Windows 10: After Windows 11 Update external hard drive healthy, but shows only blank icons

Hi everybody, I did a Windows Update 4 days ago and right after that, I found my external hard drive having only 3 blank icons, that cannot be opened. Its capacity is 3.7 TB and 1.8 TB was used lots of work files.According to Windows the hard drive is healthy, initialized and the 1.8 TB is still used. I could not find anything about a similar problem. I ran recovery with Recuva which apparently found almost 18.000 deleted files, but recovered 557 files around 170 GB and they were indeed all previously deleted. So I assume my 1.8 TB of files are not deleted and are still there, I just can

:)

 

External Hard Drive

Hi John,

We suggest that you try the troubleshooting steps below:

• Open your External Hard Drive file in File Explorer.
• Type the name of the file you want to search on the search box and click Enter.

The file will show up in Search Results and you will be able to move it to the correct folder.

Let us know if you need further help.

 

Windows 11 File Explorer not showing external drive

If Windows 11 File Explorer is not showing an external drive that is connected to your device, there are a few steps you can take to troubleshoot the issue:

1. Check the connection: Make sure that the external drive is properly connected to your device. Try unplugging and replugging the drive, or connecting it to a different USB port.
   
2. Check Disk Management: Open Disk Management by pressing Windows key + X, then selecting Disk Management. Look for the external drive in the list of drives. If it appears but has no drive letter assigned, right-click on it and select "Change Drive Letter and Paths". Assign a drive letter to the external drive, and then check if it appears in File Explorer.
   
3. Update drivers: Make sure that your device's drivers are up to date, particularly the drivers for your USB ports. Use the Device Manager to check for any outdated or malfunctioning drivers, and update or reinstall them as needed.
   
4. Check power supply: If the external drive requires a separate power supply, make sure it is properly connected and functioning.
   
5. Test on another device: Try connecting the external drive to another device to see if it appears in File Explorer. This will help determine if the issue is with the drive itself or your device.
   

By following these steps, you may be able to resolve the issue of Windows 11 File Explorer not showing an external drive.

 

external hard drive

Hi Chrpee,

If you can't find external hard drive on Disk management than the next step is using the diskpart via command line, please follow the steps below:-

On the keyboard hit ((Windows logo key + R key)) than type ((CMD))

Now the windows command line will appear, the next steps is to type ((diskpart))

After that type ((list disk)) to show you the list of hard disks with partitions

If you found your external hard drive one of the list than you need to type ((select disk number)), note: the number is a disk number

Once you selected the hard disk or partitions than type ((clean))

than type ((create partition primary))

than type ((select partition 1))

than type ((active))

than type ((format fs=ntfs quick))

than type ((assign))

last type ((exit))

Check if the external hard drive appeared, if not please see the link below for more info and let me know if you need any assist

https://uk.pcmag.com/dvd-burners/120624/what-to...