My Hard Drive Wont Show Up

1. My Hard Drive Won't Show Up On My Mac
2. External Hard Drive Connected But Not Showing
3. Hard Drive Connected But Not Showing Up

Go to 'Disk Management' and find the hard drive missing or showing up as not initialized and unallocated space. If you see your hard drive here, then the issue may be in the not show up in File Explorer for one or more reasons, such as the device status is unknown or not initialized or the disk space is unallocated. Also, my PC recognizes the drive and says it's 'working properly' BUT when I bring up the disk drive management menu, it does not give me a prompt to try and format the drive and it won't show up in the 'My PC' menu.

Typically, an external hard drive is shown in File Explorer under the list of all disks available on the computer.

However, that's not always the case. If you are having an issue with your USB not showing up in File Explorer, then read on to discover some reasons why this happens and try our recommended solutions to fix it.

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Why Is External Hard Drive Not Showing Up in File Explorer?

When you open the File Explorer – the application of the Microsoft Windows operating system – you get the Quick access view that allows you to see the most commonly used folders and recent files. As you move to the This PC section on the left sidebar, you will see all disks connected to your computer.

If your hard drive is connected to your device, it should appear here. If not, you can find it using the Disk Management tool. There are several reasons why the external hard drive not showing up in File Explorer. These include:

• USB driver issues
• unallocated disk space
• device status not initialized
• connection issues – USB port not working

Checking the latter is easy. Just plug your USB device into another port on your PC or another computer. If you see your disk now, congratulations because the issue is solved. But if nothing has changed, you may want to try several other methods listed below.

File Explorer problems also occur after you encountered an error that forced your computer to restart. For example, if you got the api-ms-win-crt-runtime-l1-1-0.dll is missing error, some of your drives might fail to load or be recognized by the operating system.

If File Explorer keeps opening, you might also have trouble accessing your drive because the computer's file system is faulty.

Rebooting your PC again usually fixes this problem with your drive.

Check If the USB Is Not Showing Up in File Explorer Only

Before you proceed, you need to make sure the issue relates to File Explorer only. In other words, you need to check whether your external hard drive appears in the Disk Management tool. Follow these steps to do this:

1. Connect your external hard drive device to the USB port on your computer.
2. Right-click on the Windows menu button and choose the Disk Management option.

You should see a list of all disks and devices connected to your PC. If your device is not listed there, try these steps:

1. Connect your external hard drive device to a different USB hub on your computer.
2. Go to Disk Management by either right-clicking on the Windows menu button or pressing Win + X on your keyboard. You should see your external hard drive listed as a removable disk.
3. Check if your device needs to be powered on to be connected to your PC.
4. If you still cannot see your external hard drive in Disk Management, try connecting it to another computer.

How to fix: External Hard Drive Not Showing Up in File Explorer

All right, now you have found your removable device in Disk Management but still cannot see it in File Explorer? The next three methods are helpful when there are issues with how the system recognizes an external hard drive. You can try using any of them in no particular order.

Fix 1: Update or Re-Install the Drivers for Your External Hard Drive

One of the reasons why File Explorer doesn't show your external hard drive is because the drivers are outdated and working incorrectly. It can also be the reason of i/o device error 0x8007045d. Fix the issue by following these steps:

• Connect a USB device to your PC and go to Device Manager by either pressing Win+X or right-clicking on the Windows menu button.
• Locate and expand the Universal Serial Bus controllers section.
• Click on your USB or external hard drive, right-click on it, and press 'Uninstall device'. Next, unplug your device from the USB port.

• Plug your external hard drive back into your PC. Return to the Device Manager and locate your device under the Universal Serial Bus controllers.
• Right-click on it and press 'Update driver' from the list.
• Follow the instructions of the Update Driver Software Wizard to finish the process.

Tweaks with drivers can also be vital if you face a rare error like 0x80070035 when users cannot exchange files between computers of the same network. Updating device drivers manually could be a waste of time, so you can use a driver updater tool that will update all at once.

Fix 2: Assign Your External Hard Drive a New Letter

Ever noticed that every disk on your PC has a letter assigned to it? For instance, the core internal disk always goes under the letter C, making paths to files on it look like 'C:…' Changing the letter of your external hard drive may help File Explorer to locate and show your device.

• Go to Disk Management (Win + X or right-click on the Windows menu button) and locate your USB device.
• Right-click on it and press 'Change drive letter and paths' from the menu.

• Choose the 'Add' option if there is no letter assigned, or the 'Change' option if there is one.
• Select a new drive letter from the drop-down menu and press the 'OK' button to save changes.

Fix 3: Format Volume or Create a New One on Your Disk

Sometimes, the issue is that the file system is not recognized and has to be formatted, or the disk volume is unallocated.
To format volume, do the following:

• Press Win + X or right-click on the Windows menu button and select Disk Management.
• Locate your external hard drive, right-click on it, and choose the 'Format' option.
• Finally, change the file system to the NTFS format by choosing it from the drop-down menu, and click the OK button.

To create volume, do the following:

• Firstly, press Win + X or right-click on the Windows menu button and select Disk Management.
• Find your external hard drive, right-click on the Unallocated space section (colored black) and choose the 'New Simple Volume' option.
• Finally, you should end up with a new file system. Assign a letter to your drive and check whether it appears in File Explorer.

External Hard Drive FAQ

Several reasons can cause the external hard drive not showing up in File Explorer. The external hard drive may be having issues, such as damage, or unallocated disk space. If the device status is not initialized or if there are connection issues such as the USB port not working, you can also encounter the issue of external hard drives not showing up in File Explorer.

If the external hard drive is appearing in the disk management tool then the problem could be with the system and not the drive. You can further scrutinize the disk management tool to identify the issue that is causing the external hard drive not showing up in File Explorer issue.

If you cannot see your external hard drive in File Explorer and the Disk Management tool, try connecting it to another computer. You can also update your device drivers, and the issue will be fixed if device driver problems caused it. Assigning the external hard drive a new letter can also solve the issue.

Occasionally, when you plug in any Seagate external hard drive to PC, it may not show up or be detected by your PC. Consequently, the disk itself and the folders and files saved on it become unapproachable and unluckily this is a common problem with Seagate drives. If you don't have any important data on the hard drive, you can just format it easily. However, if it contains lots of important data, how can you recover data from it? In this article, we'll tell you why is your Seagate external hard drive not showing up or detected. Then, we'll cover the methods to fix it as well. And what's important, we'll tell you how to recover data from the hard drive after making it work again.

1Why Seagate External Hard Drive Not Showing Up or Detected?

In most cases, you can access the Seagate External Hard Drive through Windows File Explorer. However, there is a great possibility that the hard drive doesn't show up in the devices and drives list. Apart from that, the Seagate external hard drive might also not show up in Disk Management. The problem can be caused by one of the following reasons:

• Broken USB port or broken USB cable

• Unsupported File System

• Partition issues on the hard drive

• The hard drive driver is corrupted or outdated.

In the following part, we'll talk about how to fix the Seagate external hard drive not showing up in the computers based on the above possibilities.

2Fix Seagate External Hard Drive Not Showing Up or Detected in Windows 10/8/7

Seagate external hard drive is always used to back up important data or transfer data between computers. So, it's essential to make it works fine all the time. The following are some solutions to solve 'Seagate external hard drive not showing up or detected'.

• Method 1: Try a Different USB Port or USB Cable

• Method 2: Initializing the External Hard Drive

• Method 3: Create a New Partition

• Method 4: Change or Assign Drive Letter

• Method 5: Reformat Hard Drive

• Method 6: Update or Reinstall the Device Driver

Method 1: Try a Different USB Port or USB Cable

If your Seagate external hard drive is blinking but is not detected by your PC, then you can try to unplug it from the USB port and should plug it into a different USB port. Besides, you can reboot your PC and try to connect your Seagate external hard drive to the computer again. You can also connect it to a different computer or use a different USB cable. If this simple solution works then your problem is resolved. If not then move on to the other solutions offered here.

Method 2: Initializing the External Hard Drive

When you find the Seagate external hard drive is not showing up in your computer, the first place you should check is Disk Management. You can right click on the Windows button and choose 'Disk Management' from the list. Or press Windows button + R to bring out the dialog. Enter diskmgmt.msc to proceed. This will also open Disk Management.

You'll see the available hard drives which are connected and recognized by the computer. If you are attaching a brand new external hard drive to the computer for the first time, you'll see it here but it's not initialized. Follow the simple steps below to initialize the disk.

Step 1: Right click on the disk and select 'Initialize Disk'.

Step 2: Choose a proper partition style and click 'OK' to confirm it.

Method 3: Create a New Partition

If you see that your disk is simply unallocated, you only need to create a new partition for it. Here's how to do it.

Step 1: Right click on the unallocated disk and choose 'New Simple Volume' from the options.

My Hard Drive Won't Show Up On My Mac

Step 2: A 'New Simple Volume Wizard' will show up. Follow the wizard to specify the volume size and assign drive letter or path.

Once done, remove the Seagate external hard drive and connect it to the computer again. Then, you'll find that the disk is detected and showing up in the Windows File Explorer.

Method 4: Change or Assign Drive Letter

If the Seagate external hard drive does not have a drive letter or the drive letter conflicts with other disks, the hard drive won't show up in your computer. Under this circumstance, you need to assign or change the drive letter.

Step 1: Right click on your hard drive and select 'Change Drive Letter and Paths'.

Step 2: Select 'Add' option if your hard drive doesn't have a drive letter, and select 'Change' option if it already has one and you want to change it.

Step 3: Choose a letter for the drive and that's all.

Method 5: Reformat Hard Drive

As we have mentioned in the Part 1, the unsupported File System will cause the 'Seagate external hard drive not showing up' issue. If you find your hard drive is partitioned but still not show up in your computer, it is possible that it's partitioned with a different file system. For example, if you have formatted the hard drive with APFS File System on Mac, this problem will certainly happen when you connect the hard drive to Windows computers. To fix it, you need to reformat your Seagate external hard drive with NTFS File System or FAT32 File System.

Step 1: To do this, right click on the hard drive and select 'Format' option.

Step 2: Choose 'NTFS' or 'FAT32' from the File Sysetem.

Note: Reformat your Seagate external hard drive with new File System with erase all the data on it. Can i buy microsoft access separately. If you can, please remember to back up your data before formatting. However, if you do not have the chance to back up the data, you can use a professional tool to recover the data after formatting.

Method 6: Update or Reinstall the Device Driver

Maybe your Windows has a driver problem with your device and by using the Device Manager you can check it. You can open Device Manager by pressing Win+R together to open the 'Run' dialog then enter devmgmt.msc. Next, Expand the Disk drives category and check for any devices with a yellow exclamation point next to them, right-click on its name and select 'Update Driver'. If it works then it's ok otherwise uninstall and then reinstall the driver. To uninstall the driver, click on Uninstall that will help you completely uninstall Drivers.

3Bonus: How to Recover Files from Formatted Seagate External Hard Drive?

Due to the 'Seagate external hard drive not showing up' issue, you might not be able to back up your data before initializing or reformatting the hard drive. Luckily, there are loads of powerful data recovery programs nowadays. One such program is iMyFone AnyRecover which can help you recover data from the formatted hard drive easily and quickly. Furthermore, it is compatible with all the versions of Windows. Together with the accessible interface, the software does not require any technical knowledge. You can do it by yourself without anyone's assistance.

Why Choose iMyFone AnyRecover?

It proves helpful to support 1000+ file types including documents, musics, images, audios, emails, archives and others.

Based on the all-round scan and deep scan, it guarantees the highest recovery rate in the market.

After scaning, you can preview the data freely. And you can use the free version to recover 3 files for free.

By using the program, your data security is 100% ensured.

Simple Steps to Recover Data from Formatted Hard Drive:

Step 1: First of all launch AnyRecover software. Then select a disk under the 'External Removable Devices' tab.

Step 2: After selecting the location, hit 'Start' button to start scanning.

External Hard Drive Connected But Not Showing

Step 3: The program will start scanning, and show you all the lost files in the list. You can select to preview them and click 'Recover' to get back your data.

Fix 2: Assign Your External Hard Drive a New Letter

Ever noticed that every disk on your PC has a letter assigned to it? For instance, the core internal disk always goes under the letter C, making paths to files on it look like 'C:…' Changing the letter of your external hard drive may help File Explorer to locate and show your device.

• Go to Disk Management (Win + X or right-click on the Windows menu button) and locate your USB device.
• Right-click on it and press 'Change drive letter and paths' from the menu.

• Choose the 'Add' option if there is no letter assigned, or the 'Change' option if there is one.
• Select a new drive letter from the drop-down menu and press the 'OK' button to save changes.

Fix 3: Format Volume or Create a New One on Your Disk

Sometimes, the issue is that the file system is not recognized and has to be formatted, or the disk volume is unallocated.
To format volume, do the following:

• Press Win + X or right-click on the Windows menu button and select Disk Management.
• Locate your external hard drive, right-click on it, and choose the 'Format' option.
• Finally, change the file system to the NTFS format by choosing it from the drop-down menu, and click the OK button.

To create volume, do the following:

• Firstly, press Win + X or right-click on the Windows menu button and select Disk Management.
• Find your external hard drive, right-click on the Unallocated space section (colored black) and choose the 'New Simple Volume' option.
• Finally, you should end up with a new file system. Assign a letter to your drive and check whether it appears in File Explorer.

External Hard Drive FAQ

Several reasons can cause the external hard drive not showing up in File Explorer. The external hard drive may be having issues, such as damage, or unallocated disk space. If the device status is not initialized or if there are connection issues such as the USB port not working, you can also encounter the issue of external hard drives not showing up in File Explorer.

If the external hard drive is appearing in the disk management tool then the problem could be with the system and not the drive. You can further scrutinize the disk management tool to identify the issue that is causing the external hard drive not showing up in File Explorer issue.

If you cannot see your external hard drive in File Explorer and the Disk Management tool, try connecting it to another computer. You can also update your device drivers, and the issue will be fixed if device driver problems caused it. Assigning the external hard drive a new letter can also solve the issue.

Occasionally, when you plug in any Seagate external hard drive to PC, it may not show up or be detected by your PC. Consequently, the disk itself and the folders and files saved on it become unapproachable and unluckily this is a common problem with Seagate drives. If you don't have any important data on the hard drive, you can just format it easily. However, if it contains lots of important data, how can you recover data from it? In this article, we'll tell you why is your Seagate external hard drive not showing up or detected. Then, we'll cover the methods to fix it as well. And what's important, we'll tell you how to recover data from the hard drive after making it work again.

1Why Seagate External Hard Drive Not Showing Up or Detected?

In most cases, you can access the Seagate External Hard Drive through Windows File Explorer. However, there is a great possibility that the hard drive doesn't show up in the devices and drives list. Apart from that, the Seagate external hard drive might also not show up in Disk Management. The problem can be caused by one of the following reasons:

• Broken USB port or broken USB cable

• Unsupported File System

• Partition issues on the hard drive

• The hard drive driver is corrupted or outdated.

In the following part, we'll talk about how to fix the Seagate external hard drive not showing up in the computers based on the above possibilities.

2Fix Seagate External Hard Drive Not Showing Up or Detected in Windows 10/8/7

Seagate external hard drive is always used to back up important data or transfer data between computers. So, it's essential to make it works fine all the time. The following are some solutions to solve 'Seagate external hard drive not showing up or detected'.

• Method 1: Try a Different USB Port or USB Cable

• Method 2: Initializing the External Hard Drive

• Method 3: Create a New Partition

• Method 4: Change or Assign Drive Letter

• Method 5: Reformat Hard Drive

• Method 6: Update or Reinstall the Device Driver

Method 1: Try a Different USB Port or USB Cable

If your Seagate external hard drive is blinking but is not detected by your PC, then you can try to unplug it from the USB port and should plug it into a different USB port. Besides, you can reboot your PC and try to connect your Seagate external hard drive to the computer again. You can also connect it to a different computer or use a different USB cable. If this simple solution works then your problem is resolved. If not then move on to the other solutions offered here.

Method 2: Initializing the External Hard Drive

When you find the Seagate external hard drive is not showing up in your computer, the first place you should check is Disk Management. You can right click on the Windows button and choose 'Disk Management' from the list. Or press Windows button + R to bring out the dialog. Enter diskmgmt.msc to proceed. This will also open Disk Management.

You'll see the available hard drives which are connected and recognized by the computer. If you are attaching a brand new external hard drive to the computer for the first time, you'll see it here but it's not initialized. Follow the simple steps below to initialize the disk.

Step 1: Right click on the disk and select 'Initialize Disk'.

Step 2: Choose a proper partition style and click 'OK' to confirm it.

Method 3: Create a New Partition

If you see that your disk is simply unallocated, you only need to create a new partition for it. Here's how to do it.

Step 1: Right click on the unallocated disk and choose 'New Simple Volume' from the options.

My Hard Drive Won't Show Up On My Mac

Step 2: A 'New Simple Volume Wizard' will show up. Follow the wizard to specify the volume size and assign drive letter or path.

Once done, remove the Seagate external hard drive and connect it to the computer again. Then, you'll find that the disk is detected and showing up in the Windows File Explorer.

Method 4: Change or Assign Drive Letter

If the Seagate external hard drive does not have a drive letter or the drive letter conflicts with other disks, the hard drive won't show up in your computer. Under this circumstance, you need to assign or change the drive letter.

Step 1: Right click on your hard drive and select 'Change Drive Letter and Paths'.

Step 2: Select 'Add' option if your hard drive doesn't have a drive letter, and select 'Change' option if it already has one and you want to change it.

Step 3: Choose a letter for the drive and that's all.

Method 5: Reformat Hard Drive

As we have mentioned in the Part 1, the unsupported File System will cause the 'Seagate external hard drive not showing up' issue. If you find your hard drive is partitioned but still not show up in your computer, it is possible that it's partitioned with a different file system. For example, if you have formatted the hard drive with APFS File System on Mac, this problem will certainly happen when you connect the hard drive to Windows computers. To fix it, you need to reformat your Seagate external hard drive with NTFS File System or FAT32 File System.

Step 1: To do this, right click on the hard drive and select 'Format' option.

Step 2: Choose 'NTFS' or 'FAT32' from the File Sysetem.

Note: Reformat your Seagate external hard drive with new File System with erase all the data on it. Can i buy microsoft access separately. If you can, please remember to back up your data before formatting. However, if you do not have the chance to back up the data, you can use a professional tool to recover the data after formatting.

Method 6: Update or Reinstall the Device Driver

Maybe your Windows has a driver problem with your device and by using the Device Manager you can check it. You can open Device Manager by pressing Win+R together to open the 'Run' dialog then enter devmgmt.msc. Next, Expand the Disk drives category and check for any devices with a yellow exclamation point next to them, right-click on its name and select 'Update Driver'. If it works then it's ok otherwise uninstall and then reinstall the driver. To uninstall the driver, click on Uninstall that will help you completely uninstall Drivers.

3Bonus: How to Recover Files from Formatted Seagate External Hard Drive?

Due to the 'Seagate external hard drive not showing up' issue, you might not be able to back up your data before initializing or reformatting the hard drive. Luckily, there are loads of powerful data recovery programs nowadays. One such program is iMyFone AnyRecover which can help you recover data from the formatted hard drive easily and quickly. Furthermore, it is compatible with all the versions of Windows. Together with the accessible interface, the software does not require any technical knowledge. You can do it by yourself without anyone's assistance.

Why Choose iMyFone AnyRecover?

It proves helpful to support 1000+ file types including documents, musics, images, audios, emails, archives and others.

Based on the all-round scan and deep scan, it guarantees the highest recovery rate in the market.

After scaning, you can preview the data freely. And you can use the free version to recover 3 files for free.

By using the program, your data security is 100% ensured.

Simple Steps to Recover Data from Formatted Hard Drive:

Step 1: First of all launch AnyRecover software. Then select a disk under the 'External Removable Devices' tab.

Step 2: After selecting the location, hit 'Start' button to start scanning.

External Hard Drive Connected But Not Showing

Step 3: The program will start scanning, and show you all the lost files in the list. You can select to preview them and click 'Recover' to get back your data.

Hard Drive Connected But Not Showing Up

Overall, it is not too difficult to fix Seagate external hard drive not showing up only if you take proper action. If you tried the above-mentioned solutions and the Seagate external hard drive still not detected or recognized the cause might be the hard drive itself. If you accidentally format your Seagate external hard drive, iMyFone AnyRecover can help you recover data from it.