External Drive Does Not Show Up on Computer

Nowadays, many software and games may take hundreds of gigabytes of space, and often users tend to be looking for old files they can remove to make space for new ones. Thanks to external hard drives, you will not need to worry about this again. These drives are normally connected via the USB port, and they can instantly provide any desktop computer or laptop with terabytes of free space. However, what is the alternative if your external drive is not working or not being detected by your computer at all? These troubleshooting pieces of information may help you resolve the connectivity issues with your external hard drive and enable it to work with your computer.

Check the USB Connection

Switching to a different USB port is the first thing to try if your external hard drive does not appear on your computer. It is also highly recommended to avoid using USB hubs, as well as to stick to using USB 3.0 ports because of their better speeds. Last but not least, check if the cable has not been damaged.

Run Windows Update

Keeping your operating system up-to-date is a great way to ensure that you will not run into compatibility issues with the latest hardware and peripherals available on the market. Whenever you are experiencing connectivity issues with the external hard drive or another external device, you should remember to check for pending Windows updates.

Update USB Drivers

Sometimes updating the USB drivers may resolve connectivity issues with external hard drives. You do this either by downloading an official driver from your motherboard vendor's website or through Windows' Device Manager. For the latter technique, load the 'Device Manager' through the 'Start Menu' and then look for the 'Universal Serial Bus Controllers' tab. Expand it, right-click your USB controller, and select 'Update Driver.'