Hard drive

For your important files and other larger files, external hard drives are the usual backup or storage extension that rescues us. However, these backups sometimes fail to turn up when we need our files back from them. In such situations, there are a couple of steps to consider in resolving the issue at hand.

In this article, we will be addressing issues with external hard disks detected but not opening. In addition, the issue with your external hard drive not showing up is also addressed with ways to perform data recovery using iBoysoft data recovery software.

The use of a physical hard drive to back up your data is still a normal occurrence as people are yet to embrace cloud solutions. External drives are as simple as plugging in and accessing your data without the need to access the internet. However, the drawback like your hard drive not showing up is still a hassle to most people,  especially when you need to access your data but get a pop-up error. There are steps you can take to resolve them.

Cause Of External Hard Drive Not Showing Up

Your external hard drive not showing up might be a result of your computer port connection fault. Aside from that, it could also be a direct issue from the external hard drive. Irrespective of which of these issues is causing the error, there are different methods to solve it.

Troubleshooting to discover the issue is half of the solution to this problem. The other part of this problem solution is applying the appropriate solution to the problem you have uncovered. Of course, this article provides stepwise recommendations on how to solve your hard drive problems.

Steps To Solve External Hard Drive Not Showing Up

Here are some practical steps to rectify the issue you might face with your external hard drive.

  • Make Sure Your Hard Drive Is Powered-On And Plugged-In

There are different hard drive types. Some hard drives need more power than others who get the power they need from plugging into your computer. The problem you might be having is that your type of hard drive is not receiving enough power. You might have the type of hard drive that requires a wall socket direct connection to start working.

In a case where your hard drive comes with its own AC power adapter, you will need to hook it up to a direct power source before you can get service.

  • Check The Computer USB Port

We all have our favorite USB connection ports on our computers. This port is the first one we think about when we want to insert a new port connection or quickly back up our files to our external drive. This consistent use of the port could lead to wearing out in the process. 

Although damaging a port from consistent use is not a usual occurrence, it might be the main reason why your external hard drive is not showing up. If you plug in your external hard drive into your favorite port and the external hard drive is still not showing up, simply try another different USB port. 

Just to be sure that your computer ports are working, you can try to use your external hard drive on other computers. This is to ascertain if the issue is from your computer or from your hard drive. 

  • Update Driver 

The driver issue is another reason why your external hard drive is not showing up. You might be due to a driver update from your device manager. To do this, click on the  ‘Start’ menu and look up ‘Device Manager’. Expand the universal serial bus and right-click to reveal ‘Properties’. From there, uninstall the driver from the device manager menu. After uninstalling process is completed, go ahead and restart your computer to get the automatic update of the driver. 

  • Recover Data Using Data Recovery Software And Format Your External Hard Drive in Disk Management

In a scenario where your hard drive is not accepting any of the above fixes, you might have to consider the option of wiping your hard drive. Before you go on with that option, you should perform data recovery to save the data on your hard drive. Using data recovery software will save your data before you format your hard drive.

iBoysoft Data Recovery is a data recovery software you can trust to get the work done. It is free to download and efficient to recover your files from the hard drive. It is worth mentioning that this utility can also implement formatted drive recovery, lost partition recovery, SD card data recovery, and so on. To initiate this data recovery process, download and install iBoysoft data recovery software on your computer. Ensure that the external hard drive is plugged into your computer. On starting the software, choose the hard drive on the software interface. Run a deep scan for the lost data and click Next. After the scanning process is over, check the file to have a preview. If it is the data you desire, choose it, click Recover and save it on a different hard drive.

After going through the data recovery process, you should get some results by now. Now, it’s time for you to format your external hard drive in Disk Management for later use. To achieve this, navigate to your ‘Start’ menu and search for ‘Disk Management’. When you see the Disk Management Window, choose the external hard drive you want to format, and then right-click on it to format it.