Hdd Not Showing Up In Disk Utility

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If you the hard-drive does not still come up on Disk Management after doing all of these, you can use another computer if you have one close to you. If this does not still work, move to the next step. Create a Partition and Format. You can make the hard drive show up by partitioning it. This would be possible using the Disk Management tool. But it's still not showing in My Computer, not in Disk Management. I tried the diskpart command as well, not showing in the disk list. I haven't check the BIOS yet. However, it is working simultaneously with my other computer (running windows 10 as well). I can open it, edit files in Explorer, and change the letter of the disk with Disk Management.

Hard drive not showing up in Windows, Disk Management or BIOS? No worries, this article will help you diagnose the problem and provide multiple solutions to fix it. It happens that a hard drive cannot be deleted in Windows or recognized by BIOS. When you encounter such problem and do not know what to do, you can check solutions in this tutorial to fix the issue.


When your internal hard drive is not showing up in Terminal or in Disk Utility under Recovery Mode, then your hard drive should have some serious corruption. In this case, the data on the unbootable Mac is a great concern for you for sure. Basically its yoru normal leopard install screen but when click continue, usually the drive you want to install the OS to will show up, but theres nothing. I go to disk utility and there is the optical drive with the leopard install disk and not the drive. I go to system profiler and i go to the sata option and it shows the drive there.

Symptom of hard drive not showing up issue
Reasons why hard drive is not showing up in Windows
Method 1: Check hard drive cable connection
Method 2: Initialize and format hard drive
Method 3: Partition and format the hard drive
Method 4: Assign a drive letter for the drive
Method 5: Run hardware and devices troubleshooter
Method 6: Check for driver updates manually
Method 7: Enable drive in BIOS
Conclusion


Symptom of hard drive not showing up issue


You installed a hard drive on your computer and open File Explorer, but to your dismay, there is not drive icon representing the hard disk. Your computer failed to recognized disk, and you connect the disk to another PC, and end up with same result.

Hard drive not showing up is a common issue you may encounter during using computer. As long as you have a hard drive running on your computer, it's only a matter of time before you get the problem. There are several scenarios of this problem, for example, hard drive shows up in Disk Management not in Windows, disk not showing in Disk Management, hard disk shows up in BIOS but not in Windows, hard drive cannot be detected in BIOS, USB drive or external hard drive not showing up, etc. In some cases, even new hard drive cannot be recognized by computer.

Once a hard drive is not recognized on computer, you are no longer able to access data stored on it. If files on the hard drive do not have a backup, you might be driven mad by this issue. Perhaps you are trying to looking for solutions to this problem. Don't worry! The disk not showing up issue can be fixed in most cases, and the following content will help you dig causes and solutions.


Reasons why hard drive is not showing up in Windows


There is a variety of reasons why Windows or BIOS cannot detect the presence of your hard drive. Here is a list of possible causes of the problem, and you can refer to these factors:

  • Connection issue. In some cases, storage device is not properly connected to computer and it cannot be recognized, for example, there might be something wrong with power supply, cable or USB port, etc.
  • Hard drive capacity is unallocated. If a hard disk contains no partition and all disk space is unallocated, it won't show in Windows Explorer.
  • Hard disk does not have a drive letter. A partition without a drive letter does not show in File Explorer. If it is the case, we can fix the disk not showing issue by assigning a drive letter.
  • Hard drive is not initialized. If you check a disk in Disk Management and it is marked as 'Unknown, Not initialized', and it won't show in system.
  • Disk driver is outdated. If your computer cannot recognized connected hard drive, there is a possibility that the disk's driver is outdated or not compatible with operating system.
  • Disk is not enabled in bios or device manager. If a new hard drive cannot be detected by the system BIOS, the cause might be that the disk is not enabled.
  • Bad sectors. Hard drive bad sector does not respond to read or write requests. A disk with too many bad sectors won't be recognized by system.
  • Other physical damage. Hard drive contains moving physical moving components and it is relatively fragile to collision than SSD. If its heads gets damaged, and it cannot be accessed anymore.

Since causes to the issue vary from people, solutions, there are various solutions to fix it. https://movingdownload.medium.com/ntfs-format-windows-10-ea944fbd4c60. The following part will present some methods which are mostly recommended by experts step by step and you can try these methods one by one.


Method 1: Check hard drive cable connection


There is possibility that a hard drive does not show up due to improper cable connection, which should be checked in the first place when you encounter the issue. A local hard drive is connected to computer's motherboard via two cables: the data cable and power cable. You should make sure these two cables works well and correctly connects hard disk and motherboard. If the connection is loose, you can try a new cable.

If cables are set correctly to devices and the hard disk still cannot be recognized, there might be something wrong with the SATA port. In that case, you need to plug data cable to a different port on your motherboard and check whether the problem can be solved.

If your hard drive is connected via USB port, you should try another USB port and a different computer. Besides, if you plug hard drive via a USB hub, it is recommended to connect disk to computer directly, as USB hub sometimes cannot provide sufficient power supply.


Method 2: Initialize and format hard drive


It happens that a hard drive does not show up in Windows Explorer but shows in Disk Management. However, the disk is shown as uninitialized due to some corruption issues. You can initialize the disk following these steps:

Step 1 Access Disk Management. Press Windows logo key and R from keyboard to open Run box. Then type 'diskmgmt.msc' in Run box and click OK button. This will open Disk Management window.

Step 2 Find the uninitialized hard drive. There are two clues helping you locate the hard drive in question. First, the disk is marked as 'Unknown' and 'Not initialized' on the left, which means the disk is not formatted or created a volume; second, check whether the disk size matches the capacity of the drive you connected.

Step 3 Right-click on the area of the disk name and select 'Initialize Disk' from context menu.


Step 4 Select partition style for the disk you want to initialize and click OK button.

Fundy designer 1 10 0. There are two partition styles: MBR (Master Boot Record) and GPT (GUID Partition Table). If you do not know which one to choose, you can read the article first: MBR VS GPT, which one is the better choice for your computer?


Step 5 Right-click on the disk again and select 'New Simple Volume'. Then you can follow the onscreen instruction to create new partition and format the disk.


Method 3: Partition and format the hard drive

We often use Disk Management to check disk status and file system issue, because Disk Management can display a disk which has not been partition and is full of unallocated space. To make the hard drive shown in Windows Explorer you should create partition on the disk. However, if the hard drive is suffering from partition loss issue, you should not create new partitions before lost data is recovered. On this occasion, lost partition recovery should be performed prior to any other actions.

This section will show you how to restore deleted or lost partitions directly from hard drive as well as how to partition a hard disk. If partition recovery is not needed, you can move to Way 1 and Way 2 to partition the hard drive.


Way 1: Recover deleted / lost partition

Deleted or lost partitions cannot be restored by Disk Management, but we can use partition recovery software to get back lost volume easily. It is highly recommended to use Eassos DiskGenius Pro to do the job for you. This partition recovery software is able to restore deleted partition back to the status before they got lost, which means files and folders in the partition will be recovered at the same time. Once lost partitions are recovered, they can be accessed again under Windows. Besides, the partition recovery feature supports multiple file system types, including NTFS, FAT32, exFAT, FAT16, FAT12, Ext2, Ext3 and Ext4. Let's see how recovery works:

Hdd Not Showing Up In Disk Utility

Step 1 Install and launch Eassos DiskGenius from your computer, and then you can see all disks connected to your computer.

Step 2 Select the hard drive which loses partitions and click 'Partition Recovery' button from the toolbar.


Step 3 Click Start button and DiskGenius starts to search for lost partitions on the selected disk area.

Step 4 Reserve or Ignore partition. Once a partition is found, you'll be prompted to make decision between Reserve and Ignore. The simple rule is to reserve the one you want to recover and ignore incorrect partitions.

How to decide whether the partition is the one you need to recover? You can easily make the choice by previewing files in the partition. DiskGenius allows to preview files in the partition it finds out, and you can view and open these files to make sure if the partition is correct.


Step 5 Save lost partitions to partition table by clicking Save All button.


Step 6 Select partition table style for the disk and click OK. You can either choose partition table style on your own or follow the suggested option.


Way 2: Create partition in Windows Disk Management

If you want to create partition on hard drive in Windows Disk Management, please follow these steps:

Step 1 Open Disk Management, right-click on unallocated space and select New Simple Volume https://ruggdesqmume1977.wixsite.com/downloadclicks/post/bend-allowance-calculator. option from context menu.

Step 2 The New Simple Volume Wizard will be launch and it will guide you through the process of creating a new partition on unallocated space.


Step 3 In the rest steps you'll be asked to set partition size, driver letter, file system type, volume label, formatting type, etc. You can follow suggested setting and click Next button until the partition is created successfully.


Way 3: Partition hard drive to multiple volumes quickly using Windows partition manager

This method is able to quickly partition / repartition a hard drive into multiple partitions at one time, and the process is simple and quick. Here we'll use a free Windows partition manager to do complete the task.

Step 1 Launch Eassos DiskGenius from your computer. Select the hard drive that needs to be partitioned and click 'Quick Partition' button.

Step 2 Select partition table style, partition count, partition size, volume name, etc. and click OK button.

Note: the option 'Align Partition to Integral Multiple of Sectors' option should be selected if you want your partition to be 4K aligned. The value next to the option can be the default setting, which satisfies the 4K alignment requirement.


Step 3 Wait for a while, new partitions will be created and formatted.


Method 4: Assign a drive letter for the drive


Without a drive letter, partition won't be displayed in Windows. If the hard drive which does not show up in Windows has been well connected to your computer and properly partitioned, you still cannot access it in File Explorer, you should make sure if it has a drive letter. Here is how to assign a drive letter:

Step 1 Launch Disk Management, right-click on the partition which is lack of drive letter and select 'Change Drive Letter and Paths' option from context menu.

Step 2 Google building design software. Click 'Add' button on the 'Change drive Letter and Paths' dialog box. Then another dialog box pops up.

Step 3 Select 'Assign the following drive letter' option and choose a letter from the drop-down list. Then click OK and the drive letter will be added to the partition.


Method 5: Run hardware and devices troubleshooter


Hardware troubleshooter is a built-in tool in Windows 7/8/10. If your installed hard drive or other hardware does not work properly as expected, you can try this tool to check if there are any errors on the device.

Step 1 Right-click on Start menu and select Settings to open Setting window Then select Update & Security option.

Step 2 Click Troubleshoot on the left pane and find the option 'Hardware and Devices' on the right side. Click 'Run the troubleshooter' button.


Step 3 A window pops up to analyze hardware issue. Then you can follow the wizard to finish the process.


Method 6: Check for driver updates manually


The hard drive not showing up issue might be caused by corrupted or incompatible drivers, and you can update drivers manually like this:

Step 1 Open Device Manager. Press Windows logo key and R to open Run dialog box, type devmgmt.msc and click OK button.

Step 2 Expand Disk driver and locate the hard drive or external hard drive which cannot be detected by Windows.

Step 3 Right-click on the disk in question and select 'Update Driver Software' from context menu.

Step 4 If there are any updates, follow the instructions to update drivers.


Method 7: Enable drive in BIOS


If your hard drive does not show in Disk Management, you should check if it can be detected in BIOS (Basic Input / Output System). BIOS is responsible for monitoring the communication between hardware devices connected to your PC and operating system. Thus, you can enter BIOS to check status for the hard drive that cannot be recognized by system. That's because the hard drive might be turned OFF in System Setup, for some motherboard manufactures disable unused ports in BIOS by default.

Please note that the BIOS interface and settings, and how to enter BIOS differs from BIOS versions and motherboard brands. You can consult support team of your motherboard or computer for detailed steps to access BIOS. Besides, be careful when making changes in BIOS, as any improper operation may lead to serious problem. If you are new to these operations, please read manual carefully in advance or ask a computer expert to help you.

Step 1 Restart computer and keep pressing the function on your computer which allows you to enter BIOS.

The key might by F1, F2, F3 or Delete, and it will be prompted on the screen before operating system boots. Also, you can consult your PC's manufacturer for user manual.

Step 2 Select Boot tab to check if your hard drive is listed there.

Step 3 If you cannot see your hard disk, you can try enabling the controller for the disk. Exact settings for this can be found in your motherboard or PC manuals. Once the disk is turned on, restart computer and check if it can be recognized in Disk Management.


Conclusion


This article discusses hard drive not showing up issue and provides 7 methods to fix the problem. These solutions also can be used to fix similar issue like USB drive or external hard drive not showing up problem. If you have better solutions or any questions regarding this issue, please feel free to contact us.


Summary: This post shows how to access a WD hard drive that's not recognized by Mac. To avoid data loss when fixing the unrecognized WD external hard drive, you can recover lost data from the WD hard drive for free with iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac.

Just like Seagate external hard drive not recognized on Mac, WD hard drive not recognized is a question frequently asked by Mac users in Apple related forums. It happens to WD My passport, WD My Book, WD Elements and Easystore, etc.

If you are one of those who are wondering:

  • Why Mac won't recognize my WD hard drive?
  • How can I make the WD hard drive detected and work on Mac again?
  • Can I fix this issue without losing my important data?

You are in the right place to make the WD hard drive recognized by:

  • 1. Trying six quick checks and fixes
  • 2. Checking if Finder allows connected external hard drive showing up
  • 3. Updating related WD Apps with WD Discovery for Mac
  • 4. Checking if the WD hard drive is password locked
  • 5. Repairing the unrecognized WD hard drive with First Aid
  • 6. Use WD Drive Utilities to check the unrecognized WD hard drives
  • 7. Reformatting the WD hard drives when it's not working

First, See How Mac Recognizes a WD External Hard Drive

The process of Mac recognizing an external hard drive is a little complicated even though you can't see it. Specifically, when you plug a WD hard drive into a Mac computer, macOS would be notified. Then macOS will call all related hardware and software to read, recognize, and show this hard drive on the Desktop and in Finder, so that finally you can access your data on the drive on your Mac computer.

So, we usually simplify this process in 4 steps:

  1. The WD hard drive is supplied with power, so that Mac can detect this storage device.
  2. macOS reads partition information of the WD hard drive.
  3. macOS recognizes the file system of each volume.
  4. Users access data on the WD hard drive.

However, if any part of this process goes wrong, hard drive problems like Mac won't recognize your WD hard drive would occur. As a consequence, you can't access, copy, write to or transfer data stored on it.

Now, Fix WD hard drive not recognized issue on Mac

So, based on the process of Mac recognizing a WD hard drive, we need a thorough check to know which part makes the WD hard drive not working on Mac, and then fix it.

1. Try Quick fixes when WD hard drive is not recognized by Mac

A proper connection is the most basic condition that Mac can access the WD hard drive. Or else the external hard drive would not even show up in Disk Utility. When your Mac can't recognize an external hard drive, you can always do the following quick fixes at the very beginning.

  • Make sure the WD hard drive is externally plugged into a wall outlet if it's a WD desktop hard drive like WD Elements Desktop and My Cloud.
  • Connect the WD hard drive directly to the computer and do not use a USB Hub.
  • Try a different USB cable and port for power and data supply, especially if the My Passport external hard drive is not showing up in Disk Utility.
  • Try a different USB-C adapter to connect the WD hard drive if your Mac only has the Thunderbolt 3 port.
  • Try to connect the WD hard drive with a different Mac computer to check if the WD hard drive can be recognized on that Mac.
  • Try to plug the WD hard drive in to a Windows PC to check if the file system of the WD hard drive is not compatible with Mac.

The WD hard drive lights on but is not recognized by Mac still?

Wait! Do you allow your Mac to show the recognized WD hard drive in the Finder and Desktop?

2. Show the WD hard drive in the Finder and Desktop

Sometimes, you think WD hard drive is not recognized by Mac because the WD external hard drive isn't showing up on Mac, neither in Finder nor on the desktop. However, the fact is that the WD hard drive is detected by macOS but it is not set to show up on Mac.

In this case, you can show the WD hard drive by changing the preferences:

  • Step 1: Go to Finder > Preferences > General, make sure the 'External disks' option is ticked. This will make the recognized WD hard drive show up on the Desktop.
  • Step 2: Select Sidebar tab on the top, make sure the 'External disks' option under Locations is also ticked.

The WD hard drive is not working on Mac still?

Well, it seems that Mac really can't recognize the WD hard drive. We need to take advantage of some tools for further check.

3. Update incompatible WD Apps with WD Discovery for Mac

WD Discovery is a desktop software for Mac and Windows for delivering WD software, updates and notifications for WD external hard drives.

When WD hard drive is not recognized, you can download WD Discovery for Mac to update WD Drive Utilities, WD Security, WD Backup, etc. Possibly, your Mac doesn't recognize the WD hard drive because the WD software is not compatible with your macOS.

4. Check if the WD hard drive is password locked

If you are using WD hard drives like My Book Drive and it is not recognized by Mac now, you can check if the hard drive is password protected. macOS can't read the partition information and mount the volumes if the WD hard drive is password locked. You can download and install WD Security to unlock the WD hard drive if a password has been set to protect the hard drive.

The WD hard drive is not encrypted? Then the reason for Mac not recognizing the WD hard drive is that macOS fails to access the partition and file system information. It could be a problem when WD external hard drive used on PS4 extended drive but not recognized.

5. Repair the unrecognized WD hard drive in Disk Utility

Disk Utility is a built-in disk management and repair tool on Mac computers. When a WD hard drive is not recognized or not working due to inner disk errors, you can try to repair the unrecognizable WD hard drive with Disk Utility. All notes com.

Note: If the WD hard drive is recognzied in in Disk Utility but not mounted, you can select the Mount option first then the WD hard drive will be mounted on the Desktop.

  • Step 1: Go to Applications > Disk Utility.
  • Step 2: Click 'View' and choose 'Show All Devices'.
  • Step 3: Select the unrecognized WD hard drive from the sidebar.
  • Step 4: Click on First Aid on the top. Wait while First Aid verifying and fixing possible errors of the WD hard drive.

If First Aid can't repair the external hard drive, or Disk Utility doesn't recognize the volumes of the drive, probably, the WD hard drive could be corrupted caused by bad sectors.

6. Use WD Drive Utilities when WD hard drives not working on Mac

WD Drive Utilities for Mac is a specialized utility for WD hard drives to run drive diagnostics (fix potential drive failures, slow disk performance, and bad sectors), Manage RAID configuration (For RAID supported models), Erase and format WD hard drives, etc.

If a WD hard drive won't work normally on a Mac due to bad sectors or other parameter errors, you can download WD Drive Utilities for Mac to have a diagnosis of what happens to your hard drive.

  • Step 1: Install WD Drive Utilities on your Mac and then launch it.
  • Step 2: Plug the unrecognizable WD hard drive into the Mac.
  • Step 3: Click on 'Diagnose' and choose 'Run Quick Drive Test' to check the WD drive completely.

7. Fix the unrecognized WD hard drive by reformatting

If the unrecognizable WD hard drive can't be repaired by WD Drive Utilities, the file system of the WD hard drive might be seriously damaged or corrupted. In this case, you have to reformat or erase this WD hard drive. Before that, it's necessary to recover lost data from unrecognized WD hard drive with free hard drive data recovery software for Mac, like iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac, to avoid data loss.

iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac is professional in external hard drive data recovery on Mac. It supports Western Digital, Seagate, Toshiba, Samsung, and hard drives of other manufacturers. This data recovery software can recover lost data when hard drive is unrecognized, unmountable, unreadable, corrupted on Mac. Besides, iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac can recover lost data from Macintosh hard drive, USB drives, Pen drives, SD cards, memory cards, CF cards as well as other storage devices.

Tutorial to recover lost data from unrecognizable WD hard drive with iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac

Step 1. Download, install, and restart your Mac. Then launch iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac.

New Hdd Not Showing

To recover your important photos, videos, music, documents, emails from this unrecognizable WD hard drive, you can free download and install iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac on your Mac.

Step 2. Scan for lost data on the WD hard drive.

When the data recovery software is launched, you will see your unrecognizable WD hard drive in the interface. You need to select this corrupted WD hard drive and then click the 'Scan' button to scan for data on this drive.

Step 3. Preview and recover files.

When WD hard drive is corrupted, you can't access your data on this drive. But you can use iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac to preview the data on the drive, which will help you make sure your files are not corrupted before you finally click 'Recover' to recover them.

Tutorial to reformatting WD hard drive that is not recognized by Mac

  • 1. Go to Disk Utility and select the unrecognized WD hard drive from the sidebar.
  • 2. Click on Erase on the top.
  • 3. Follow the instructions to finish the reformatting process.

Hdd Not Showing Up In Files

After reformatting WD hard drive process finished, you will hopefully see the WD hard drive recognized and showing up on Mac correctly.

However, if the external hard drive is not showing up in Disk Utility at all, the great chance is that the WD hard drive is physically broken. As a result, Mac can't read and recognize it. In this case, we advise you to check if the serial number of the WD hard drive is still in warranty so that you can ask for a repair or replacement service.

WD provides no-limited warranty unless your WD hard drive was purchased from an authorized distributor or authorized reseller like Amazon. So, if your WD hard drive is dead for disk corruption, please free free to contact their support team for warranty status review and product replacement.

External Hard Drive Not Showing Up Windows

Conclusion

Hdd Not Showing Up In Disk Utility Billing

In the issue of WD hard drive not recognized, be it on Mac or Windows, data rescue should come first. This is also important when USB flash drives, SD card, or other external hard drives that are not showing up on Mac.

You can recover data from the unrecognized hard drive with free data recovery software like iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac. Then, you can fix the error in different ways without worrying about data loss.





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