USB is an extensively adopted engineering science that allows the states to plug lots of devices into our computers every mean solar day. Although information technology'due south quite easy to set up up, sometimes information technology'due south not all plug and play. What do you do when your USB drive is not showing up?

This can be caused past several unlike things such every bit a damaged or dead USB flash drive, outdated software and drivers, partition bug, wrong file arrangement, and device conflicts. Other causes similar faulty hardware, a dead system controller, or USB ports require professional aid from your device manufacturer or a certified computer technician.

While it'due south not like shooting fish in a barrel to pinpoint the exact reason why your reckoner won't recognize the USB stick, you can work through various possible solutions until information technology works again.

We've rounded upwards some constructive solutions that can piece of work when you're experiencing USB connection issues. Most of these also apply to different devices such as disk drives, mice, video game controllers, and more, which require a connection via USB.

Too, check out our short YouTube video where we go through some of the solutions downwards beneath. If you lot're getting a USB Device not Recognized error, we have a solution for that too, so check out the link.

How To Set a Plugged-In USB Drive Non Showing Up

  • Preliminary checks
  • Check for device compatibility
  • Update your operating arrangement
  • Windows Troubleshooter tool
  • Use Disk Management tool
  • Endeavor plugging into a dissimilar reckoner or USB port
  • Troubleshoot drivers
  • Use Device Manager to browse for hardware changes
  • Create new drive volume and assign a bulldoze letter
  • Disable USB Selective Suspend characteristic

Preliminary Checks

  • Check That Your USB Device Is On. When you connect your USB stick to your reckoner, it should ideally plough on automatically with flashing lights on the unit indicating activity. Some units accept a dedicated power cable, or physical power button that yous take to turn on manually, for your computer to detect information technology.
  • Examine The USB Stick For Cracks. Information technology's possible that the flash drive could take been damaged without your knowledge, so check it physically to rule out whatever bug before trying once again.
  • Restart Your Computer. This may be an old tech support standby, simply it fixes a lot of problems, especially those acquired by software glitches. Unplug the USB stick, close down your computer and unplug it from the power source. Wait up to ane infinitesimal before restarting your computer and trying the flash drive again.
  • Let Your Computer To Load Fully before trying the USB stick over again. Some computers can be wearisome and get overwhelmed by the multiple operations they have to run during startup, so information technology's possible that your USB stick might be getting overlooked.

Cheque For Device Compatibility

If your USB stick isn't meant to work with your figurer, so it won't show upwards when y'all plug it in. In Windows PCs, most USB iii devices can connect to USB 2 ports, which shouldn't be much problem.

Still, with advances in technology, a USB 3 device may require a more than powerful and compatible port to work. Check your device's instruction manual or packaging for compatibility data earlier trying once more.

Update Your Operating System

If y'all're using Windows, updating the operating system comes with of import files that support dissimilar hardware and devices, plus fixes to any errors you may encounter.

  • Open Settings > Update & Security.
  • Click Check for Updates. If there are any pending updates, download and restart your computer before trying your USB stick again.

Use Disk Management Tool

This tool checks whether Windows will detect your USB stick. It likewise shows you all the hard disks connected to your PC, and you lot can review information similar partitions, sizes, and more than.

  • Plug in your USB stick and right-click Outset > Disk Management.
  • Cheque for your USB stick under primary or secondary disks. If information technology doesn't contain partitions, it'll appear as Removable.
  • If yous see information technology in the Disk Management utility, you can create a new volume and assign a drive letter. This way, you lot can sectionalisation or format the flash drive to brand it easily detectable by other devices, including your PC.
  • If your USB drive is non showing up, it could be a driver or hardware issue, or the drive is dead.

Endeavour Plugging Into a Different Computer Or USB Port

Unplug the USB stick from the electric current port and computer, and attempt plugging into a different reckoner and/or USB port. If it works on the new USB port or estimator, the USB port may be damaged or dead, or the computer itself may accept a problem.

A faulty, damaged or expressionless USB port presents problems such every bit failure to detect USB drives or displays fault messages. Check if the port is make clean, grit-free, and house. If it's moving up and down or feels loose, then it'due south faulty/damaged.

If y'all're using a USB hub, unplug the stick from the hub and plug it directly into your computer. Some hubs have insufficient power for external drives to function, which may be the case with yours.

If the USB drive isn't showing up even after trying a different port, calculator, or checking in Disk Direction, the drive is probably dead and needs to be replaced.

Troubleshoot Drivers

You can troubleshoot commuter issues using Device Director, peculiarly if your USB stick is detected past a dissimilar figurer other than the one you're using, signaling a driver problem.

  • Right-click Start>Device Manager.
  • Expand Disk drives and cheque for a yellowish exclamation point next to whatever of the listed devices. If there'due south 1 or more with this mark, and then the device(southward) has a driver issue.
  • Right-click on the problematic device and select Properties to come across the related mistake message. You tin search for the mistake online to find a solution to the trouble

You can also try the following solutions to resolve driver issues:

  • Gyre back the commuter to revert to recent commuter updates and restore the device dorsum to a time when it was operation properly.
  • Download drivers from the device manufacturer's site from the downloads page, back up page, or by searching on the site for the right commuter.
  • Update the driver by correct-clicking on the driver in Device Manager, select Update driver and follow the prompts.
  • Uninstall the device from your estimator, restart it and wait for information technology to reinstall the correct driver and configurations.

Utilize Device Managing director To browse For Hardware Changes

  • Right-click Beginning and select Device Manager.
  • Click Activeness > Scan for hardware changes.

Windows will attempt to find your USB stick so you can access it over again.

Reinstall USB Controllers

This method helps where the USB driver is unstable or corrupted.

  • Right-click Starting time>Device Manager and click on the Universal Serial Bus controllers to aggrandize the list.
  • Right-click your device and click Uninstall, and then restart your reckoner to reinstall the controllers automatically.

Create a New Drive Book & Assign a Drive Letter

If your device appeared in the Disk Management step, you tin can create a new drive volume and assign a bulldoze letter of the alphabet. The Deejay Management tool fixes segmentation and file organisation problems with unlike drives.

All the same, your USB stick may show only Unallocated space, in which case you'll have to create a new partition then that Windows and other operating systems can employ it.

  • Right-click Get-go>Deejay Management, right-click on the Unallocated infinite>New Simple Book and follow the prompts to create a partition.

If y'all still can't meet your flash bulldoze, yet it's partitioned, brand sure it has a drive alphabetic character. Ideally, this should be automatic, but if you removed information technology manually, the drive won't exist detected or accessed in Windows.

  • Right-click the drive'southward partition and click Alter Drive Letter and Paths.
  • If it doesn't accept an assigned drive letter, click Add and option a letter. If it has a letter, click Change and choose a different ane.

Disable USB Selective Suspend Characteristic

This is a power-saving setting that helps reduce battery utilize by cut power to your USB stick when it's plugged in. To ensure your drive isn't powering downward for whatever reason, disable this feature so that power management settings don't override the USB controller, which makes Windows non detect it.

  • Click Due southtart>Control Panel and select Hardware and Sound.
  • Click Power Options>Modify plan settings.
  • Click Change advanced power settings.
  • Go to USB settings and expand it.
  • Click USB selecting suspend settings and change the Plugged in drib-down bill of fare to Disabled (Annotation: If yous're using a laptop, click On battery and change to Disabled in the drop-downwards menu).
  • Click Apply>OK and restart your estimator to effect the changes.

If all else fails, you tin replace your USB stick as a last resort method, though you tin do this if the drive is already broken. Otherwise, we promise this guide has helped ease the process, and you now know what to do when your USB drive isn't showing upwardly when you plug it in.