How to Fix Toshiba External Hard Drive Not Detected in 5 Minutes

Why Is My Toshiba External Hard Drive Not Detected?

Imagine you’ve just plugged in your Toshiba external hard drive, but nothing happens. No prompt appears, and the device doesn't show up in File Explorer. It's a frustrating scenario, but you're not alone. Many users have complained that they have experienced such a problem. Whether you’re trying to access essential documents or photos, a Toshiba external hard drive not detected can throw a wrench in your plans.

There are several reasons why your Toshiba external hard drive might not be showing up or detected by your computer:

📌Connection Issues: A loose or damaged cable, port, or connector can prevent the drive from being detected.

📌Driver Issues: Outdated, corrupted, or incompatible drivers can cause the external hard drive to be undetected.

📌File System Corruption: If the file system of the external hard drive becomes corrupted, it may not appear in Windows Explorer.

📌Power Supply Problems: Some external drives require external power, and if there's an issue with the power supply, the device may fail to initialize.

📌Windows Settings and Configuration Issues: Sometimes, system settings like USB selective suspend, power management settings, or outdated drivers may prevent detection.

How to Recover Data from Undetected Toshiba External Hard Drive

Before attempting to fix the issue, it's crucial to recover your data from the undetected Toshiba external hard drive. If the drive is still functioning but not showing up, there’s a good chance that the data is still there. MyRecover is one of the best tools for recovering your files from Toshiba external hard drive. It can recover lost files from inaccessible hard drive, even from devices that aren’t recognized by Windows, provided the drive is physically intact.

Step 1. Download and install MyRecover on your computer from Microsoft Store. Connect the Toshiba external hard drive to your computer with a correct cable.

Step 2. Run the program and select the Toshiba hard drive to scan for lost files, then click "Scan".

Step 3. Choose the files you wish to recover from the recoverable lists and click "Recover".

Step 4. Select a safe location to save the recovered files.

Once the process is done, the message "Files have been recovered successfully" will pop up. Then you can verify the recovered files by clicking on the destination folder path or "Browse" button.

How to Fix Toshiba External Hard Drive Not Detected

Once you've recovered your important files, you can proceed to fix the Toshiba external hard drive issue. This section will provide various methods to help you fix the issues on your Toshiba hard drive. You can try them out one after another until the problem is resolved.

Method 1. Check Physical Connection

Before considering other complex data recovery methods, checking the physical connection between the hard drive and the computer is the most correct and effective approach.

• Reconnect the external hard drive: A loose connection is one of the most common reasons preventing detection. Remove the hard drive and connect again.
• Try another port or cable: Replace a new cable or another port, then reconnect the hard drive and check if the system can detect it.
• Connect on another computer: Connect the hard drive to another computer. If it can be detected, the problem may lie with your original computer.

Method 2. Check in Disk Management

Sometimes, the Toshiba external hard drive is connected, but it doesn't show up in File Explorer due to issues like a missing drive letter or uninitialized disk. Open Disk Management to check it.

Step 1. Press "Win" + "X" and choose "Disk Management" to open it.

Step 2. Locate the Toshiba external hard drive, check if there are issues such as drive letter conflicts or an uninitialized disk.

👉Drive letter conflicts: Right click on the hard drive and choose "Change drive letter and paths", assign a new drive letter and click "OK".

👉Uninitialized/Unknown disk: Right click on the disk and choose "Initialize Disk", select a partition table and click "OK". Do not format or create new partitions if you want to preserve any remaining data.

Method 3. Update or Uninstall Drivers

Outdated or corrupted drivers can prevent your drive from being detected. Update or uninstall drives can fix the Toshiba external hard drive not detected issue.

Step 1. Press "Win" + "X" to choose "Device Manager" to open it.

Step 2. Expand "Disk drives" and right click on your hard drive, then select "Update driver".

Step 3. Choose "Search automatically for updated driver software" to start the process.

Alternatively, you can uninstall the driver and then restart your computer to reinstall it automatically.

Method 4. Use Command Prompt to Repair the Drive

Sometimes, file system errors may prevent your drive from being recognized. You can use CHKDSK (Check Disk) to check and fix file system errors.

Step 1. Locate Command Prompt and run it as administrator.

Step 2. Type the following command "chkdsk G: /f /r" and press "Enter" key. Replace the drive letter "G" with your Toshiba external hard drive letter.

The command will automatically scan and repair the detected errors.

Method 5. Disable Power Management for USB Controllers

Windows has a power-saving setting that might accidentally disable USB devices to save power. This can make your USB drive get disabled or not recognized properly. Disabling this setting may fix the detection issue.

Step 1. Open Device Manager and expand "Universal Serial Bus controllers".

Step 2. Right click on each USB Root Hub and select "Properties".

Step 3. Under the "Power Management" tab, uncheck "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power" and click "OK" to save the changes.

Method 6. Disable USB Selective Suspend Setting

The USB selective suspend setting allows Windows to turn off USB devices to conserve power. This can sometimes interfere with external drives. Follow these steps to turn off this setting:

Step 1. Press "Win" + "X" and select "Power Options".

Step 2. In the opened "Power & Sleep" window, choose "Additional power settings" > " Change plan settings" > "Change advanced power settings".

Step 3. Expand "USB settings" > "USB selective suspend setting", select "Disabled" and click "Apply".​

Method 7. Format the Hard Drive

If none of the above methods work, formatting will be the last resort. That’s why we recommend recovering data from the hard drive first, as formatting will erase all files stored on it.

Step 1. Open Disk Management and right click on your Toshiba external hard drive, then choose "Format".

Step 2. Set a file system based on your needs and check the "Perform a quick format" option, then click "Start" to begin the process.

The Bottom Line

In short, you should be able to resolve the issue of your Toshiba external hard drive not being detected using the above methods. However, before formatting it, don’t forget to use a data recovery tool like MyRecover to extract important data in advance. For more complex recovery tasks like crashed system, MyRecover Professional edition allows you to create a recovery disk to recover data from the crashed system.