If your USB drive (drive) is not detected by Windows or cannot be formatted properly, Windows or your USB drive may have a problem. If you have Windows issues, you can simply reinstall the USB drivers to fix them, but if the problem is with your USB drive, you may be able to fix it with a deep format. However, if deep formatting no longer solves the problem, the USB drive may no longer be repairable.
Step
Method 1 of 4: First Aid
Step 1. Connect the drive, and open Disk Management
Disk Management is a built-in Windows program that allows you to manage all the drives on your computer. Your drive will appear in the program, even if it is not formatted correctly.
- Press Windows+R, then enter diskmgmt.msc to open Disk Management.
- Look for your USB drive in the list of connected drives. If the USB drive appears, it may not be formatted correctly. Read the guide to trying to format the drive. If the drive does not appear, follow the guide to troubleshoot the problem.
Step 2. Connect the drive to another USB slot
Before proceeding to the next step, the fastest way to troubleshoot drive detection problems that you can try is to connect the USB drive to another USB port (port) on your computer. Make sure you try the USB port on the computer, not the hub.
If your drive is detected in another USB port, the USB port you tried first is most likely dead. You can't fix it, unless you buy a new motherboard. Therefore, do not use the port in the future
Step 3. Connect the drive to another computer
If the drive is not detected on other computers, your drive is most likely damaged and needs to be replaced.
If the drive reads on another computer, the driver on your computer may have a problem. Read on for the next steps to troubleshoot driver issues
Method 2 of 4: Removing and Reinstalling Drivers
Step 1. Press Windows+R, then enter devmgmt.msc to open Device Manager
Step 2. Open the Disk drives category
This category includes all drives connected to the computer, including USB drives and the computer's internal drives.
Step 3. Right-click the USB drive, then select Uninstall to remove the driver from the system
Step 4. Remove the USB drive, then reconnect the drive
Windows will try to reinstall the drivers for the drive.
Step 5. Update the driver for the USB controller
If you see a yellow exclamation mark next to the device name, it means the device has a problem, and if the device that has the exclamation mark is a device under Universal Serial Bus controllers, your computer's USB driver has a problem.
Right-click on the device that is not working, then select Update Driver Software. Follow the guide to reinstall the driver
Method 3 of 4: Formatting the Drive Through Disk Management
Step 1. Press Windows+R, then enter diskmgmt.msc to open the Disk Management Utility
Step 2. Right-click the partition of your USB drive
You'll see all the partitions on each drive at the bottom of the Disk Management window.
Step 3. Select Format from the menu that appears to open the Format dialog box
Step 4. Select "FAT32" as the file system
The FAT32 file system allows the drive to be read by a variety of devices, including Windows computers, OS X, Linux, and various game consoles.
Step 5. Uncheck the Perform a quick format box
The formatting process will take longer, but Windows may be able to fix errors on the drive.
Step 6. Click OK to start formatting the drive
The formatting process will take a while, but if successful, the drive should appear in Windows. If the process doesn't work, try the next step.
Formatting the drive will erase the entire contents of the USB drive
Method 4 of 4: Formatting a Drive with the Command Line
Step 1. Open the command line
You can open a Command Prompt window from the Start menu, or by pressing Windows+R and typing cmd.
Step 2. Enter diskpart, then press Enter
You may be asked to grant Administrator access. After that, the command line will change to DISKPART>.
Step 3. Enter list disk and press Enter to display all connected drives
Step 4. Enter select disk # and press Enter
Replace # with the number for your USB drive.
Step 5. Enter clean and press Enter to check for errors on the drive
Step 6. Enter create partition primary and press Enter to create a new partition on the drive
Step 7. Enter active and press Enter to activate the new partition on your USB drive
Step 8. Enter the format fs=fat32 and press Enter to format the partition with the FAT32 file system
This file system is compatible with most devices and computers.
