An external hard drive not showing up in File Explorer is a common issue that can cause data loss and impede accessibility. Fixing this problem is important for several reasons:
First, if your files are not visible, you cannot access them at all. This could mean important documents, photos, videos and other data are completely inaccessible until the drive is working properly again.
Second, if the files are still physically on the drive but just not showing up, they remain at risk of being overwritten and permanently deleted if you keep saving new data to the external drive.
Finally, an external drive not being detected can indicate larger problems with the disk itself, like corruption or hardware failure. So it’s crucial to address the problem to avoid potential irrecoverable data loss.
Common Causes
There are a few common reasons why an external hard drive may not show up properly:
Drive letter not assigned – Windows assigns drive letters (like C: and D:) to all devices connected to your computer. If a drive letter was not assigned to your external hard drive, it won’t show up. You can fix this by assigning a drive letter in Disk Management.
Driver issues – For your computer to communicate properly with an external hard drive, the correct drivers need to be installed. If drivers are outdated or missing, the external drive may not be detected. Updating drivers from Device Manager can resolve this.
Partition issues – External drives need to be properly partitioned and formatted before they can be used. If your drive has a blank or unrecognized partition, it won’t show up. You can troubleshoot this using Disk Management.
For more details, see this guide from PCMag: https://www.pcmag.com/how-to/what-to-do-when-an-external-hard-drive-wont-show-up
Checking Drive Letter Assignment
One common reason an external hard drive may not show up is if it has not been assigned a drive letter by Windows. Here’s how to check the drive letters for your connected drives:
- Open up File Explorer in Windows.
- Right click on “This PC” and choose “Manage”.
- In the Computer Management window, click on “Disk Management” in the left sidebar.
- Here you will see a list of all the drives connected to your system, along with their assigned drive letters.
If your external drive shows up here but doesn’t have a drive letter next to it, you can right-click on the volume and choose to add a drive letter. This will assign a new letter to the disk and should make it show up in File Explorer.
For more details on managing drive letters, refer to this guide from StarTech: How to Assign or Change a Drive Letter.
Updating Drivers
One potential reason your Seagate external hard drive is not showing up in File Explorer, even though it is detected, is because you need to update the drivers. Here are the steps for updating the drivers for your external drive in Windows:
First, you’ll want to find the device in Device Manager. To open Device Manager, right-click the Start button and select Device Manager. Expand the Disk drives section and locate your Seagate external drive.
Next, you’ll want to update the driver. Right-click on the drive and select Update driver. This will launch the Update Driver Software wizard. Select Search automatically for updated driver software to allow Windows to search online and install the latest driver for your device [1].
If Windows does not find a new driver, you can try downloading the latest driver directly from the manufacturer’s website. For Seagate drives, you can get the drivers at https://www.seagate.com/support/software/. Download and run the Seagate Dashboard application to install the latest USB drivers [2].
After installing the latest driver, reboot your computer and check if your Seagate external drive now shows up in File Explorer. Updating the drivers is one of the common fixes for external drives not being detected properly in Windows.
Checking for Partition Issues
One potential cause of an external hard drive not showing up properly is partition issues. Using the built-in Windows utility Disk Management, you can check for any problems with the partitioning on the drive.
First, open Disk Management by typing “diskmgmt.msc” in the Windows search bar and selecting the result. In the main Disk Management window, look for your external drive in the list. If you see unallocated space on the drive, that means the partitions are either missing or corrupted. This can happen if the drive was ejected improperly while writing data.
To fix this, you can try initializing the disk, which will recreate the partition table and any necessary partitions. Right-click on the disk name or unallocated space and choose Initialize Disk. In the pop-up, select either MBR or GPT partitioning (depending on your needs) and click OK. This should make the full drive capacity accessible again in Windows.[1]
Initializing the disk will erase any existing data, so first try third-party partition recovery software to see if the partitions and data can be restored without formatting. Overall, using Disk Management to check the partitioning and initialize the disk if necessary can often resolve external drives not showing up correctly.
[1] https://www.cleverfiles.com/howto/repair-corrupted-external-hard-drive.html
Checking Drive in Diskpart
Diskpart is a command line utility built into Windows that can be used to check the status of disks. To check the Seagate external hard drive using Diskpart:
1. Open Command Prompt as administrator. This can be done by typing “cmd” in the Windows search bar, right-clicking on Command Prompt, and selecting “Run as administrator”.
2. In Command Prompt, type “diskpart” and press Enter to launch the Diskpart utility.
3. Type “list disk” and press Enter. This will display all disks connected to the computer with their disk numbers.
4. Identify the disk number for the Seagate external drive. Make note of the size to verify it is the correct disk.
5. Type “select disk X” where X is the disk number of the Seagate drive. Press Enter.
6. Type “detail disk” and press Enter. This will show the status and details of the selected disk.
7. Check if the disk shows as “Online” and the correct size. If it shows as “Offline” or “Unknown” that typically indicates an issue with the drive being detected properly in Windows.
Using the Diskpart utility to check disk status is one way to troubleshoot external drives not showing up correctly in File Explorer. If the drive appears offline or unknown in Diskpart, it likely requires further troubleshooting and potential repairs.
For further details on using Diskpart, see the Microsoft documentation: How to use Diskpart to check drive status
Trying a Different USB Port/Cable
One of the simplest fixes to try when your Seagate external hard drive is not showing up is using a different USB port and cable. The issue could be caused by:
- A faulty USB port that is not properly powering the hard drive
- A damaged or defective USB cable that is unable to transmit data
First, try using a different USB port on your computer. Connect your Seagate external drive to another USB port and see if it is now detected. Try USB ports directly on your computer as well as USB hubs and docking stations. USB 3.0 ports are preferred as they can provide more power and bandwidth to the drive. Avoid using USB ports on your keyboard or monitor as these may not provide enough consistent power.
If trying a different USB port does not work, try using a different USB cable that you know is functioning properly. USB cables can become damaged over time and fail to transmit data properly between the drive and computer. Swap the cable with a high-quality USB 3.0 cable that can provide a solid data transfer connection as well as deliver adequate power to the external drive. Using a short cable under 3 feet minimizes power loss.
With a different USB port and cable, check to see if your Seagate drive now shows up as expected in File Explorer. This simple fix could be all that is needed to regain access to your external storage.
Scanning and Fixing Errors
One of the most common solutions is to scan the external hard drive for errors using the CHKDSK utility in Windows and then fix any issues found. CHKDSK scans the drive and looks for bad sectors, lost clusters, cross-linked files, and directory errors.
To run CHKDSK on an external drive in Windows:
- Open the Command Prompt as Administrator.
- Type “chkdsk X: /f” – but replace X with the actual drive letter of your external drive.
- Press Enter and CHKDSK will scan the drive and fix any errors found.[1]
The /f parameter tells CHKDSK to fix any errors it finds. If the drive has a large number of bad sectors, you can also add the /r option which will attempt to recover readable information from bad sectors.[2]
Running CHKDSK regularly on your external drives can help identify and repair issues before they become bigger problems leading to data loss or drive failure.
Formatting the Drive
Formatting the external hard drive can help resolve detection issues when all else fails. Formatting completely erases all data on the drive, so only attempt this if you have backups of any important files or you no longer need the data on the drive.
Follow these steps to format an external hard drive that is not being detected:
- Open Disk Management in Windows. You can access this by right-clicking the Start menu and selecting “Disk Management”.
- Look for your external hard drive in the list. It may appear as an “Unknown” volume with no drive letter assigned. Right-click on the volume and select “Format”.
- Under File System, choose NTFS or exFAT. NTFS is recommended for internal drives, while exFAT allows compatibility across operating systems.
- Give the drive a new name if desired, and check “Quick Format”. Click “OK”.
- The formatting process will erase all data on the drive and reconfigure the file system. Once completed, the drive should appear ready to use.
If the external drive still does not show up or cannot be formatted, the drive itself may be damaged and require professional data recovery services.
Conclusion
In summary, there are several potential solutions if your Seagate external hard drive is detected but not showing up in File Explorer:
First, check for basic issues like proper connection, power, and driver updates. Also inspect disk management to see if the drive is assigned a letter. For more advanced troubleshooting, run chkdsk, try different cables/ports, or connect the drive to another PC. Reformatting the drive can fix corrupt file system issues.
If the above steps do not resolve the problem, the drive itself may be damaged. Contact Seagate support for potential warranty coverage and data recovery options. Back up important data regularly to avoid potential permanent loss. With persistence and care, an external drive that is detected but not accessible can often be repaired.