Windows 10 may not be able to find your hard drive through File Explorer. Whether it’s an external or internal drive, that’s pretty annoying. But what can you do about it? In this article we will discuss a number of possibilities.
Before we check or adjust anything with software, it is wise to check the hardware first. If it is an external drive, you should check that the USB cable is properly connected to the drive and the computer. And otherwise you have to check the plug. Is it an internal disk? Even then you can open the computer for a while (a bit more difficult with a laptop) to check whether all cables are still properly connected and are where they should be. Make sure that your computer is turned off completely. If everything seems to be okay, you can test on another computer whether the drive in question works. Otherwise, the drive is simply broken.
Check hard drive with software options
If the above tips do not work, you can check via Device Manager that the drive in question has not been accidentally disabled. Open the start menu and type Device management in. In this window you search Disk drives on. Double click to get an overview of your hard drives. Right-click on a hard drive and click Characteristics. Click on the tab Driver and check if you click the button Switch on the device can click. If that is not possible, the drive in question is simply on; if that is possible, then it was turned off – for whatever reason.
You can also see if you can solve the problem via Computer Management. Open the start menu and search for the words Computer management. Open the app and go to left in the menu Disk management (under the heading Storage). After clicking your hard drive, it may be that the drive is online. Right-click on that drive and then select the Online option.
Not previously configured
You may be dealing with a hard drive that was not previously configured. Within the Computer Management window you can arrange that that disk works with Windows 10. Is your disk online, but recognized Windows 10 him not yet? Then select that drive with your right mouse button and select the top option. With that you set the disk. In the next menu select the disk again and choose the option GPT (GUID Partition Table). Now press OK.
If it is a brand new disc, then there is nothing to worry about. However, if you have used the drive before, be aware that you will lose all data on it. The drive will be reformatted and prepared for use with the Windows operating system.
Update the drivers
A last resort can be to update the drivers of a disk. To do this, go to again Device management. Open the options for the Disk drives and select the hard drive with the right mouse button. Then choose the option Delete device. Restart the computer now. After restarting Windows 10, the operating system will automatically download the new drivers and the drive in question should reappear in your file manager.
Didn’t that help either? Check the website of the hard disk manufacturer to see if new drivers are available. We may then have to manually update the drive. If there are no new drivers, you cannot do anything else. Are they there? Then download them to your computer and extract the file (usually in a zip file). Now go to Device management and Disk drives, select your drive and this time click Update driver.
In the new window, select the option to search your computer for the necessary files. Select that file and press OK. Then press Next one. After installing the correct drivers, the hard disk should be visible again.
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