How to Fix External Hard Drive Detected but Does Not Show Up in Folder?

When you connect an external hard drive to your computer, the operating system may detect your drive but will not be able to open it. There are several reasons for this problem: If you are worried that you won’t be able to access the drive again and are thinking, “How do I fix the external hard drive detected but does not show up in folder?”

External Hard Disk Detected But Not Opening Windows 10 : Query

“Need help! My Windows 10 home 32-bit external hard drive recognized but not showing up in File Explorer but not in Windows 10 Explorer. Mainly, it shows up with the device name, and I’m even able to safely remove a USB drive using the Windows 10 utility. However, this HDD does not show up in the folder to recover files from a hard drive that won’t boot Windows 10. Please advise me on an effective solution to resolve the issue. Please suggest a safe solution to fix an external hard disk not recognized in the folder. Your assistance in this matter is greatly appreciated.”

“When I connected my 64GB Seagate external hard drive, it didn’t appear as normal in the folder. Basically, the drive shows up in device manager but not in Explorer. The problem is that I do not know how to open it. I am totally unable to understand why my external hard drive recognized but not showing up. I won’t try to format it because I have so many valuable data files. So, please suggest an appropriate way to resolve the issue. Thanks!”

There are so many users who are facing an issue, such as a hard drive that is detected but does not show up in the folder. When this issue arises, you might hear the USB connection sound. But when you see that the connected hard drive is not showing up in the Windows file explorer,.

Mainly, this problem occurs due to partition issues on the external drive, using the wrong file system, dead USB ports, driver issues in Windows, etc. But do not take stress because here, we come up with free solutions to resolve the query, such as an external hard drive detected but not showing up in the device manager properly.

This is a common issue that can be resolved flawlessly. Simply follow this guide below to make your external hard disk not recognized in Windows 11, 10, 8.1, 8, and 7 file explorers.

Why is External Hard Drive Detected but Not Showing Up in Folder?

There are several possible reasons:

• Drive letter conflict: If another device uses the same drive letter or if no drive letter is assigned, the drive won’t show up in File Explorer or Finder.
• Corrupted File System: If the file system on the drive is corrupted, the system will detect the device but won’t show up in File Explorer or Finder.
• Unformatted Drive: The drive may be new or formatted incorrectly.
• Driver Issues: Old or missing drivers may prevent the drive from showing up correctly.
• Partition Issues: If the partitions are not configured correctly, the drive may not show up.

Solutions to Fix External Hard Disk Detected But Not Opening

In this segment, we will discuss the best alternatives to resolve the external hard drive recognized but not showing up in the folder problem effectively. This free solution is categorized into some simple steps. All the measures are discussed in an efficient manner.

You just need to follow any of them in a sequential manner to get a positive outcome. Below are all the methods to fix an external hard drive not showing up in File Explorer.

1: Check the Drive-in Device Manager and Fix the Issue

To resolve the issue, an external hard drive won’t show up in the folder. Initially, you have to check whether Windows detects the drive or not when you plug it in. If it detects the drive properly, you have to check whether it is unallocated or not. If it is displayed as unallocated, then you may confront a new issue, such as an external hard drive showing in the device manager but not in the explorer.

However, in the upcoming segment, we are going to explain how to resolve this issue. But in this case, it is not accessed in disk management either. So, you have to make the hard drive accessible first. To do so, follow the below-listed steps.

1. First of all, plug in the external hard drive to your computer.
2. Then, check if it displays in disk management or not.
3. If it does not appear so, try the below-stated tips for help:
4. Initially, press the Win + X keys altogether and choose Disk Management. After that, check if you can see your exterior hard drive classified as a removable disk.
5. After that, plug your external hard drive into another USB port on your laptop instead of using the same USB port.
6. Lastly, when the hard drive displays in Disk Management,. After that, you can move on to the next step to repair the external hard disk detected but not opening Windows.

2: Update Driver to Fix External Hard Drive Detected but Does Not Show Up in Folder Error

After the completion of the above-explained steps, if the issue persists,. Now, you have to follow these steps to fix the external hard disk not recognized in the device manager but not in the folder issue.

1. Primarily, connect your external hard disk to your local machine and navigate to Devices Manager>>Universal Serial Bus Controllers.
2. Subsequently, right-click on your external hard drive, then select Uninstall>>Unplug the drive.
3. Now, plug the drive back into your system, input disk management again, and then locate Universal Serial Bus Controllers.
4. Here, hit highlight and choose the USB element to be upgraded.
5. Right-click USB and choose Update Driver Software appropriately
6. Lastly, follow the guide that is displayed onscreen in the Update Driver Software window to upgrade exterior hard drive drivers.

I hope you will get the expected results using these above-stated steps. It will surely fix the issue of an external hard disk detected but not showing up on my computer easily. If not, then move to method 3.

3: Assign New Drive Letter to an External Hard Disk to Resolve Error

• Firstly, press the Win + X key altogether, then hit Disk Management.
• After that, find and right-click on your external hard drive. Then, choose the Change Drive Letter and Path option.
• Finally, click on Add to assign a new letter to your hard drive. Here, choose a new drive letter and simply hit OK to save all the changes.

4: Generate New Volume on External Hard Drive to Fix Issue

Using this method, you can then format and recreate the file system on your external hard drive. Simply follow the following steps to fix external hard drive detected but does not show up in folder:

• Firstly, right-click on Start and then choose Disk Management.
• Then, locate or find your exterior hard drive and right-click on it. After that, choose Format Volume to proceed ahead.
• Here, you have to reset the NTFS file system to FAT or RAW and then hit OK to confirm and keep all changes

Now, follow the steps to create a new volume if the external hard drive is not recognized as unallocated space:

• Simply right-click on the Start button and opt for the Disk Management utility.
• Afterward, right-click on the unallocated space on your USB, then choose the New Simple Volume option.
• Ultimately, set the file system to regenerate the new drive letter to make it detectable in File Explorer again.

All the above-mentioned steps will fix all issues related to external hard disk drive not showing up in folder, Windows file explorer, my computer, etc.

It’s Time to Verge

Hopefully, using the following methods, you may resolve the issue, such as an external hard drive detected but does not show up in folder. Remember one thing: manual solutions lead to data loss issues. So, it is better to take backups in advance. Moreover, if you forgot to take a backup, you can utilize the world’s preferred computer data recovery software. Thus, it is the right place, where you become unable to resolve the external hard drive recognized but not showing up in the folder issue.