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Why is Toshiba External Hard Drive not Showing up? [Solved]
Reassign the drive letter in Disk Management to fix the issue
6 min. read
Updated onOctober 4, 2023
updated onOctober 4, 2023
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Toshiba produces some of thebest external hard drivesavailable today. However, like most drives, it is prone to inaccessibility and operational problems. One such problem is the drive not showing up in File Explorer, preventing users from using the storage device.
If your Toshiba external drive is not showing, this article will briefly overview some of the common causes of the issue and provide steps to help you resolve it.
What causes Toshiba’s external hard drive not to show up?
Some of the significant causes preventing the drive from showing up are:
Having identified the causes, let’s explore the solutions below.
How do I backup/recover data from a Toshiba external hard drive?
Before you can troubleshoot your external drives, you should focus onbacking up the existing dataon the drive. This is because once you start troubleshooting the external drive, it becomes vulnerable to disk failure, leading to complete data loss.
Therefore, before you attempt to fix the Toshiba external drive not showing up issue, you must back up the files on the drive. Our guide onhow to use the backup settings in Windows 11will help you through the process.
So, you can use any of our recommendedthird-party recovery software toolshere to recover data from your hard drive.
How do I fix Toshiba external hard drive not showing up?
Before we proceed with more advanced solutions, here are a couple of quick fixes you can attempt:
If the error persists after applying the above fixes, try the following tweaks.
1. Reassign the letter for the Toshiba drive
If your Toshiba external drive appears in Disk Management but not File Explorer, reassigning the drive letter can help fix the bad sector issue.
Changing the drive letter allows Windows to re-read the unallocated space. You can also check out our guide on how to fixDisk management not loading.
2. Update your PC drivers & OS
If yourportable drive is not recognized by Windows, you’re running outdated drivers. Running a Windows and driver update can help you fix the Toshiba external drive not showing.
You can also choose a good driver updater tool, for example,Outbyte Driver updater, to update your drivers automatically with the latest versions.
3. Initialize the Toshiba hard drive manually
Toshiba hard drives that have not been initialized won’t appear in File Explorer; initializing the disk can help you fix the problem. However, initializing a disk can format the drive; ensure you back up your drive before attempting this step.
4. Format the Toshiba external hard drive
If the Toshiba external drive wasn’t appropriately formatted before being inserted into your PC, it could prevent it from showing up.
In this case, you’ll need to format the drive to make it functional with your PC. Check out what to do if you get anHDD format error.
5. Turn on the USB hub & show all hidden devices
In some cases, the external drive might display as a hidden device preventing it from showing up in File Explorer. You can fix this by turning on a USB hub displaying all hidden devices.
Working with external hard drives is very beneficial because their portability allows you to carry so much data in a tiny piece of hardware. However, external drives can become inaccessible due to several reasons. When that happens, ensure you follow the steps in this guide to help you fix the problem.
If you’ve got any questions about your Toshiba drive or suggestions on how to fix this issue, let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
More about the topics:external hard drive
Loredana Harsana
Windows Software Expert
Loredana is a passionate writer with a keen interest in PC software and technology. She started off writing about mobile phones back when Samsung Galaxy S II was on top of the world and she fell in love with tech of all sorts.
Whenever she’s not at her work desk, you’ll find her enjoying refreshing tea flavors, spilling stories on paper, and listening to the radio.
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Loredana Harsana
Windows Software Expert
Loredana is a tech enthusiast who tackles mobility, privacy, and networking in easy-to follow guides for everyone.
