it due to older hardware versions. Hence, it is important to try using the USB drive via different ports. If the problem persists, the issue is not with the port, and you should move to the next method.
Method 2: Enable Flash Drive in BIOS
If the flash drive is not enabled in System Setup (BIOS), your USB drive will not display in either File Explorer or Disk Management. So, it is important to enable flash drives in BIOS. This can be achieved easily by following the steps.
- Restart your computer.
- Press F2 before the Windows logo pops up to enter the BIOS setup program.
- On the left pane, select Settings> System Configuration> USB configuration.
- Select the check box Enable External USB Port and save the settings.
- Exit the BIOS Setup program and restart your computer.
Method 3: Update the USB Drive Driver
If your USB drive driver is not up to date, it may cause the USB drive not to show in the file explorer or sometimes even in disk management. In such cases, simply updating the USB drive driver will resolve your issue. To do so, follow the steps.
- Open Control Panel.
- Go to the Hardware and Sounds tab. Under Devices and Printer, you can find Device Manager. Open it.
- Expand Disk drives.
- Right-click on the problematic USB drive from the list of drives.
- Click on the Update driver option.
- Select Search automatically for drivers.
Note– Even when the USB drive is not visible in Disk Management, it will show up in Device Manager if the port is not damaged and the external USB is enabled in BIOS.
Once the USB drive driver is updated, restart your computer and try using your USB again.
Method 4: Repair Bad Sectors on the Drive using CHKDSK
If there are some bad sectors on your USB drive, it may lead to USB not appearing in disk management or file explorer. If this is the case, repairing these bad sectors can quickly resolve your problem. To do that, all you have to do is follow these simple steps.
- In the Windows search toolbar, search for Command Prompt. Select the option Run as Administrator.
- In the new pop-up window, enter the command chkdsk #:/f, where # is the letter assigned to your USB flash drive.
- Enter the command and hit the Enter key. It will automatically search and fix bad sectors present on the drive.
If the issue persists, or if you formatted your flash drive. And now, it can also be achieved if you want to extract your data.
How do you recover data from a USB drive that is undetected?
Windows has its tool for data recovery, also known as Windows File Recovery, but it is not very user-friendly and runs only on Windows 10 and 11.
So, if you are looking for a safe solution, specialized data recovery tools like Remo Recover Software can help you. Remo is a reliable and safe-to-use tool with the most user-friendly interface to help users with minimal or no technical knowledge about computers, storage devices, and file systems. Additionally, the tool can work flawlessly with all the newer and older versions of Windows OS.
Here is how to use Remo Recover to regain your USB drive data.
- Download and Install Remo Recover Software.
- Launch the tool and Select the USB Drive from where you want to recover the data. Click on the Scan button.
- Click on the Dynamic Recovery View option as the quick scan completes and the deep scan is in progress. This feature lets you easily view the recovered files without waiting until the entire scanning process is completed.
- You can now Preview the recovered USB drive data.
- Select the files or the data that you want to recover. Click on Recover and select the destination where you would like to save the files. Press Save.
Logical Data recovery is always preferred, but if it is not working, you may have to move on to physical data recovery. You would require help from professional data recovery services, which will take your drive and recover raw data from the drive.
Precautions to prevent the issue from recurring
You can take several precautions so that you do not have to face such an issue in the future.
- Always use the option to safely eject the device before physically removing it. Do so to prevent the USB drive’s file system from getting corrupted or bad sectors from forming on the USB drive.
- Do not be forceful when inserting or removing the pen drive. Doing so can damage the USB port or the USB drive physically.
- Always keep the USB plug covered when not in use. Although USB drives are comparatively resilient to physical damage, the USB plug is still sensitive.
- Always connect your USB drive to secure, trustworthy devices to prevent virus or malware attacks.
- When using a drive between different operating systems, ensure the drive is properly formatted with compatible file systems to prevent file system errors.
Conclusion
In conclusion, we have covered every aspect of the problem of USB drives not showing on Windows and the precautions you should take to prevent this problem from recurring. We believe we have fully equipped you with all the necessary information to help you resolve the problem of USB drives not getting detected and merrily continue your day.
