Ssd Not Showing Up In Windows Explorer

16.09.2019

It seems there's a bug where Windows 10 doesn't recognize the SSD if it's not formatted. I used a third party tool formater and then it showed up in Disk. By default, Windows hides empty drives from your File Explorer view. Here’s how to display all of them instead. Empty drives mostly refers to drives with removable media–such as card readers–that are permanently connected to your computer but may or may not have actual media plugged in. Windows assigns those drives a permanent drive letter, but hides them from view by default unless a.

  1. Ssd Partition Not Showing Up
  2. Ssd Not Showing Up In Windows Explorer 11
  3. Ssd Not Showing Up In Explorer Windows 10

SSD not showing up in My Computer

'I recently installed a Samsung SSD on my Windows 10 computer, but I find it not showing up under My Computer where the other hard drive is present. Is there any way to display the SSD?'

New SSD not showing up in Disk ManagementGame sepak bola online.

'I got a new M.2 SSD from Intel. When I connected it to my PC, it does not show up in the File Explorer nor Disk Management. I don't know where goes wrong. Please help.'

The above users' stories are telling the same thing that happens to a Solid State Drive (SSD), which does not show up as other connected hard drives. In Windows 10, as well as earlier Windows operating systems, an external storage device not detected issue would throw people into unpleasant situations. Therefore, the biggest concern is how to fix the 'SSD not showing up' problem without losing data.

Next, we list four cases of SSD not showing up in Windows 10, and you can try to fix the issue accordingly. Download EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard Free when it's necessary to recover data from an inaccessible/formatted Solid State Drive.

Important
Solutions to Case 1 to Case 3 are based on the prerequisite for the SSD not showing up in File Explorer but you can find it in the Windows Disk Management. And the Windows Disk Management solutions can be replaced by third-party free partition manager software as well, like EaseUS Partition Master, including change drive letter and paths, initialize hard drive and format a hard drive partition. The advantage of using third-party software over Disk Management is the ease of use.

Case 1SSD not showing up because the drive letter is missing or conflicting

In case the drive letter of the SSD is missing or conflicting with another disk, Windows OS will be unable to recognize it. It's fine because you can assign a new drive letter for the SSD in Windows Disk Management manually.

To assign a new drive letter, follow the steps:

  • Step 1: Right-click on This PC, select Manage. Under the Storage section, click Disk Management.
  • Here's an alternative way to open Disk Management in Windows 10/8.1/8/7: press Windows + R keys and type diskmgmt.msc in the Run box, hit Enter.)
  • Step 2: Right-click on the SSD partition and select Change Drive Letter and Paths….
  • Step 3: Among Add, Change, and Remove, click the 'Change' button, and then select a drive letter from the list. Click 'OK' to assign a new drive letter to the SSD.

Case 2SSD not showing up because it is not initialized

If you get a new SSD and it won't show up in the Windows Explorer, it's likely in the 'uninitialized' state. You must initialize a disk before Logical Disk Manager can access it.

Also, for an old SSD that shows the error 'disk unknown not initialized', the result is the same. In these two situations, to fix the problem, you can try to connect the SSD to the other working computer to check if it reports the same error. Otherwise, you need to initialize the SSD in Windows 10.

To initialize an SSD, follow the steps:

  • Step 1: Open Disk Management as taught.
  • Step 2: Find and right-click the SSD you want to initialize, and then click Initialize Disk.
  • Step 3: In the Initialize Disk dialog box, select the disk(s) to initialize. You can select whether to use the master boot record (MBR) or GUID partition table (GPT) partition style.

Case 3SSD not showing up because the file system is not supported or corrupted

If the above two methods do not work in your case, we need to think further. One presumption is that the file system has corrupted or Windows does not support the current file system.

As investigated, the relevant file system issues are mainly displayed as 'RAW', 'Free space' or 'Unallocated space'. To fix the file system issue, reformatting the disk would be enough.

Warning
As Disk formatting will completely erase data on it. If you didn't create a data backup before, download EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for FREE to recover data from formatted SSD.

Keep Noted: Once the 'Trim' is enabled on the SSD, nothing could be done to restore erased data. Hence for the first try, you're strongly recommended to use the free version of EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard to scan lost data.

Step 1. On the disk map, select the drive X: and click the Scan button.

Step 2. Search for all lost data by scanning the entire Solid State Drive. You could see more and more data coming up.

Step 3. After the scan, select the wanted files and folders in the results and then click the Recoverbutton. Choose a different location instead of the SSD to keep the recovered data.

Case 4SSD not showing up because of disk driver issues

Just like a hard drive, most times the SSD is detected but not showing up in My Computer because the disk driver is not installed properly. So, you can try to reinstall the SSD driver to check if it can help to fix the issue.

  • Step 1: Right-click on This PC, select Manage. Under the System Tools section, click Device Manager.
  • Here's an alternative way to open Disk Management in Windows 10/8.1/8/7: press Windows + R keys and type devmgmt.msc in the Run box, hit Enter.)
  • Step 2: Go to Universal serial bus controllers. It should list the storage devices that you have connected to your PC
  • Step 3:Right-click the SSD and choose the third option 'Uninstall'.

​Remove the SSD and restart your system. Try to connect the SSD again to check if Windows 10 detects the SSD as normal.

Conclusion

SSD, plus every other form of storage media, is prone to mechanical failure and physical damage. And one truth, lifespan is limit. We need to make further plans to safeguard data on the storage drive. Backup is always a wise choice. It's never too late to take actions to save a copy of hard drive data to another safe location, like a backup drive, cloud or network drive..EaseUS Todo Backup Free can do you a favor.

In conclusion, upon the topic of SSD not showing up in Windows 10, we analyzed four cases in total and showcased the corresponding fixes. In the middle and final repair process, we recommend three assistive tools.

  • EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard: to recover lost data from inaccessible and formatted hard drive/partition.
  • EaseUS Partition Master: to assign a drive letter, initialize a disk and format a hard drive
  • EaseUS Todo Backup: to back up a hard drive/partition.

Summary :

Is SSD not showing up in My Computer or Disk Management on Windows 10/8/7 when it is plugged into your PC? Here we will tell you the specific reasons, as well as the corresponding solutions to help you out. Try them out to access your SSD and data when it doesn't show up.

Quick Navigation :

SSD Not Showing up Windows 7/8/10

Compared to the traditional Hard Disk Drive (HDD), many users prefer the Solid State Drive (SSD) as data storage device due to its many advantages such as fast read-write speed, low power consumption, and lack of noise.

Tip: How to tell whether a hard drive is SSD in Windows 10? Click this article to learn more.

However, a SSD could sometimes not be recognized in Windows 10/8/7 when it is plugged in; that is, you might not see it show up in locations like My Computer, File Explorer or Disk Management.

Since this issue is very common, many users have been trying to find answers to it on the Internet.

Tip: This issue is not solely limited to SSD but HHD as well. External hard drive not showing up, USB drive not showing up, or just a general hard drive not showing up in My Computer or Disk Management could all happen to any computer. For demonstration purposes, we will use SSD here as an example.

When a data storage device cannot be recognized by the computer, none of its could be accessed. So why is it that the device doesn't show up in Windows 10? How do you deal with this problem? Is it possible to get the data back? Don't worry, this post will answer all of those questions.

Why Is SSD Not Showing up and How to Fix It

Generallly, this issue could be caused by several reasons. For example:

  • The SSD is new and has not been initialized
  • SSD partitions are lost and unallocated
  • File system of partitions can't be recognized
  • Drive letters of SSD partitions are missing
  • Partitions are hidden
  • Windows doesn't detect SSD
  • Driver issues
  • Etc.

Here we will provide the specific solutions according to the different cases to fix the issue of SSD not showing up.

Tip: What if it is the HDD that is unknown or not initialized? We recommend you to first recover files from the disk in case of permanent data loss.v

Reason 1: New SSD Is Not Initialized

Sometimes, a brand new SSD is not initialized before being plugged into the computer. This will cause the issue of SSD not showing up in Disk Management. How do you solve this issue in order to use the SSD in Windows 10/8/7?

Solution: Initialize this SSD

You need to firstfind Disk Management in Windows 10/8/7 for SSD initialization. Press Win + R and input compmgmt.msc in the Run dialogue to open this tool. Then, there will be a pop-up window saying 'You must initialize a disk before Logical Disk Manager can access it' to suggest you initialize the SSD.

How to initialize SSD to fix the issue of new SSD not showing up Windows 10/8/7? Please choose MBR (Master Boot Record) or GPT (GUID Partition Table) according to your motherboard, and then click OK.

MBR VS GPT, which one is better for your SSD? Focus on the exact difference to get the answer and safely convert your disk to MBR or GPT.

After initialization is finished, you can create a new volume with Disk Management. Then this new partition should show up in Windows Explorer.

Reason 2: SSD Partitions Are Missing

When the SSD isn't new and contains a lot of data, it might not show up in the Windows Explorer when you try to access its files.

In Disk Management, the message 'disk unknown not initialized' might show up due to virus infection, system file corruption, MBR damage, improper operation, etc. Windows also prompts you to initialize it to MBR or GPT SSD.

In this case, it is not wise to initialize this SSD immediately in Windows 10 because all the data on this SSD could be lost. Another situation is that the SSD would appear as online, but the entire disk is 'unallocated'.

In these two situations, Disk Management will not show all the partitions on the SSD and only the unallocated space shows. What should you do fix unallocated SSD in Windows 10/8/7? The first thing you do should be retrieving the lost partitions and data so the SSD is no longer unallocated.

Solution: Make a Partition Recovery

In order to recover lost partition and data in case of SSD not showing up in Disk Management, you can adopt a professional and reliable program. Fortunately, we have MiniTool Partition Wizard to help you out.

This tool is designed to manage your disk and partition well in areas like partition resizing, disk copy, MBR repair, disk conversion, etc. Among so many features, it owns a core function which is called Partition Recovery. This feature allows the recovering of lost partition and lost data effectively in Windows 10/8/7.

Partition Recovery is a paid feature, so unfortunately you can't recover lost partitions using the Free Edition. However, the Free Edition can still be used to check whether the lost partitions can be scanned; if they can be scanned, you should purchase the Professional Edition to recover them.

Warning: Before you begin partition recovery, don't do anything to your SDD (e.g, create a new partition with the unallocated space). Otherwise, the possibility of a successful partition and data recovery on SSD will be slim.

How to perform this operation to fix SSD not showing up in Windows 7/8/10? Here is the step-by-step guide to recover your partitions.

Step 1: Step 1: Launch MiniTool Partition Wizard. Select the target SSD; then in the 'Check Disk' menu, click 'Partition Recovery'. Alternatively, right-click on the target disk to select 'Partition Recovery'.

Step 2: Choose a scanning range for SSD partition recovery. There are three modes; Full Disk should be chosen to scan the entire SSD. Click Next to continue.

Step 3: Then MiniTool Partition Wizard has two scanning methods, Quick Scan and Full Scan. The former can restore your lost or deleted partitions which are continuous; the latter can scan each sector of the specified scanning range on your SSD. If Quick Scan doesn't work well enough, try Full Scan.

Step 4: After SSD scanning is finished, all your lost or deleted partitions will be listed as shown in the following screenshot. Please choose all the partitions you need.

Let's take partition 1 on the SSD as an example. You can review all the files on your computer by double-clicking the partition. The pop-up window shows you the folder structure, so you can just click them to view the files inside. After you finish reviewing, close this window and click Finish to go back to the main interface of MiniTool Partition Wizard.

Step 5: Finally, click Apply to perform the SSD partition recovery operation. Here all partitions on SSD will appear in Windows Explorer.

After partition recovery, you might find that your SSD does not have a drive letter. In this case, if you open your File Explorer or Windows Explorer, none of the partitions in the SSD shows up. Therefore, it is necessary to assign a drive letter for all partitions with MiniTool Partition Wizard.

If you are experiencing partition loss issue, MiniTool Partition Wizard is your best assistant; get the Professional Edition now to scan your lost SSD partitions and recover them.

Tip: In addition to partition recovery on SSD with MiniTool Partition Wizard, you can also use its Data Recovery feature in Professional Ultimate to recover SSD data. Or use another program – MiniTool Power Data Recovery to recover data from unallocated space. However, MiniTool Power Data Recovery can only retrieve the data on SSD but not the partitions.

Reason 3: Partition Is Hidden by Third-party Software

Sometimes, the SSD partition could be hidden by a third-party software in order to prevent access. Consequently, it will be not showing up in the Windows Explorer or File Explorer.

Solution: Unhide Partition

Disk Management does not have an option to unhide a partition or show hidden partitions. In this case, you will again need to use MiniTool Partition Wizard. Fortunately, using the Free Edition will suffice this operation.

Step 1: Right-click on the target drive and click Unhide Partition. Alternatively, select the target partition and click Unhide Partition under the Partition Management menu.

Step 2: Assign a drive letter for this partition.

Windows

Step 3: Click Apply to apply these changes.

Reason 4: Drive Letter Is Missing

Sometimes your SSD is properly connected to your PC, showing up in Device Manager, but not showing up in My Computer. In this case, it is likely that the drive letter is missing on the SSD partition due to some reasons, so you can't access it in Windows Explorer.

Solution: Assign a Drive Letter

It should be a priority now to change the drive letter for the partition on SSD. How to assign a drive letter to fix the issue of SSD not showing up in My Computer? Here is what you need to do:

Step 1. Launch Disk Management utility. Right-click on This PC or My Computer in Windows 10/8/7, select Manage and then in Storage menu, click Disk Management.

Step 2. Here you can see all the SSD partitions. Now select the partition that is missing a drive letter, right-click it and select Change Drive Letter and Paths.

Step 3: Click Add, then select a drive letter from the list. Click OK to finish this change.

Alternatively, you can also assign a drive letter in MiniTool Partition Wizard. Here is what to do:

Step 1: Select the target partition on your SSD, and click 'Change Drive Letter' in the left pane.

Step 2: Choose one drive letter.

Step 3: Click the Apply.

After performing this procedure, SSD will show up again in Windows 10/8/7.

Reason 5: SSD Adopts an Unsupported File System

If your SSD is still not showing up in Windows 10 after trying the methods above, you should consider whether the file system is compatible with Windows. If the file system is neither FAT32 nor NTFS, SSD won’t show up.

Solution: Delete Drive and Create FAT32/NTFS Partition

Ssd Partition Not Showing Up

You can also use MiniTool Partition Wizard to delete the SSD partition in Windows 10/8/7 and then create a new NTFS/FAT32 partition. Here, take an Ext3 partition as an example.

Step 1: Right-click the partition to select Delete. Alternatively, directly click Delete Partition in the left panel.

Note: Partition Deletion will lead to data loss. If this partition contains important data, please recover deleted files at once with the Data Recovery feature in MiniTool Partition Wizard Ultimate or an advanced edition after deletion.

Step 2: After finishing the deletion, click Create Partition. During the process, please choose NTFS or FAT32 as the file system.

Step 3: Execute these changes by clicking Apply.

Tip: You can also choose to format an SSD in Windows 1/8/7 if it is not showing up due to the unsupported file system.

Reason 6: SSD Not Showing up in BIOS

Another possibility is that the SSD is not connected correctly, causing Windows to not be able to recognize it. This could be shown in BIOS where you can see the computer fails to detect your SSD.

In case of SSD not recognized, what should you do? Please refer to this post The BIOS does not detect or recognize the Solid State Drive to get solutions.

However, none of the solutions here could remove the issue of SSD not showing up, the SSD is likely damaged and should be replaced. Here are the best sellers in the SSD market:

Product NameSamsung 860 EVO 500GB 2.5' SATA III Internal SSDKingston A400 SSD 120GB SATA III 2.5'SanDisk SSD PLUS 240GB Internal SSDCrucial MX500 500GB 3D NAND SATA 2.5' Internal SSDWD Blue 3D NAND 500GB PC SSD
BrandSamsungKingstonSanDiskCrucialWestern Digital
Capacity500GB120GB240GB500GB500GB
I/O SpeedUp to 550MB/sUP to 500MB/sUP to 535MB/sUp to 560MB/sUp to 560MB/s
ProsGood overall performance.
Outstanding endurance rating.
Samsung Magician software.
Hardware-Based encryption.
Package with DRAM cache and cloning.
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Speed up your computer in a noticeable way.
Low power consumption. Good 4k random speeds.
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Excellent speed.
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Dashboard application included.

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Transfer speeds closely match some of the fastest SATA SSDs.
Quite reasonably priced for said performance.

ConsExpensive.

Using TLC NAND makes it less durable than SSDs with other types of NAND flash memory.
Sequential write speed is too slow.

Inconsistent performance.
Copying a big amount of data can slow down the drive quite often.

NVMe option not included.
Heats up when the load is high.

Some alternatives are simply faster/cheaper.

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Bottom Line

Ssd Not Showing Up In Windows Explorer 11

In this post, we talked about the issue of SSD not showing up in Windows 10/8/7, why this issue appears, and how to fix it. MiniTool Partition Wizard helps a lot in solving issues regarding SSD and hard drives in general. If you encounter this problem while managing SSD partition data, you can try using the methods mentioned in this post.

Ssd Not Showing Up In Explorer Windows 10

Management

Finally, if you have any suggestion or doubt, please don't hesitate to leave a comment below or send an email directly to [email protected]. Your feedback is much appreciated.

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