Windows 10: Windows 10 Eject Button Missing for external hard drive

Why would, of all things, the eject button of a mounted external hard drive go missing? That's a Windows operating system for you. I'm using Explorer and right-clicking over the drive letter - but, no listing for ejecting the drive. Anyway, before I just rip out the USB cable of my external hard drive - is there a reasonable solution that's under 25 nebulous steps to just EJECT a freakin' hard drive plugged into Windows 10? Is it really necessary for every little thing in Windows to turn into a complicated procedure?But, the option to format the external drive is in the menu.

:)

 

Eject button is greyed out for external hard drive

Assuming this is an External USB HDD then normally there is no Eject option because it's not classed as 'Removable', only USB Flash Drives have the context menu option according to my own experience as well as this well respected source.

There's the Task Tray 'Safely Remove Hardware and Eject Media' option to eject.

Or Settings > Devices > Other Devices

 

unrecognised external hard drive on Windows 10

Since you already reinstalled the drivers of the External Hard Drive, let's run the
Hardware and Devices troubleshooter as it can resolve your concern. You can do that by following these steps:

• 
  Press the Start button.
  
• 
  Type and select Troubleshooting.
  
• 
  Click on View all on the left panel.
  
• 
  Select and run the Hardware and Devices troubleshooter.
  

If the Hardware and Devices troubleshooter doesn’t resolve your concern, we suggest that you change the letter of the External Hard Drive. You can do that by following these steps:

• 
  Press the Start button.
  
• 
  Type and select Control panel.
  
• 
  Select System and Security.
  
• 
  Select Administrative Tools, and a new window will appear.
  
• 
  Double-click Computer Management, and a new window will appear.
  
• 
  Select Disk Management that is located under
  Storage in the left pane.
  
• 
  Right click on the External Hard Drive that is not showing on the File Explorer.
  
• 
  Select Change letter and network path, and a new window will appear.
  
• 
  Select Change, and choose the letter that you want for the External Hard Drive.
  

After changing the letter of the External Hard Drive, we suggest that you reboot your laptop for the changes to take effect.



Let us know how it goes.



Regards.

 

Why is the File Explorer eject button greyed out for external hard drives?

Why is it that the eject button in Windows 10's File Explorer is greyed out for external hard drives? The only way to safely remove the drive is to use the task bar option.





I have tried this on a number of external USB hard drives from Sandisk and Buffalo, and I have tried setting their policies to Quick Removal as well, which didn't change anything.

With external flash drives, the option to eject from File Explorer works without issue.