Solved: Disk Management Blank/Empty Issue on Windows 10/11/8/7

Updated by

Linda 

Written by

Sherly 

Last updated on April 22, 2024

"Disk Management" is empty and shows no hard drives. /a href="/">The tool will show you a simple solution to fix this issue easily.

What Leads to Disk Management Becoming Blank? Before delving into the reasons, you should first understand the Disk Manager, which is the implementation of Microsoft Windows NT's Logical Volume Manager. The primary reason for Disk Management going blank is the failure of the Logical Disk Manager.

How to Fix “Disk Management Blank” Error – 2 Ways

If Disk Management is blank, don't worry; this section will walk you through enabling the Plug and Play service and fixing the error.

Solution 1: Enable the Plug and Play Service Click "1" for detailed steps: Enabling the Plug and Play Service When dealing with certain hardware issues, it might be helpful to ensure that the "Plug and Play" service is enabled on your computer. Follow these steps: 1. Press `Win + R` keys to open the Run dialog box. 2. Type `services.msc` in the Run field, then press Enter. 3. In the Services list, locate the "Plug and Play" service. 4. Double-click "Plug and Play," or right-click it and select "Properties." 5. Under the "General" tab, make sure the Startup type is set to "Automatic." 6. If the Service status shows "Stopped," click the "Start" button to initiate the service. 7. After that, click "Apply" and "OK" to save the changes. Restart your computer and check if the issue has been resolved.

Enabling the Plug and Play service is considered one of the helpful fixes to try. Here's how:

Step 1: Press the Win + R keys to open the "Run" dialog box. Type services.msc and hit Enter.

Step 2: In the Services window, scroll down and locate the Plug and Play service. Then, double-click it.

Step 3: In the next popup, click on the "General" tab and set the Startup type to "Automatic."

Step 4: Click “OK” to save your changes.

Fix 2: Run the System File Checker

According to Microsoft Support, corrupted system files can also cause the Disk Management to be empty or blank. You can run the System File Checker to fix it.

Step 1: Click the Start button, and then, in the Start search box, type cmd.

Step 2: Right-click Command Prompt and select Run as administrator.

Note: If asked for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or click Continue.

Step 3: At the command prompt, type the following line, and then press Enter:

This is a Windows command used to scan and fix errors in system files. In American English, it would be: SFC /scannow

After the scan completes, check if the issue is resolved.

Please feel free to share this article to help more users become aware of this issue and its solution.

Use a workaround when Disk Management is blank and not showing any drives

To solve errors like "Manage Empty Space on Disk," you can choose to use a partition manager tool. From the table, you can learn more about the functions of Partition Master.

1. Manage partitions

• Create/Delete partitions
• Split/Combine partitions
• Resize/Contract/Enlarge partitions
• Format/Wipe partitions

Manage Disks

• Convert MBR to GPT and GPT to MBR via CMD without data loss: MBR to GPT and vice versa

3. Data Migration

• Migrate the operating system to an SSD/HDD
• Copy partitions from one drive to another
• Clone a disk to another disk

This is the main interface of AOMEI Partition Assistant, which is very clean and straightforward. It supports Windows 10, 8.1/8, 7, Vista, XP, and earlier Windows systems.

If you encounter the "Disk Management is empty" issue on Windows 10/11, you can directly download the tool Partition Master for disk management. You won't need to make any adjustments, as it can immediately resolve the "Disk Management is empty" error.

Conclusions

Though Windows Disk Management comes with these basic features, it still has some limitations. For instance, you cannot extend a partition if it's not adjacent to unallocated space; sometimes you fail to create a partition because Windows allows a maximum of four primary partitions only; and you can't format a volume larger than 32 GB to FAT32. Therefore, to overcome these limitations, you may turn to alternative disk management tools for Windows 10.

Here are the basic features of Partition Master. You can click to learn more if needed.

Frequently Asked Questions about Blank Disk Management

You must have already known the reasons for and solutions to the issue of having blank or free space in disk management. Please refer to the following topics for more detailed information.

1. Why doesn't my Disk Management show the file system?

Disk Management might not list the file system if the disk is uninitialized or formatted, the file system is corrupted, there's a hardware issue, or some other temporary problem.

2. Why can't I access Disk Management?

Virtual Disk Service (VDS) cannot connect to the remote computer because it is not supported or because the Windows Firewall is blocking the connection to the remote computer.

3. What to Do When Disk Management Shows No Drives or Hard Disk Missing?

The quickest and easiest way is to use a disk management alternative – Partition Master. This tool can replace Disk Management to help manage partitions and disks, such as extend/shrink/resize partitions, split/merge partitions, convert disks or format partitions.