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There are many reasons why your ‘External Drive Not Showing Up’ Issue when you connect it to your computer. Sometimes the problem is just a small bit of corruption that can be fixed with a quick scan. When you plug an external hard drive into your Mac’s USB port, it usually mounts on the desktop right away.
But an external hard drive doesn’t always show up. It’s frustrating, especially if you need to send something right away. Also, there is a chance that the data on the external USB pen, hard drive, or flash drive is corrupt, which means you can’t transfer what you need between devices at all. More and more people are using external hard drives.
They are perfect for work and for putting important things away. Both of them are easy to use. This is because all you have to do to get them to show up is connect them to your Windows PC or MacBook. Because of this, a lot of people store their important things on hard drives so that they can get to them later. We mentioned below are the ways to fix ‘External Drive Not Showing Up’ Issue on windows and Mac.
How To Fix ‘External Drive Not Showing Up’ Issue on windows
Assign a Drive Letter for the Drive
The SSD might not show up if its drive letter is missing or if it conflicts with another disc. This problem can be fixed by giving the SSD a different drive letter in Windows Disk Management. With the help of the steps below, you can indeed assign or set it up:
Step 1: Open Disk Management and right-click on the partition that doesn’t have a drive letter. Now, choose Change Drive Letter and Paths from the menu that comes up when you right-click.
Step 2: Tap the “Add” button on the “Change Drive Letter and Paths” box. This will bring up another box.
Step 3: In the new box that pops up, choose “Assign the following drive letter” and pick a letter from the list. Once you’ve chosen the letter, click the OK button. The partition will then be given the letter you chose.
Check BIOS
If the hard drive isn’t enabled correctly in BIOS, you need to check or make sure that it is.
- Restart your computer. Click F2 or DEL a few times when the Windows logo comes up to get into the BIOS interface.
- See if the hard drive is on the list of all drives that are connected. If it doesn’t show up, it might be because the hard drive isn’t hooked up right.
- You may have turned off the hard drive before in BIOS. You can check if it is turned on or if the hard drive it is going to is turned on. If not, let it happen, leave the BIOS, and start the system back up.
Update Drivers
Since an out-of-date device driver could also be the cause, it’s best to update it by following the steps below, which are provided by the drive’s manufacturer:
Update Drivers through Windows Update
- On your search bar, type Settings and click on Update & Security.
- Choose Windows Update and then click the Check for updates selection.
- Wait until the update is done. If a new update is added to the Windows Update service, it will automatically download and install itself.
Update Drivers through Device Manager
- On the search box, type “Device Manager.”
- Expand the branch to look for the hard drive in question.
- Finally, right-click and choose the “Update driver” option to proceed.
Check if Disk Is Connected Properly
It’s important to double-check how your hard drive is hooked up to your PC. Make sure that the cables that connect the hard drive to the power supply or motherboard are in place. If the data cables are swapped or lost, the system won’t be able to find the hard drive.
Do not try to plug or unplug any cables on the drive if you do not know how to check wires. Instead, get a professional to look at your computer.
Initialize Disk
You can try disc initialization if you think the error is caused by a broken file or a system that is not supported. To do this, follow the steps below:
- Open the “Disk Management” tool first. You can press Win+X and choose Disk Management, or you can press Win+X and type “diskmgmt.msc” in the run box.
- In the Disk Management window, you can see a list of all the hard drives that are connected to the computer. Choose the drive that isn’t being used and doesn’t have a name. Right-click on it and pick “Initialize Disk” from the menu.
- A prompt will ask you if you want the hard drive to have a GUID Partition Table (GPT) or a Master Boot Record (MBR). Choose one, and then click OK. (Usually, GPT is suggested, but you can learn more about these two options online before deciding.)
- The window will change to the Disk Management window. Right-click on the “Online and Basic” listing for the hard drive that has already been set up. Pick Simple New Volume. Select Next.
- Give the drive a letter and click Next.
- Follow the steps in the wizard to set up the drive as a simple volume. Most people like the NFTS file system better. Do a quick formatting. The File Explorer will show the hard drive when the progress is done.
- If you still can’t find the hard drive, try turning your computer off and on again.
Connect the Hard Drive in Another Port
A broken hard drive could be caused by bad wiring or broken ports. Connect your hard drive to a different SATA port on the motherboard of your PC. If the hard drive is still not found after doing this, the problem may be with the cables. You can try swapping out the old cables for new ones and seeing if the drive is now listed as connected.
Do not try to do this method on your own if you don’t know anything about hard drive cables and ports. It would be better to talk to someone who knows their way around computers if you don’t want to do more damage to your system.
Run Hardware and Devices Troubleshooter
Running the hardware troubleshooter on Windows can fix a lot of problems, like a hard drive that isn’t being seen. Follow the steps below:
Step 1: Select Settings > Update & Security from the Start menu.
Step 2: Tap Troubleshoot on the left panel, and then look for the Hardware and Device option on the right panel. Tap the Run the troubleshooter button after you’ve chosen Hardware and Devices.
Step 3. Now, a window will open to look at all the hardware problems. After this step, just follow the steps in the wizard to finish the process correctly. All done! Running the Hardware and Devices Troubleshooter was all it took to fix a hard drive that wasn’t showing up on Windows 11 or 10. But if this didn’t help you, keep reading!!
How To Fix ‘External Drive Not Showing Up’ Issue on Mac
Restart your Mac and reconnect the external drive slowly and deliberately
The USB cables and ports might not be broken at all. The external drive might not show up on your Mac because of a temporary bug or because the operating system is slow. Before the disc is fully mounted, the OS may sometimes check it.
You can take the external drive out of the computer and wait a minute. Then, restart your Mac and slowly plug the external drive back into your Mac to see if it shows up in your Finder this time. If that doesn’t work, try the next idea.
Check the USB port
Maybe the USB port on the Mac is broken, so the external drive, like a Seagate hard drive, can’t be seen by the Mac. As a comparison test, you can try connecting the external hard drive to the USB port of another Mac.
Check the hard drive’s USB ports as well. Sometimes the external drive doesn’t show up because the SATA connection is broken. If you need to, you can ask a professional to help you open the hard drive case and take a look.
Edit your preferences to display external drives
Sometimes the external hard drive doesn’t show up because your Mac isn’t set up to do so. If you can’t find an external hard drive on your Mac, you can use Finder to find it. If you have macOS Monterey, Big Sur, Catalina, Mojave, or an earlier version, follow these steps to make an external HDD appear on the desktop and in the Finder window:
Step 1: Go to Finder > Preferences > General tab and select “External disks” to make external hard drives show on the desktop.
Step 2: Go to Finder > Preferences > Sidebar and make sure the “External disks” under “Locations” is ticked. Then your external hard drive will appear in a Finder window.
Step 3: Go to the Desktop or Finder and look to see if your external hard drive is there. If not, download and install our data recovery app on your Mac, and then open the app to see if your external hard drive is listed.
Step 4: If your external hard drive shows up in the recovery app, follow the steps in the wizard to get your data back. After the data recovery is done, format the external hard drive.
Check the connections of the external hard drive
USB cables and ports are used to connect external hard drives like the Buffalo MiniStation, WD, Samsung, Seagate, and Lacie to a Mac. But if the connection fails, macOS Monterey or any other OS won’t be able to see your external drive.
Ensure the drive cable has sufficient power
To light up, spin, and move data, an external hard drive needs electricity. So, the external hard drive won’t show up on Mac if it doesn’t have enough power. You can check the power supply by doing these things.
- For desktop external hard drives like the Seagate Backup Plus and the WD Elements Desktop, make sure the power adaptor that came with the hard drive is plugged into a power outlet.
- Make sure the USB ports on portable USB external hard drives aren’t loose, dusty, deformed, or wobbly. Dirty or loosely connected USB ports can cause a short circuit, which means the external hard drive won’t show up on your Mac. If one USB port doesn’t work or can’t provide enough power, you can try a different one because each one can fail on its own.
- Two things to keep in mind if you are working on a MacBook, MacBook Air, or MacBook Pro.
- Make sure your Mac isn’t set to use less power. If there isn’t enough power going to the USB ports, external hard drives won’t work right.
- Next, if your Mac has Thunderbolt 3 ports, make sure the USB hub and USB-C adapter work. Even though a real USB Type C adapter is better, connecting the Thunderbolt portable hard drive for Mac directly to your Mac will cause fewer problems.
Send the external drive for repair
Connect another external hard drive to your MacBook, Mac mini, or whatever model you have. If it works on your Mac, it means that the external hard drive that doesn’t show up on your Mac is broken. Most of the time, you can send it to a repair shop near you to get a quote right away.
Also, some Mac users have said that after installing macOS 12 Monterey, an external hard drive can’t be found. You can update the drivers and software in the App store, but most of the time you will need to go to Apple support official site to get help.
FAQ
Why is my external drive not showing up Windows?
There are several things that could cause this problem: problems with the partitions on the external drive, using the wrong file system, dead USB ports, or driver problems in Windows. In the worst case, the drive itself might not work.
Why would a computer not recognize an external drive?
Windows could be missing updates that fix hardware or software problems. It’s possible that your USB controllers have become unstable or broken. It’s possible that your external drive is going into selective suspend. The drivers for your PC motherboard may need to be updated.
What to do if hard disk is not detected?
In Windows 11 File Explorer, right-click “This PC” and choose “Manage.” Right-click your new hard disc and go to “Disk Management.” Choose “Initialize Disk” from the menu. In the dialogue box, choose the disc you want to initialise and the partition type (MBR or GPT).