Why Is Your External Hard Drive Not Showing Up in Windows 11?
External hard drive detection failures on Windows 11 fall into four categories: the drive is not recognised by the OS at all, the drive appears in Disk Management but not in File Explorer, the drive appears but shows as "Not Initialized" or "Unknown", or the drive shows a RAW file system that Windows cannot read.
Each scenario has a different fix. This guide works through all of them in order — start from the top and stop when your drive becomes accessible.
Fix 1: Check the Physical Connection First
Before going into software fixes, rule out the physical connection:
- Try a different USB cable — cables fail more often than ports.
- Try a different USB port, preferably directly on the PC (not a hub). USB hubs can fail to supply enough power for high-capacity drives.
- Try the drive on another PC. If it does not show up on any PC, the drive or its enclosure has a hardware fault.
- If the drive has a separate power adapter, check it is connected and the LED is on.
Desktop drives (3.5-inch HDDs) almost always require external power. Laptop drives (2.5-inch) draw power from USB but may fail on low-power USB 2.0 ports — connect to a USB 3.0 (blue) port instead.
Fix 2: Check Disk Management
File Explorer only shows drives with a drive letter. A drive can be fully detected but invisible in File Explorer if it has no assigned letter.
- Right-click the Start button and select Disk Management.
- Look for your external drive in the bottom section. It may show as "Healthy" with no letter, "Not Initialized", "Unknown", or "Unallocated".
If the drive appears here, identify its status and apply the matching fix below.
Fix 3: Assign a Drive Letter
If the drive shows in Disk Management with a status of "Healthy" but no drive letter, it will not appear in File Explorer.
- In Disk Management, right-click the drive's partition.
- Select Change Drive Letter and Paths.
- Click Add, choose an available letter (e.g., E: or F:), and click OK.
The drive should now appear immediately in File Explorer without requiring a restart.
Fix 4: Initialize a New or Unrecognised Disk
Brand-new drives, drives from non-Windows systems, or drives whose partition table got corrupted show as "Not Initialized" or "Unknown" in Disk Management.
Important: initializing a disk erases all data on it. Only proceed if the drive is new or you have confirmed the data is already backed up.
- In Disk Management, right-click the disk (on the left side where it shows "Disk 1", "Disk 2" etc.).
- Select Initialize Disk.
- Choose GPT (for drives over 2 TB or modern systems) or MBR (for older compatibility).
- After initialization, right-click the "Unallocated" space and select New Simple Volume to create a partition and format it.
Fix 5: Update USB and Disk Drivers
Outdated USB host controller or disk drivers prevent Windows 11 from recognizing connected storage devices, even when the drive itself is healthy.
- Right-click Start > Device Manager.
- Expand Disk drives — look for the external drive. If it shows with a yellow warning icon, the driver is the issue.
- Right-click it and select Update driver > Search automatically for drivers.
- Also expand Universal Serial Bus controllers and update the USB host controller drivers.
After updating, disconnect and reconnect the drive.
Fix 6: Run Hardware and Devices Troubleshooter
Windows 11's built-in troubleshooter can detect and automatically fix USB and disk recognition issues:
msdt.exe -id DeviceDiagnosticPress Win + R, paste the command above, and press Enter. The troubleshooter scans for hardware detection problems and suggests fixes. Apply any recommended changes and reconnect the drive.
Fix 7: Disable USB Selective Suspend
Windows 11's USB Selective Suspend feature powers down inactive USB devices to save battery. On some systems, this prevents external drives from waking back up reliably.
- Open Control Panel > Power Options.
- Click Change plan settings next to your active plan.
- Click Change advanced power settings.
- Expand USB settings > USB selective suspend setting.
- Set it to Disabled for both On battery and Plugged in.
- Click Apply and test the drive.
Fix 8: Recover Data from a RAW Drive
If the drive shows in Disk Management with a file system of "RAW" instead of NTFS or exFAT, the file system is corrupted and Windows cannot read it. Do not format the drive — formatting will make data recovery harder.
Run CHKDSK to attempt a repair:
chkdsk X: /f /rReplace X: with the drive's letter. The /f flag fixes file system errors; /r scans for bad sectors. This process can take several hours on large drives.
If CHKDSK cannot repair the file system, use data recovery software (Recuva is free) to recover your files before reformatting the drive.
For drives containing critical data that cannot be recovered with these methods, CloudHouse Technologies offers per-ticket Windows support — our technicians can guide you through advanced recovery options remotely.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does my external hard drive appear in Disk Management but not in File Explorer?
The drive is recognised by Windows but has no assigned drive letter. Open Disk Management, right-click the drive's partition, select "Change Drive Letter and Paths > Add", and assign any available letter. The drive will appear in File Explorer immediately.
Why does Windows 11 say my external drive needs to be formatted before it can be used?
This usually means the file system is RAW or corrupted. First, try CHKDSK: chkdsk X: /f /r (replace X with the drive letter). If CHKDSK fails, use data recovery software to retrieve your files before formatting, as formatting will erase all data.
My external hard drive worked before — why did it stop showing up after a Windows 11 update?
Windows updates occasionally change USB or storage driver behaviour. Open Device Manager, look for yellow warning icons under "Disk drives" or "Universal Serial Bus controllers", and update those drivers. Also check if USB Selective Suspend is causing the issue (Fix 7).
What is "Not Initialized" in Disk Management and how do I fix it?
"Not Initialized" means the disk has no readable partition table. Initializing it (right-click the disk in Disk Management > Initialize Disk) will erase all data. Only do this for a new empty drive or if you are certain the drive contains no data you need to keep.
Why does my external hard drive not show up when connected to a USB hub?
USB hubs — especially non-powered ones — cannot supply enough current for high-capacity external HDDs (2.5-inch laptop drives need up to 900mA; 3.5-inch desktop drives need a separate power supply). Connect the drive directly to a USB port on the PC, preferably USB 3.0 (blue), rather than through a hub.