Ashwani Tiwari | Modified: July 30th, 2020 | Windows Error
'Are you looking for an alternative to resolve the issue i.e., external hard drive not showing up in disk management. Here, we generate some troubleshooting tips and tricks to teach you how to solve external hard drive won't show up in disk management in Windows 10, 8, 7, etc.'
When a system will not recognize an external hard drive not showing up appropriately, you must follow some perquisites for that issue. At the same time, identify the root of the cumbersome problem and find corresponding alternative solutions. Sometimes, the user may face an occurrence of issue i.e., external hard drive not showing up in disk management. Unlike, the hard disk that ships with an off-the-shelf local machine, extra hard drives you buy are not always shipped formatted and ready to utilize.
Open Disk Management through the Start menu. Right-click on your external drive's icon. If you find unallocated space, then click on New Simple Volume and click on Next. Assign a letter to the drive and click on Next. My Western Digital External Hard Drive Won't Start. Backing up important data provides essential access to business files and records in the event of a system failure or disaster. While backing up files to secondary internal drive protects against failure of the primary disk, saving important data to a removable.
Alternatively, hard drives are in a totally blank slate, the idea is that the end-user will do what they require to do with their drive. So, there is no advantage to pre-formatting or otherwise changing the drive at the factory. When you put the drive in your local system, Windows simply waits for you to decide what you want to do. With the hard drive place of automatically formatting and adding it to the driver record.
If you have never added a hard drive to your computer before, then it can be very confusing when it appears like the drive is not showing up. Have no issue and do not panic, though! It is simple to bring your hard drive out of missing. Also, easily resolve the issue external hard drive not showing in disk management.
Sometimes, when you plug in your external hard drive, you may find that it is completely not recognized or showing up on your computer. The problem occurs most of the time and can finally result in data loss. Until now, external hard drive not showing up issue has made trouble for a large number of users. In view of this, we have collected some troubleshooting solutions on this write-up.
Fix External Hard Drive Not Showing Up in Disk Management
A user can easily repair this issue i.e., external hard drive not showing up in disk management. In this segment, we are will be going to discuss the best method to resolve disk not showing issue and automated solutions to recover lost files.
Steps to Fix External Hard Drive Not Showing in Disk Management
This is a free solution to repair external hard drive not showing up in disk management. Simply follow below-outlined steps to get a better outcome:
Step: 1. First of all, Connect or Reconnect your External Hard Drive
- Plug in the USB cable and then remove, if it is not showing up appropriately
Step: 2. Initialize External Hard Drive
- Initially, navigate to the start menu and right-click on Disk Management option.
- Now, find your external hard disk which is displays as unknown. After that right-click on it and choose Initialize Disk.
- At last, opt the partition style for the specified disk – MBR or GPT, then click on OK.
The Automated solution to Get Lost Files Back
As if the above-stated manual solution is capable to fix external hard drive not showing in disk management. If you lost your valuable data due to any reason. Then try this effective software named as Hard Drive Data Recovery Wizard. With the help of this utility, a user can easily restore all lost files. This tool facilitates an understandable user interface. So, a novice user also performs the task without taking professional help. Moreover, this tool is capable enough to perform the procedure without any hindrance.
External Hard Drive Not Showing Up in Disk Management – User's Query
Go through the below-outlined scenario's that will help you to understand more about this common issue. The following listed queries are taken from the forum site:
'I just bought a Seagate 5TB hard drive so, I could utilize it in addition to my Windows 2TB hard drive. That is the prime hard drive I had when I first build my computer. After I installed my hard drive, I found that it displays up in my BIOS, but it does not appear in Disk Management. What should I do in this situation?. Please facilitates me with an effective method to fix Seagate external hard drive not showing up in disk management. Thanks.'
'When I plug my WD external hard drive. I hear a sound it means the disk fine as normal. But it will not appears in either my computer or disk management. I have tried re-scanning the disk management, as well as each & every single USB port on my laptop. I can not assign it a drive letter, because seriously nothing shows up. I was hoping to format this hard drive. But I do not want to perform highly technical steps. Because I am a novice user. So, please provide me an easy to use the method to resolve WD external hard drive not showing in disk management in Windows 10. Any help much appreciated.'
'I have a brand new external hard drive but it will not show up on my PC (including the disk management segment of computer management). I am running a gateway p-7805u with Windows 10 and the hard disk is the inside of a western digital my book. The power supply failed, and I took it out to put the drive in a Seagate external Hard drive. When I plug the Hard drive into my computer through the USB cable, it makes the noise that computers make when something gets plugged in. Moreover, I am unable to find it anywhere on my computer. Can you please give me an alternative to fixing hard disk not showing in computer issue. Thanks a lot.'
Summing Up
The most common query i.e., external hard drive not showing up in disk management. We have taken into consideration, and come up with an efficient guide. We emphasize, on the manual solution and an automated technique to resolve the issue. A user can go with any method as per their desire.
Summary :
External hard drive not showing up? Windows doesn't recognize external hard drive? How to make such drives appear in Windows so as to access the files in it? In this post, we show you the most feasible solutions as well as more approaches that could help you recover data from external hard drive not appear.
Quick Navigation :
While scanning forums, we find so many users are bothered with the external hard drive not showing up issue. Here is one typical case we extract from ccm.net:
Q: Seagate external hard drive not showing up in my computer
My 320 GB Seagate external hard drive is detected but not showing up in my computer. In cmd> diskpart> list volume it does not show up. In Device Manager it gets detected. In Disk Management it shows up as 'unallocated'. If I initialize it, will I lose all data on the drive? It had 4 partitions. In My Computer also it does not show up. Even BIOS recognizes it. What to do? I don't want to lose any data on the drive. If I initialize it in device manager will I lose data?
Wd Drive Won't Show
Are you also troubled by hard drive not showing up? Have you got the effective workaround? If not, we give you 10 possible reasons as well as solutions to help you address this issue.
A USB flash drive may also fail to be recognized by Windows 10, but don't worry, you can fix the problem and recover data from it in most cases.
You might also be interested in Hard Drive Space Is Missing? Take These Ways to Find It out
Case 1. The hard drive is not initialized
This usually applies to new hard drive not showing up. If you are using a brand new hard drive, please check out if this hard drive needs initializing. You may go to Windows Disk Management and have a check. If Disk Management shows the disk as 'unknown/not initialized' and pops up a window asking you to initialize it, this new hard drive really needs initialization before you can use it. Then, you will have to create new partitions on it to make the new hard drive appear on computer.
To make things easy, use MiniTool Partition Wizard to help you. Detailed steps are shown below:
Step 1. Run MiniTool Partition and choose Create Partition.
In this main interface of this free partition manager, distinguish the new hard drive by viewing the hard drive information. Since a new drive has no partition, please select the unallocated space and choose Create Partition from the action panel.
Step 2. Customize the new partition.
In the pop-up window, specify the partition label, partition type, drive letter, file system, cluster size, and partition size. Then click OK.
Step 3. Click Apply on the top left corner to start.
When you have created new partitions on the new drive, go to File Explorer to check. These should remove new hard drive not showing up error.
Case 2. The hard drive has no drive letter
External hard drive not showing up also occurs when the partition on the external hard drive has no drive letter. To make the hard drive show up, you just run MiniTool Partition Wizard and add a drive letter to it.
- At the disk map, select the partition that has no drive letter and choose Change Drive Letter from the action panel.
- In the pop-up window, drop down the drive letter box and choose a drive letter you like. Then press OK button.
- Back to the main interface of MiniTool Partition Wizard, Click Apply on the tool bar to put this operation into effect.
Case 3. Hard drive is hidden
If the hard drive is hidden by some partition manager, it won't appear in File Explorer. However, this time you cannot fix this issue by simply add a drive letter to it. You should use that specific partition manager or MiniTool Partition Wizard to unhide that partition.
But how do you know the hard drive is hidden or not? Usually, hidden drives also have no drive letter, but cannot be fixed by adding a drive letter. You can open Disk Management, right-click the partition that has no drive letter, and see whether the feature 'Change Drive Letter and Path…' is greyed out.
If this feature is greyed out indeed, you can use MiniTool Partition Wizard to help.
- In the main interface of MiniTool Partition Wizard Free, select the hidden partition and choose Unhide Partition from the action panel.
- Select a drive letter from the pop-up window and then click OK. Step 3. Press Apply at the tool bar.
Case 4. Partitions are lost
If all partitions on the external hard drive are lost due to some reasons like virus attack and corrupted partition table, the external hard drive not showing issue occurs. In this case, the first trying is to recover all lost partitions by using MiniTool Partition Wizard Pro (not supported in the Free Edition).
Step 1. Go to Partition Recovery feature.
Run MiniTool Partition Wizard to the main interface. Then right-click the external hard drive and choose Partition Recovery from the tool bar.
If this feature is greyed out indeed, you can use MiniTool Partition Wizard to help.
- In the main interface of MiniTool Partition Wizard Free, select the hidden partition and choose Unhide Partition from the action panel.
- Select a drive letter from the pop-up window and then click OK. Step 3. Press Apply at the tool bar.
Case 4. Partitions are lost
If all partitions on the external hard drive are lost due to some reasons like virus attack and corrupted partition table, the external hard drive not showing issue occurs. In this case, the first trying is to recover all lost partitions by using MiniTool Partition Wizard Pro (not supported in the Free Edition).
Step 1. Go to Partition Recovery feature.
Run MiniTool Partition Wizard to the main interface. Then right-click the external hard drive and choose Partition Recovery from the tool bar.
Step 2. Choose scanning range.
Select the scanning range such as the full disk, the unallocated space only or specify the scanning range and click Next. It is recommended to choose 'Full Disk' or 'Unallocated Space' if you do now know the specific starting LBA and ending LBA for the lost partitions.
Step 3. Set the scanning range.
Choose Quick Scan first. If this does not work for you, the go back to choose Full Scan.
Step 4. Check all partitions you need.
After a while, MiniTool Partition Wizard will list all partitions it has found. Here you can double-click a partition in the list to check the files in it. After confirmation, check all partitions you want to restore. Please note that partitions not checked will be lost and MiniTool Partition Wizard cannot help you that time.
Step 5. Confirm the operation by hitting Apply.
If MiniTool Partition Wizard fails to find the lost partitions for you, you can try professional data recovery software which helps recover data from lost partitions. Luckily, MiniTool Partition Wizard Pro Ultimate just comes with such a powerful function. And you may just follow the guide below to have a try.
Step 1. Go to Data Recovery.
After installing this data recovery software, run it to get the main interface. Then right-click the partition of the external hard drive to choose Data Recovery.
Step 2. Check files you need.
MiniTool Partition Wizard will immediately start the scanning process and list the found files as well. During this process, you can unfold each partition folders to check what files are the one you need. Please make use of the Preview feature to help you determine when it comes to TXT files and images. However, to get the best disk recovery result, it is recommended to wait for the completion of the scanning.
Step 3. Save files.
Tick the ones you need and press Save to store the selected files to a safe location. Note that you should choose another disk instead of the external hard drive to be recovered.
When you have finished data recovery, you can recreate new partition on the drive to cope with hard drive won't show up issue.
Case 5. Unsupported or RAW file system
If the external hard drive has unsupported files system or hard disk become RAW, the partition bar won't show up in Windows File Explorer. You can only see the drive icon and drive letter there. If you try to access the drive, Windows requires formatting.
To fix this issue, you need to recover data from the external hard drive first, and then reformat the hard drive with FAT/NTFS file system. Please refer to Case 4 and use MiniTool Power Data Recovery (Damaged Partition Recovery) to help you recover data. Then use MiniTool Partition Wizard Free Edition to do the formatting.
Case 6. Drive not enabled in the BIOS
If hard drive is not showing up in Disk Management and Device Manager, it may be because it is not enabled in System Setup (BIOS). Some motherboard manufacturers disable unused ports in the BIOS by default, which is the common reason for the 2nd hard drive not showing up in Windows 10/8/7. You will need to enter BIOS to verify their current states and make sure all hard drives are enabled. Note that different computer manufacturers have different methods to enter system BIOS, please check your system documentation for specifics.
Case 7. Faulty cable or port
If the data cable is damaged or the connection is incorrect, the BIOS will not detect the SATA cables and can sometimes fall out of their connection. Be sure to check your SATA cables are tightly connected to the SATA port connection. The easiest way to test a cable is to replace it with another cable. If the problem persists, then the cable is not the cause of the problem.
Case 8. Troubleshoot drivers
Usually, Windows offers hard drive drivers and the manufacturer of your SSD may also have released some drivers to support your disk. However, it is possible that they are the causes of your hard drive not showing up problem. If the driver you use is outdated or problematic, you need to disable or uninstall it. If you are not familiar with the process, use professional driver tool to help you get rid of the worries.
Case 9. Virus attack
Some malware or viruses can lead to hard drive not showing up issue. It is possible that there are such malware or viruses on your computer. In this case, please run security software on your computer to scan out and remove these malicious programs. Then, check if Windows doesn't recognize external hard drive issue still persists.
Case 10. Faulty hard drive
If you have completed the above checks and the external hard drive is still not showing on your computer, you should send the hard drive to repair center and check whether it fails. If it is still in the warranty, please proceed to begin a warranty replacement.
Ubuntu 17 10 download for 32 bit. We also recommend reading our guide Quick Fix 'SSD Not Showing up' in Windows 10 without Data Loss.
Summary
Above are the top 10 situations as well as the solutions for new hard drive not showing up/external hard drive not showing up. You may just have a try and see if they are helping. We hope you will never take the last one. If you have any questions or better suggestions, let us know by tying them in the comment section below. Or you can contact us via [email protected].
Wd External Hard Drive Fix
External Hard Drive Not Showing Up FAQ
- Check if the hard drive appears in Disk Management and all the partitions do have a drive letter.
- Check if the hard drive is properly installed.
- Check if the hard drive is BIOS detected.
- Connect the hard drive to anther interface or another computer.
- Check if the hard drive is physically damaged.
- Check WD external hard drive in Disk Management. Do all the partitions seem normal?
- Try another USB port or another computer.
- Troubleshoot the driver issue.
- Format the hard drive.
- Run diskmgmt.msc. In the pop-up window, you will find all disks connected to your computer.
- Open This PC on Windows 10, then you will see all the partitions on your hard drives are shown up there. Be aware that only FAT and NTFS partitions can be accessed normally.
