"M.2 Not Recognized? Learn How to Get Your M.2 SSD to Show Up in Windows"

An M.2 drive, also referred to as an M.2 SSD, is a small disk that connects directly to your computer's motherboard. An M.2 drive has read and write speeds of around 2500 MB/s. M.2 is also known as the Next Generation Form Factor (NGFF), which is a standard for computer expansion cards and their associated connectors intended for internal installation.

Error: M.2 interface not recognized

Due to its superior performance, more and more people choose to clone Windows to M.2 SSD. However, some complain that their M.2 SSD is not recognized on the Windows computer, and they have no idea what's going on.

In this part, we will explain why your M.2 drive is not being detected and what you should do when this issue occurs on your computer. Let's check them out:

Why isn't my M.2 drive recognized in Windows?

Here are the symptoms and possible causes of an M.2 device not being recognized:

So how can I make my computer recognize the M.2? The answer is as follows:

1. Identify the symptoms of the M.2 SSD issue. 2. Address the situation and implement the corresponding solution to make the M.2 SSD recognizable again.

Symptom 1: M.2 Device Not Recognized in BIOS - 3 Fixes

How to check:

Step 1: Open up the computer case using a screwdriver.

Step 3: Verify that the M.2 is seated correctly. If not, reseat the M.2.

Step 4. Restart your computer and press F2/F8/Del to enter the BIOS.

Step 5: Check the boot settings to make sure that M.2 is enabled.

If not, turn it on.

Step 6. If the M.2 drive contains your operating system, enter your computer's boot menu and make sure it's set as the boot drive.

If not, set it to Boot.

Solution 1: Reinstall the M.2 device

Step 1: Unscrew the casing of the desktop or laptop computer using a screwdriver.

Step 2. Remove the M.2 from your computer or laptop.

Step 3: Reinstall the M.2 onto your computer or laptop

On a laptop: Open the M.2 slot > Slide in the M.2 drive > Secure the M.2 SSD drive with screws > Close it up.

On a desktop: Locate the M.2 slot labeled PCIe > Insert the M.2 SSD > Secure the M.2 SSD with the installation screw.

Step 4: Put your computer case back together, and then restart your computer.

Please check if the computer can detect the M.2 SSD after booting up. If not, proceed to the next solution.

Fix 2: Enable the M.2 SSD in BIOS

Step 1. Restart your computer and press F2/F8/Del to enter BIOS.

Step 2: On the main menu, expand SATA Configuration.

Step 3. Select Configure SATA as AHCI and save the changes.

Step 4. Restart your computer, and you should see the M.2 SSD show up on your system.

If M.2 is your operating system drive, continue with the steps in the next section.

Symptom 2: M.2 drive not recognized as a boot drive

How to check:

Step 1: Restart your computer and press F2, F8, F11, or Del to enter BIOS.

Step 2. In the Boot menu, check if the M.2 OS drive is set as the boot drive in the boot order.

If not, you'll need to set it as the boot disk in your BIOS.

Solution: Set the M.2 SSD as the boot drive (for the operating system only)

If your M.2 SSD is the operating system drive, you need to set it as the boot drive so that your computer can recognize it. Here's how:

Step 1: Restart your computer and press F2, F8, F11, or Del to enter BIOS.

Step 2. Enter the boot menu and select the boot priority section, then set the M.2 SSD as the boot drive.

Step 3: Save the changes and restart your computer.

The system will automatically boot from the M.2 OS drive.

Symptom 3: M.2 SSD Not Detected in Disk Management

How to check:

Step 1: Right-click the Windows icon and select Disk Management.

Step 2. Check if you can see the M.2 drive.

If not, your drivers might be out of date. Here's how to fix that.

Solution: Update the M.2 SSD driver

Step 1: Right-click the Windows icon and select Device Manager.

Step 2. Expand the Disk Drives entry, right-click on your M.2 SSD, and select Update Driver Software.

Step 3: In the window that appears, choose "Search automatically for updated driver software."

Update the M.2 SSD disk driver

Then, wait for your computer to search for and install the latest driver software.

Step 4. Restart your computer after the driver has updated.

Your M.2 SSD should show up in “Disk Management.”

Symptom 4: M.2 Not Showing in File Explorer – 2 Solutions

How to check:

Step 1: Press Windows+F to open File Explorer.

Step 2: Check disk capacity to see if the M.2 volume is visible.

• If not, check its status in Disk Management. • If it shows as "RAW," refer to How to Fix a RAW Drive. • If your M.2 shows as "Uninitialized," you should first initialize the disk and then create a new partition. • If the M.2 shows as "Unallocated," you'll need to recover data and partitions on it.

Fix 1: Initialize the M.2 SSD and create a new partition

#1. Initialize the M.2 Interface

Step 1: Press “Windows + R,” type “diskmgmt.msc,” and click “OK” to open Disk Management.

Step 2. Right-click the M.2 SSD and select "Initialize Disk." If the disk appears as Offline, right-click it first and choose "Online."

Step 3: Select M.2 and set it to GPT, then click OK to apply the changes.

Step 2: Create partitions on the M.2 drive

Step 1: Right-click the Windows icon and select “Disk Management.”

Step 2. Right-click the unallocated space on the M.2 SSD and select "New Simple Volume." Click "Next."

Step 3. Select the partition size, label, and format, then click Finish.

You may also like: How to partition hard drive in Windows 10.

Fix 2: Recover Unallocated M.2, Including Data and Partitions

If the M.2 is not a brand new drive, but rather a used M.2 data drive, you may instead wish to follow this guide to recover your data and partitions in one go.

Restore Lost Partition and Data

Partition Recovery software is designed to recover files and partitions from lost or deleted partitions. With Partition Recovery software, you can get back your precious files and partitions in just a few minutes.

Jump to: [1](#1), [2](#2), [3](#3), [4](#4), [5](#5), [6](#6), [7](#7) **Extra Tip:** How to Recover Data from an Undetected M.2 SSD

Some users with an M.2 drive as their second data drive may have encountered this error.

M.2 drive not recognized and unable to access crucial data. If you're encountering the same issue, follow these guidelines for assistance:

• Firstly, fix the unrecognized M.2 SSD with the solutions mentioned above.
• Next, recover data after the M.2 SSD is recognized.

Editor's suggestion:

• 1. After identifying the M.2 on your computer, initialize and check the files.
• 2. If everything is fine, congratulations. You can stop here.
• 3. If some files or all the data are missing, turn to a reliable Data Recovery Wizard for help.

Here, you can use Data Recovery Wizard with its powerful hard drive recovery feature to thoroughly scan and locate all lost files from the M.2 drive:

Step 1: Scan the SSD

Launch tools Data Recovery Wizard, select the SSD where you lost data and hit the "Scan" button.

Step 2: Check the results

Once the scan is over, check the “Deleted Files” and “Other Lost Files” folders and use the “Filter” and “Search” options to recover lost SSD data.

Step 3: Restore Files from SSD

Select the files you need and click the “Recover” button to get your lost SSD files back.

"The M.2 unrecognized error is fixable, and now is the time to apply the correct solution to restore its functionality."

On this page, we explain the reasons and symptoms behind the "M.2 SSD not recognized" error on a Windows PC. For the differing scenarios, we advise you to follow the respective guides above strictly to get your M.2 SSD to show up again.

However, if you are missing some files after fixing the M.2 not recognized error, feel free to take Data Recovery Wizard as your first choice for comprehensive SSD recovery.

It will scan and locate all lost files from the M.2 SSD immediately. Lastly, we highly recommend creating a full backup of your M.2 SSD data regularly. It can always save your data whenever the SSD encounters errors.