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Why my external hard drive has less space than it should?
I recently bought a 1TB Sandisk external hard drive, but when I checked in Windows file explorer, it shows significantly less available space (only ~500GB). I understand some space is reserved for fo...
If your 1TB external hard drive has two partitions but only one shows up in File Explorer, the other partition might use an unsupported or unrecognized file system or unallocated space. This is why external hard drive has less space than it should. Below are two popular reasons.
Case 1: File System is RAW or Unrecognized
If it says RAW or has no recognizable file system:
The partition is likely corrupted or unformatted. To fix it (but this will erase all data):
Right-click the partition and choose Format.
Select NTFS or exFAT, name the volume, and click OK.
Case 2: Unallocated Space
If the second partition shows as Unallocated:
The partition has been deleted or never created. To restore it:
- Right-click the unallocated space and select New Simple Volume.
- Follow the wizard to assign a letter and format the volume.
- It should then appear in File Explorer.
Still Not Showing? Try:
- Reconnecting the drive using a different USB port or cable.
- Checking it on another PC.
- Scanning the disk with chkdsk or a third-party disk tool to check for hardware issues.