Hard Drive not Showing up in Windows 10-Quicker Guide

Quick Tips

• Check if drive is correctly connected
• Formatting the drive to its NTFS file system
• Change the assigned letters to the drive

A hard drive not showing up in Windows 10 is an error that can be created if the case of HDD is not correctly connected to your system. The formatting process of an internal and external device is very quick including a few clicks, but it can stuck at the time of the appearance of the HDD on your File Explorer.

External hard drives are the best solution to limit our system storage while saving a lot of important items on HDD for later use. We can easily connect them to our system, but if the hard drive doesn’t show in Windows 10, the question arises of what to do to fix the frustrating situation.

Are you also facing the same situation? Don’t worry; we will guide you properly to avoid the irritating situation. Before diving into our main topic, we will discuss common reasons for creating the error ‘Hard drive not showing up in Windows 10.

• Incorrect Power Supply
• USB cables or ports are not integrated
• Corrupted or uninstalled SATA driver
• The drive isn’t enabled in BIOS
• Growth of malicious content

Ways to Fix Hard Drive not showing up in Windows 10 error

Now we move to our main topic, and we will walk through several ways to fix the error ‘Hard drive not showing up in Windows 10. Here we go.

Method 1: Check Basic Connections to Fix the Hard Drive not showing up in the Windows 10 error

In case of an incorrect SATA cable or port, you have to face the error, so, it is better, first of all, for you to check the compatibility of different connections i.e.

In case of having a self-contained switch, turn on a hard drive.

Check the compatibility of USB ports and cables.

Check another cable for connecting the drive to your PC.

Check the health of the HDD or SSD while connecting it to another PC.

Method 2: Recover the Lost Partition to Fix the Hard Drive not showing up in the Windows 10 error

To recover the lost partition, you need to get help from a third-party recovery tool, as Disk Management can’t help you restore the missing partition. Here we will discuss Disk Drill;

Disk Drill is an amazing recovery tool for recovering lost partitions into their original state. Follow the given steps;

Launch your web browser, visit the web page of Disk Drill, and download it.

Make sure the external hard drive is connected to the system.

Click on the drop-down menu of devices, and select your required hard drive.

Click on the Search for Lost Data option.

You have two options to select; Deep scan and Quick Scan.

Select the option and wait to complete the scanning process that depends upon the data.

On completing the scanning process, check your results while clicking the ‘Review found items’ option.

You can get quick access to your required issue by clicking the Filter option.

Select your destination for recovery, and click on the OK button.

Finally, hit the ‘Recover’ button.

Method 3: Use Device Manager to enable Hard Drive

If the hard drive is disabled, it could disappear from the Disk Management and File Explorer. You can use Device Manager to enable the hard drive. Follow the given steps;

Unlock your system, and click on the Start option.

Type Device Manager in the search bars, and selects it from the search results, or press Windows + X to direct access to Device Manager.

Click on Disk drives and expand it.

Select the Properties option while right-clicking the hard drive.

Tap on the Driver tab, and click on the Enable Device option.

Hit the OK button.

Restart your system.

Method 4: Set Drive Online to Fix the Hard Drive not showing up in the Windows 10 error

Follow the given steps to set your hard drive on the online option to fix the issue;

Unlock your system, and click on the Start option.

Type Disk Management in the search bar, and select it from the search results.

Click to open the disk, and toggle to enable the ‘Online’ option.

Restart your system.

Method 5: Use Chkdsk to Fix the Hard Drive not showing up in the Windows 10 error

Checkdisk or Chkdsk is a built-in command line feature for Windows 10 that can be used for troubleshooting the issues of hard drives. Follow the given steps;

Unlock your system, and click on the Start option.

Type Command Prompt, and select Run as Administrator option.

Type the following command in the command line, and hit the Enter key.

Chkdsk  /f  X: X denotes the drive in question.

Wait to complete the process.

Exist the command prompt, and restart your system.

Method 6: Initialize Drive to Fix the Hard Drive not showing up in the Windows 10 error

Unlock your system, and click on the Start option.

Type Disk Management in the search bar, and select it from the search results.

Right-click to open the disk and select the ‘Initialize Disk’ option if the disk is available in the ‘Unknown’ label.

Check the drive in question from under the ‘Select disks’ section.

Select the GPT option, and hit the OK button.

Restart your system.

Method 7: Import Foreign Drive to Fix Hard Drive not showing up in Windows 10 error

Use Disk Management tool for importing the drive, if it is configured as a dynamic disk on another PC. It is better to create a backup, even if there is not any risk of data loss. Follow the given steps;

Unlock your system, and click on the Start option.

Type Disk Management in the search bar, and select it from the search results.

Right-click to open the disk and select the ‘Import Foreign Disks’ option if the disk is available in the ‘Dynamic’ label.

Select the ‘Foreign disk group’ from under the ‘Select disks’ section.

Hit the OK button, and repeat the step.

Method8: Check the Hard Drive in BIOS

BIOS is a tiny chip exists on the motherboard that is used for detecting and configuring the system hardware. Follow the given steps to check the existence of the hard drive in the BIOS;

Unlock your system, and click on the Start option.

Enter BIOS by pressing F1, F2, F10, Del, and Esc factions using your keyboard

Now check the existence of the hard drive by selecting the Boot/Boot Device Priority tab.

Method 9: Drive Letter Configuration to Fix Hard Drive not showing up in Windows 10 error

In case of missing the drive letter, or used by the predecessor PC, you need to assign a new letter to the storage on Windows 10. Follow the given steps;

Unlock your system, and click on the Start option.

Type Disk Management in the search bar, and select it from the search results.

Right-click the partition on the hard drives without a drive letter, and select the ‘Change Drive Letter and Path’ option.

Click on the Add option to select the ‘Assign the Following Driver Letter’ option.

Select a letter i.e. X, Y, Z from the drop-down menu.

Hit the OK button.

Method 10: Remove All ATA Channel Drivers

You can fix the ‘hard drive not showing in Windows 10’ error by removing the ATA channel drivers from the IDE ATA/ATAPI controller menu. Follow the given steps;

Unlock your system, and click on the Start option.

Type Device Manager in the search box, and select it from the search results, or press Windows + X to direct access to Device Manager.

Expand TDE ATA/ATAAPI controller’s drop menu, and select the ATA channels from the drop-down menu.

Right-click the ATA channels, and select Uninstall device for removing the listed ATA channels.

Restart your system.

Method 11: Delete Hard Drive from Storage Spaces

Go to the Quick Access menu by pressing Windows + X, search Control Panel, and open it.

Select the Storage Space option from the System & Security section.

Expand the Storage pool to hit the Delete button, and remove storage space including your drive.

Confirm your decision by clicking the ‘Yes’ button, and restart your system.

Bottom Lines

So, friends, we hope you understand very well how to fix the ‘hard drive not showing in Windows 10’ error. It is quite simple, not rocket science. You need a little skill and understanding of the hardware and software used in your system.

FAQs