If you have a USB flash drive and the Windows operating system does not recognize it, you can find yourself in a rather frustrating situation.Fortunately, there are several ways to solve this problem, which you can read about below.
Few problems can be as frustrating as when your computer does not recognize your flash drive. These USB storage devices have meant a significant step forward towards the freedom to carry any type of information from one place to another without the slightest effort.
When this type of memory fails, it can become a real nightmare, since it is extremely stressful to have to use data from a pendrive in the Windows operating system and the computer cannot recognize the storage device.
When this happens, you can perform a series of solutions that you will be able to read today and thus know how to carry them out. Find out what to do if your Windows computer does not recognize a USB memory stick or pendrive:
Check the hardware and status of the pendrive
Before taking any other action, it is best to check if the computer does not recognize the pendrive, as it may be the fault of the device itself because it is not in good physical condition.
It is best to first test the flash drive in another USB port on another computer or make sure the device is properly plugged in.
If you see that the flash drive works on other computers , then it is highly likely that the USB port on your computer has some kind of problem, so you should check that it is physically correct.
You can check if it is dirty or if the pendrive is stable inside the port, in case it moves too much and has come out of its natural place, which is why it may not work.
The device status is also something you should check when your computer does not recognize a pen drive, as it could be damaged.
Some signs that this may be happening may include a lack of response or any sign of activity, and the storage system may also have visible damage such as a bent connector, a damaged casing, or impact marks.
If the computer does not recognize the pendrive, you can update the drivers
Drivers are those that allow the connection and proper functioning between the operating system and the different types of hardware in your computer.
If it turns out that these are not operating normally, are damaged, obsolete or corrupted, the only thing left to do is to update them so that everything returns to normal.
To update with Windows 11 drivers you must follow these steps:
- In the search box on the taskbar you should type Device Manager .
- The first option you see in the drop-down menu is the one you should click on.
- Next, in Device Manager, expand the Universal Serial Bus controllers or USB controllers category.
- Now you need to right click on each USB controller and select Update Driver .
- Then click Search automatically for updated driver software and follow the on-screen instructions.
- Once you have completed the task of updating the drivers because the computer does not recognize the pendrive, the best thing to do is to restart it.
Check if the USB flash drive is write protected
It may happen that the computer does not recognize the pendrive because it has write protection activated .
It is best to follow these steps and check the status of the pendrive, to deactivate it if this type of protection is active:
- Once you have the pendrive in the corresponding port, open File Explorer and find the pendrive in the list of devices.
- Right-click on the drive and select Properties.
- Now, under the General tab , you need to make sure that the Read Only option is not active. Obviously, if you see that it is, uncheck it and click OK.
When the computer does not recognize the pendrive, it may be due to formatting problems
It may be that the computer does not recognize the pendrive due to some kind of problem with the format. Fortunately, solving this is very simple, but it is also true that you should know that all the information you have on the pendrive will be lost, which is something you should consider.
To check the file format of your pendrive or USB memory you must follow these steps
- With the pendrive in the port, open Disk Management by pressing the Win + X keys.
- Now you should see the status of the pendrive.
- If you see Unallocated or Unallocated space , you need to format the drive.
- Right click on the flash drive and immediately select Format .
- Now follow the on-screen instructions to format the drive.
Use disk manager if the computer does not recognize the pendrive
There may be a problem with the system and the pendrive from which you need the information is not assigned a drive.
This is a more common error than you might imagine, with a fairly simple solution, but you must do it as you will read below to avoid any other problems resulting from a bad action.
- The first thing you have to do is press Win + X and select Disk Management.
- Now, in the Disk Management window, find your flash drive.
- Right-click on the space where it is to select Change Drive Letter and Paths.
- Next, click Add and choose the drive you want from those available.
- All that remains is for you to click on Accept.
Data recovery tools
If at this point, none of the above has been able to solve the problem of your computer not recognizing the pendrive , what you have left to do is resort to third-party tools to try to recover said drive and not lose the information you have on it.
There are several specific applications for this type of tasks, such as Recoverit , TestDisk ,
or EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard .
More or less the steps in all of them are similar, but may vary slightly. To give you an idea, the process to recover data from a USB memory with a third-party application would be like this (it may vary slightly depending on the program):
- The first thing is to download and install one of these applications.
- Open the application and select the pen drive that is not recognized.
- Next, what you need to do is start the scanning process , so that the tool can search for corrupt or inaccessible files on the pendrive.
- Once the scan is complete, review the recoverable files, selecting the ones you want to keep and burning a copy of them to another safe drive.
When your computer doesn’t recognize your flash drive, it’s no reason to panic . There are numerous solutions you can try before you consider your data lost forever.
There are a wide range of possibilities to solve this problem. You just have to try them out to see which one you are successful with.