6 Ways to Fix External Hard Drive Not Showing Up in Windows 11

External hard drives are among the most suitable and reliable devices for backing up our data. We often use them to transport data from one computer to another, making it essential for them to function properly. They are very simple to use: just connect them to your computer with a USB cable, and they typically appear on your computer, allowing you to copy or delete files as needed. However, if your computer cannot detect your HDD, several issues might be causing this problem. Here are some steps you can follow to troubleshoot and potentially fix the issue. Follow this post and you will find out how to fix a external drive not showing up on your computer.

• 1. Check the Basic Physical Connections
• 2. Check Disk Management
• 3. Initialize and Format the Drive
• 4. Update Hard Drive Drivers
• 5. Check for Hardware Issues
• 6. Check Power Management Settings

Check the Basic Physical Connections

Before diving into technical fixes, start with these simple checks:

Ensure that the USB cables are securely connected to your external hard drive and computer.

Plug your external drive into another computer to see if it is detected. This helps determine if the problem is with the drive or the computer.

Sometimes, the issue might be with the USB cable. Use a different cable to rule out this possibility.

Initialize and Format the Drive

If the drive is new or corrupted, it might need to be initialized or formatted. Note that this will erase all data on the drive, so proceed with caution.

Open Disk Management : Press Win + X and select "Disk Management."

Look for the new hard drive. It may appear as "Unallocated" or "Not Initialized."

Initialize the Drive : If the drive is not initialized, right-click on it and select "Initialize Disk."

Choose either MBR (Master Boot Record) or GPT (GUID Partition Table). GPT is recommended for drives larger than 2TB.

Create a New Volume : Right-click on the unallocated space and select "New Simple Volume."

Follow the wizard to format the drive and assign it a drive letter.

Check Disk Management

Windows 11's Disk Management tool can help you identify if the drive is recognized but not showing up in File Explorer.

Assign Drive Letter : Sometimes the drive might be detected but not assigned a drive letter.

In Disk Management, right-click on the drive and select "Change Drive Letter and Paths," then assign a new drive letter.

Update Hard Drive Drivers

Open Device Manager : Press Win + X and select "Device Manager."

Expand "Disk drives" and see if your new hard drive is listed.

Right-click on the drive and select "Update driver."

You can choose to automatically search for available updates on Windows. However, if you have the relevant hard drive drivers on hand, you can also update the drivers manually.

Check for Hardware Issues

If none of the above solutions work, the problem might be with the drive itself.

Download Diagnostic Tools: Visit the hard drive manufacturer's website and download any available diagnostic tools to test the drive.

Check Power Management Settings

Power management settings can sometimes disable USB ports to save power, causing your external drive not to be detected.

Open Device Manager : Right-click the Start button and select "Device Manager."

Expand the "Universal Serial Bus controllers" section.

Right-click "USB Root Hub" and select "Properties."

Go to the "Power Management" tab.

Uncheck "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power."

Click "OK."

That's all, now you can see that your external hard drive is back online. Hope this post can provide a little help to you!