1. Can't See External Hard Drive
2. Cannot See External Hard Drive-in My Computer
3. Computer Cannot See Hard Drive

If Other Windows PCs Can See the Drive, But Your Current One Can’t If other computers detect the drive when you plug it in, but your current computer doesn’t, it’s possible there’s a driver problem in Windows. To check for this, open the Device Manager. On Windows 8 or 10, right-click the Start button and select “Device Manager”. By moving my backups into a folder out of the way and doing a fresh backup I prevented some confusion in the system. After this I could at last see the external drive and backup when doing a system image recovery. But how is it be possible to store more than one backup of hard drives on an external disk?

Can't See External Hard Drive

Summary :

Sometimes, you might find that some files are not showing up in the external hard drive. In the following contents, we will discuss about the possible causes and solutions, as well as an effective and reliable way to recover data for the external hard drive.

Problem – Files Not Showing in External Hard Drive

Although external hard drives have brought as great convenience in daily life and work, there are chances that they might fail to display some of their files or even seem to have lost them completely, despite the disk capacity in disk properties being shown as utilized.

You will be able to tell that it is indeed your files utilizing that space in the external drive if you have a general impression of how much space your data occupies.

But here is the problem - people sometimes find their files not showing in external hard drive and get anxious; they are afraid of losing the important files forever. What is really happening when this issue is present? Can you fix it or rescue the missing data here?

I will answer those questions for you. Now, let's start with rescuing files missing from external hard drive with MiniTool Power Data Recovery.

When data recovery is done, I will explain the possible causes for files not showing problem and then give corresponding solutions. In the last section, I am going to help you know more about the external hard drive you use.

Recover Data from External Hard Drive

When you finally discover that some files are missing from external hard drive or even a partition in it is damaged/lost, you must conduct data recovery on external hard drive right away.

In this case, please stop writing any new data into the external hard drive and then follow the operations below to recover data with MiniTool Power Data Recovery easily. This software will light the hope of data recovery as long as the external hard drive is not physically damaged.

3 Steps to Recover Data from External Hard Drive

When you find that some useful files not showing in external hard drive are actually lost, please adopt MiniTool Power Data Recovery immediately.

Then, follow this tutorial to recover data.

Step 1: connect the external hard drive to computer. Launch MiniTool Power Data Recovery, and then choose Hard Disk Drive.

Step 2: select the target external hard drive from the right side and click on the Scan button.

Step 3: during the scan, you can see more and more files being found by the software. Now, you can browse them one by one to check the ones you need and then choose a safe location to store them by pressing the “Save” button. After that, click on the OK button to confirm your selection. Soon, the data you choose will be recovered to the appointed location.

Please note that if you’re using the trial edition, you’ll see the following interface that prevents you from saving any of the found files.

When you can confirm that all data you need are recovered successfully to another device and all the existing files have been backed up, you can choose to format the external hard drive in order to use it again. Additionally, you may follow the methods given below to try to fix the current external drive.

How to fix when external hard drive stops working?

A relatively comprehensive analysis & fix plan about external hard drive not working issue are given here to help people get out of trouble.

Why Can't See Files in External Hard Drive & How to Solve

I find files missing from external hard drive become a frequently discussed issue in many forums. So there must be some ideas that catch the point.

Based on this, I decide to make a list of the possible reasons and useful suggestions for users to refer to. Here, I have summarized 4 main causes as well as the solutions in Windows 7 through internet searching and actual operations.

4 Causes That Can Be Fixed Directly in Windows

1. The files are hidden.
2. There are file system errors.
3. The “CheckedValue” is suffering from virus infection.
4. The mirror image in memory is damaged.

Possible cause 1 – the files are hidden.

Sometimes, the files are not really missing from external hard drive; they’re just hidden and not being shown. Here are 4 solutions to unhide them.

Solution 1:

1. Type cmd to the search box and press Enter.
2. Right click on the exe and select Run as administrator.
3. Input DIR/A x:-s (x refers to the drive letter of your external hard drive). The meaning of this command is: list the non-system files in x: drive.
4. If this command returns nothing, it means your folder has been marked as protected system files, and then you can refer to the second solution.

Solution 2: check whether the files are endowed with system property.

1. Run control folders, or go to Control Panel and Appearance and Personalization.
2. You can see the window Folder Options.
3. In view tab, check show hidden files, folders, and drives and uncheck Hide protected operating system files (Recommended).
4. Then check whether the files/folders are there.

Solution 3:

1. If your files keep missing from the external hard d drive, run cmd and press Enter key.
2. Then, if the hard drive letter is O:, you should enter this command: attrib -h -r -s /s /d o:*.*.
3. Finally, check if the real files will be showed.

Solution 4:

If all solutions above failed, try the following process which is most complex:

1. Run cmd.
2. Type the location of the external hard drive. Example: 'd:', 'e:', 'f:', etc.
3. Type dir /ah. You will now see the files/folders with hidden attributes.
4. Type attrib [name of file/folder] -r -a -s -h.
5. You should repeatedly type dir /ah after un-hiding some files/folders so you know if the files/folders are now appearing or hiding.
6. Finally check your external hard drives, all data should be there.

Please note:

• If you're going to unhide files, you should type the whole name plus the expanded-name. Example for file named party: attrib party.jpg -r -a -s -h.
• If you have folder names with 6 characters or more, type the first 6 characters followed by '~1'. Example for folder named birthday: attrib birthd~1 -r -a -s -h.

Possible cause 2 – there are file system errors.

In some cases, the files may be not showing in external hard drive because the file system is corrupted or because it doesn't contain a recognized file system. At this time, you had better recover data from external hard drive firstly.

Here's how to confirm:

1. Right click on the external hard drive.
2. Choose Properties.
3. Select Tools tab and click on the Check now button.
4. Check Automatically fix file system errors from the pop-up window.
5. Click on the Start button to begin and wait for the process.

Possible cause 3 – “CheckedValue” is suffering from virus infection.

Here’s how to fix:

1. Run Regedit.
2. Then, follow this route in Registry Editor: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorerAdvancedFolderHiddenSHOWAL.
3. Check whether the data value of CheckedValue is 1.
4. If NOT, delete CheckedValue, create a new DWOR in the blank and rename it as CheckedValue. After that, modify the value data as 1.

Possible cause 4 – the mirror image in memory is damaged.

Sometimes the mirror image in memory is damaged and the operating system does not respond a timely refresh, which happens by chance.

How to fix: restart the computer and then reconnect the external hard drive to check if the actual files are shown.

That's all for the solutions. In fact, each solution has helped many users get rid of files not showing in external hard drive problem, and I also hope they are helpful for you.

2 Cases for Missing Files from External Hard Drive

But what's the real story? How exactly did they disappear? These kinds of questions are all over the internet. The following mentioned examples are just a drop in the bucket.

Case 1:

I have a problem with my external hard disk. I saved some school documents on my drive. When I got to the school computer to copy my home task, then I noticed all my folders went missing, except ones that are not in folder. I still have my used memory, but can't see my folders. Please help me!shegzy4 from Makeuseof

Case 2:

Hey guys I have a problem with my external hard drive ... 2 days ago I've bought a new laptop and when I plugged my hard drive into it to install some games I found that it doesn't contain anything except 2 files. Also it shows 900 GB used space and this means that my old files are still there. So please help me return them back because I need them. By the way I've tried showing hidden folders and everything in folder options.Sarooo from Tomshardware

Faced with such confusion, most users behave like ants on hot bricks, while some users skillfully find that if they try to type the path or address of a specific folder, it opens. However, typically you have stored large numbers of files and folders in the external hard drive and you cannot remember all names of folders…So any better idea?

Learn More about External Hard Drive

Different from internal hard drive, an external hard drive is a portable storage device that can be attached to a computer via USB, eSATA, or Firewire. External hard drives typically have high storage capacities and are often used to back up computers.

Having our videos, pictures and other large files copied to an external hard drive is a safe way to back up things. Besides, external hard drive is always acting as a data storage medium and transmission medium, thus you don't have to carry on computers with you everywhere.

External Hard Drive Becomes a Necessity in Modern Life

External hard drive enjoys many advantages when compared to other storage devices, so they are getting more and more closely to our daily life. Today people are accustomed to bring an external hard drive with us in case of data transmission, such as to deal with working paper between office and home.

By using external hard drive, you can avoid the network requirement, the uploading and downloading process, and time. But, if your families share one computer with you at home, there will be a big risk of data loss. So backing up important data to external hard drive becomes a wise choice.

During the process of using external hard drives, you will inevitably encounter some difficulties, 'external hard drive doesn’t appear in My Computer' and 'files not shown in external hard drive'. I have laid my emphasis on the second issue in this post.

Characteristics That Make External Hard Drive Popular

External hard drives usually have the following advantages in common:

• Small volume: an external hard drive is usually several inches in size, such as 2.5 inches, 3.5 inches in common.
• Large capacity: external hard drives always adopt large capacity and the unit is always Terabyte.
• High speed: external hard drive connected via Firewire usually works at high speed, which makes it rather easy to transfer data between computer and external hard drives.
• Portability: since external hard drives have small volume, it is available to carry them everywhere.
• Easy to use: external hard drive is very easy to handle. It can be applied in both Windows & Mac and will be automatically detected in a few seconds. Then you can use it like internal hard drive.
• Lower cost per GB: the price of external hard drive is getting lower and lower due to proven technique. Normally you only spend several cents per GB on an external hard drive.

Bottom Line

I have noticed 'files not showing in external hard drive' is a frequently asked question in many forums. Therefore, in this post I have summarized almost all feasible solutions for users who have got a headache on this issue.

Remember, external hard drives today have become indispensable medium for us to deal with data backup, privacy protection, data transmission, and so on, so you need to pay more attention to the operations you have made during the usage to avoid unnecessary trouble.

What's more? Once something unlucky happens and leads to serious data loss, you should stop all operations and turn to reliable solutions quickly, so as to ensure the largest possibility for data recovery.

Files Not Showing in External Hard Drive FAQ

1. Open File Explorer the way you like.
2. Select View from the menu bar.
3. Click Options and choose Change folder and search options.
4. Go to the View tab and look for the Advanced settings area.
5. Check Show hidden files, folders, and drives and click OK.

Nov 23, 2020 • Filed to: Answer Hard Drive Problems • Proven solutions

When you plug in your external hard disk to your computer, you may find that your hard drive is detected by the operating system, but you're not able to open.

Such a problem can occur due to multiple factors, and if you're worried that you won't be able to reaccess the drive and thinking 'how to fix the external hard drive, not opening?'

There is no need to start panicking! You can follow our complete guide to learn the reason behind your hard disk inaccessibility, and we will also guide you through the process of how to repair that external hard drive and recover the erased data along the way too.

Part 1. Why External Hard Drive Recognized But Not Accessible?

There could be several reasons why your external hard drive may fail to respond to your Windows PC. It can be caused by some technical glitch in your operating system, or it might be due to the drive's internal hardware failure. It can also occur when you fail to plug in the device through the USB port properly.

Most of the time, such an issue gets resolved when you re-plug the drive into the PC or restart the system again entirely. But if such a problem with your hard drive persists and it remains visible on the system but doesn't open, even if you connect it to another computer system. Then there might be a deeper problem at play with the hard drive. Here is the list of issues that could be behind the problem with your external Hard Drive.

• Presence of bad sectors caused by inappropriately removing the drive from PC without following the removal protocol.
• Mechanical failure is caused by dropping the drive on the ground.
• Virus or Malware is caused by opening an ill-conceived website or file.
• Driver issue caused by some software glitch.

Whatever may be the reason behind this problem, in this article, we will help you repair your hard drive, which will allow you to access the important files within.

Part 2. How to Fix External Hard Disk Detected But Not Opening?

Before initiating the process to fix the issues with your hard drive, some external drives have power cables or a physical power switch, which should be ON at all times for you to perform operations on the disk. It is a simple step, but you should check it before anything.

After checking the ON/OFF switch, you can proceed further to perform other solutions to fix the inaccessibility problem.

Solution 1. Check the External Hardware:

Before performing any step, it is advised that you check the health of the external hardware of your system and the drive's accessories, which are as follows:

1. USB port.

2. Power/Data cable.

Please follow these steps to check whether the problem is with your drive or with your computer.

• It is advised that you plug in the external hard drive on some other System to check whether there is some kind of issue with your PC.
• Please try to Re-Plug the device on some different USB port, as the frequent usage of one port might have caused some wear and tear which could have loosened the hinges.
• Try the Data Cable of your external drive on some other device to see that it is functioning correctly. The casual and repeated use of the power cable may cause it to lose its functionality.

Solution 2. Restart your PC:

Restarting is perhaps the most natural solution to our hard drive being unresponsive. This fix usually solves the error half of the time. There are many ways to restart your computer, but we will try it the conventional way, so please follow our guide to perform this solution.

• Open Start menu.
• Click on Restart.

• After restarting the system, try plugging the device into the PC to review the issue at hand. If the problem persists, then hop onto the next solution.

Solution 3. Update Driver of the Disk:

If you continue to remove your device casually from the computer, it may cause some sort of damage to the driver of your hard drive. This hassle can be fixed by reinstalling or updating the external hard drives, which can fix any problem with your storage device.

The Hard Drive's Driver:

The driver of the external disk is very similar to, the internal HDD on a computer, which consists of a rotating platter with a magnetic surface that rapidly stores digitally encoded data. It also provides the means of communication between the drive and the computer to which it is connected. It functions by giving the hard drive's serial/model number as well as physical information (sectors, heads, and the storage capacity) to the operating system so that it can recognize it.

Follow our step-by-step solution guide to check your drivers.

• Open Device Manager on your computer by entering the name in the search bar.
• Right-click on your Hard Drive's driver.
• Click on Properties.

• Click on the Driver tab and click on Update Driver.

• Click on 'Search automatically for updated driver software', or you can click on 'Browse my computer for driver software' if you have the driver file on your PC.
• The system will start searching for your diver software, you can also uninstall the device and reinstall it, using the same utility.

• Your PC will automatically update the software if there is a new update. Otherwise, it will notify you that 'The best drivers for your device is already installed'.

• If the issue persists after that, click on Close and jump to the next solution.

Solution 4. Fix it by Disk Management and Format it:

You will be able to access the properties and storage of your external storage drive with the help of the Disk Management utility. It can create a new partition within the device, if there is unallocated space and assign it a new letter to enable access. Follow our solution below:

• 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.

• Select the Do not Format option and push Next.
• Click on Finish.
• You can also format the device by right-clicking on the icon of the drive and selecting Format.

Solution 5. Run Windows Troubleshooter:

You can fix specific problems through the Windows troubleshoot utility, which automates the diagnosis and repairs the problem with your computer system. Follow our guide to use the windows troubleshoot utility, which may fix the hard drive inaccessibility issue.

• Open the Start menu and click on Settings.
• Click on Troubleshoot and find Hardware and Devices.
• Click on Run the Troubleshooter.

• The troubleshooter will start scanning for irregularities in the PC.
• It will notify you after finishing the scan and will advise you to apply the fix if any problem is detected. Choosing the option will prompt you to restart the computer.

Solution 6. Run CHKDSK to Repair Disk:

You can use the CHKDSK facility by using the command prompt on your PC. Before using the check disk command, it is important to know what type of functions it performs to fix specific disk-related problems.

1. It scans the integrity of the file system and file system metadata on a disk volume.

2. It fixes all types of logical file system errors that it finds during the scan.

3. Through its disk scan, CHKDSK detects the good and the bad sectors of the selected disk.

Follow our procedure to run the check disk command on your external hard drive to detect problems.

• Open Command Prompt on your PC through the Start menu.
• Run the program as an administrator.
• Your Command prompt window will open, type the following command inside the display, and hit Enter.

chkdsk X: /r /f where X is the external hard drive letter and /r & /f are the parameters of CHKDSK.

• The command will run its scan. Once the scan is complete, remove the drive and re-attach it again with the PC to see whether the procedure worked or not.

Part 3. How to Recover Data from Hard Drive Not Detected?

If you select the solution of formatting the external drive, then it will erase all the data. If the files inside your hard drive are irreplaceable and you intend to use those again, then you can recover all of your data. The data can be recovered until you overwrite the drive's memory with new data. To retrieve the files, you are required to perform a recovery operation by using a data recovery tool for Windows, and there is none better than Recoverit Data Recovery Tool by Wondershare.

Features of Recoverit:

• Works on every type of portable device (USB, HDD).
• It recovers data in more than 1000 file formats known in the tech world.
• Recoverit supports all types of File system formats like exFAT, FAT32, HFS, NTFS.
• It keeps your data secure and retrieves it with 96% efficiency.
• It is available on both macOS and Windows PC.

To recover all of your files, you are required to follow our three-step process to recover deleted files after installing the app.

Cannot See External Hard Drive-in My Computer

1. Select the Location:

Please follow the steps mentioned below to begin.

• Launch it from the Start menu.
• Select the 'Location' of your external hard drive.
• Click on the 'Start' button for the process to begin.

2. Scan for Lost Data:

• The scanning process will start. It will take some time for the scan to finish, depending on the storage space of your external hard disk.
• A scan completion pop up will appear on the screen with a beep tone.
• There is also a Pause and Stop button, which enables you to stop the scanning process.
• The results will be displayed, which you will be able to view them from the File Type and File Path section.
• You can pause or stop the disk recovery scan by clicking the Pause/or Stop button.

3. Recover the Lost Data:

• Recoverit allows users to Preview the recovered files, which will enable you to check the authenticity of the erased data.
• You can select your files and retrieve them by clicking on the 'Recover' button to reclaim your data back.

Computer Cannot See Hard Drive

Closing Words:

It is entirely up to your personal maintenance, and handling of your computer's hardware and how you keep your PC protected by using some good antivirus. You are advised to check the way you plug in the drive inside the USB port. You are also required to press the eject button before removing the disk from the computer. It is also important that you check the health of your external storage device regularly by scanning it through the CHKDSK utility.

Now you know six possible solutions to fix the hard drive if any such issue ever arises. However, if you still aren't able to access your files or have formatted the drive entirely, then you can recover those files by using the Recoverit Data Recovery program to gain access and recover all the important data.

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