Why my external hard drive not showing up windows 11 file explorer?

If your external hard drive not showing up Windows 11, here are some free troubleshooting steps you can try:

1. Check the physical connection
* Make sure the USB cable is securely connected.
* Try a different USB port.
* Use a different USB cable if available.

2. Restart your computer
* Sometimes, a simple restart can resolve detection issues.

3. Check Disk Management
* Press Win + X and select Disk Management.
* Find your external drive in the list.
* If the external hard drive not showing up Windows 11, right-click it and select Change Drive Letter and Paths and assign a new drive letter.
* If it says Unallocated, right-click and select New Simple Volume to format it and assign a drive letter (note: this will erase your data).

4. Update or reinstall the driver
* Open Device Manager (Win + X > Device Manager).
* Expand "Disk drives" and "Universal Serial Bus controllers".
* Right-click your external drive and select "Update driver".
* If this doesn't work, right-click and select "Uninstall device", then disconnect and reconnect the drive; Windows should automatically reinstall the driver.

5. Check for hidden devices
* In Device Manager, click View > Show hidden devices.
* Look for your external hard drive under Disk drives or Universal Serial Bus controllers.
* If found, right-click and update or uninstall.

6. Run the troubleshooter
* Go to Settings > Troubleshoot > Additional troubleshooters.
* Run the Hardware and Devices troubleshooter.

7. Check the drive with Diskpart
* Open a command prompt as an administrator.
Type: diskpart
Then: list disk
* If your drive appears, it means it is recognized at the hardware level. You can then use the Diskpart command to create a partition or assign a drive letter.