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How do I fix Windows not recognizing my external hard drive?

Jeremy Anderson

How do I fix Windows not recognizing my external hard drive?

External Drive Not Showing Up or Detected? 6 Fixes to Try

  1. Make Sure Your External Drive Turns On. This is a preliminary step, but still one worth checking.
  2. Check the Drive in Disk Management.
  3. Try Another USB Port and Computer.
  4. Troubleshoot Device Driver Issues.
  5. Create a New Drive Volume.
  6. Format the External Drive.

Why is my external hard drive not being detected?

Hard drive not detected error/issue can be caused by the following situations: The USB driver has become unstable, outdated, or corrupt. USB ports become faulty, damaged, or broken. Partition issues on your external USB device.

How do I fix an unrecognized USB hard drive?

If the drive still isn’t working, unplug it and try a different USB port. It’s possible the port in question is failing, or just being finicky with your specific drive. If it’s plugged into a USB 3.0 port, try a USB 2.0 port. If it’s plugged into a USB hub, try plugging it directly into the PC instead.

How do I fix an undetected external hard drive using command prompt?

How to repair external hard disks using CMD?

  1. chkdsk G: (replace H with the drive letter of your external hard drive)
  2. chkdsk G: /f (“/f” is a CHKDSK parameter that will check and try to fix logical errors on the hard disk)
  3. chkdsk G: /f /x /r (“/r” will search for bad sectors and restore any usable data.

How do I find my external hard drive using cmd?

Run CHKDSK From Command Prompt To open the Command Prompt, type “cmd” on the Windows 8 Start screen and click “Command Prompt.” Type the following into Command Prompt and press “Enter” to run the disk check: chkdsk /f E: Replace the letter E with the letter corresponding to your external hard drive.

When I plug in a flash drive nothing happens?

Check that the USB port is not defective. If you have multiple devices connected, it can happen that your USB port does not deliver enough power to the flash drive, in that case, try using a USB HUB having external power supply.