What to Do When Your USB Drive Is Not Showing Up

by Elsie Otachi

USB is an extensively adopted technology that allows us to plug lots of devices into our computers every day. Although it’s quite easy to set up, sometimes it’s not all plug and play. What do you do when your USB drive is not showing up?

This can be caused by several different things such as a damaged or dead USB flash drive, outdated software and drivers, partition issues, wrong file system, and device conflicts. Other causes like faulty hardware, a dead system controller, or USB ports require professional assistance from your device manufacturer or a certified computer technician.

Table of Contents

    While it’s not easy to pinpoint the exact reason why your computer won’t recognize the USB stick, you can work through various possible solutions until it works again.

    We’ve rounded up some effective solutions that can 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.

    Also, check out our short YouTube video where we go through some of the solutions down below. If you’re getting a USB Device not Recognized error, we have a solution for that too, so check out the link.

    How To Fix a Plugged-In USB Drive Not Showing Up

    Preliminary Checks

    Check For Device Compatibility

    If your USB stick isn’t meant to work with your computer, then it won’t show up when you plug it in. In Windows PCs, most USB 3 devices can connect to USB 2 ports, which shouldn’t be much trouble. 

    However, with advances in technology, a USB 3 device may require a more powerful and compatible port to work. Check your device’s instruction manual or packaging for compatibility information before trying again.

    Update Your Operating System

    If you’re using Windows, updating the operating system comes with important files that support different hardware and devices, plus fixes to any errors you may encounter.

    Use Disk Management Tool

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

    Try Plugging Into a Different Computer Or USB Port

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

    A faulty, damaged or dead USB port presents problems such as failure to detect USB drives or displays error messages. Check if the port is clean, dust-free, and firm. If it’s moving up and down or feels loose, then it’s faulty/damaged.

    If you’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, computer, or checking in Disk Management, the drive is probably dead and needs to be replaced.

    Troubleshoot Drivers

    You can troubleshoot driver issues using Device Manager, especially if your USB stick is detected by a different computer other than the one you’re using, signaling a driver problem.

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

    Use Device Manager To scan For Hardware Changes

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

    Reinstall USB Controllers

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

    Create a New Drive Volume & Assign a Drive Letter

    If your device appeared in the Disk Management step, you can create a new drive volume and assign a drive letter. The Disk Management tool fixes partitioning and file system problems with different drives.

    However, your USB stick may show only Unallocated space, in which case you’ll have to create a new partition so that Windows and other operating systems can use it.

    If you still can’t see your flash drive, yet it’s partitioned, make sure it has a drive letter. Ideally, this should be automatic, but if you removed it manually, the drive won’t be detected or accessed in Windows.

    Disable USB Selective Suspend Feature

    This is a power-saving setting that helps reduce battery use by cutting power to your USB stick when it’s plugged in. To ensure your drive isn’t powering down for any reason, disable this feature so that power management settings don’t override the USB controller, which makes Windows not detect it.

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