[Solved] USB Drive Detected but Not Accessible

"I have a SanDisk USB flash drive that was working fine before. But now the device seems to be having issues. Whenever I plug it into my computer, it gets detected but won't open or access. Are there any ways to fix this problem? There are lots of important files on it."

Error: USB Drive Shows Up in My Computer But Cannot Access It

Has this ever happened to you? If you're tired of getting the “USB not recognized” message, relax – we've got your back! On this page, we offer several solutions that you can work through until your problem is solved.

When you say that the USB is detected but not accessible, do you mean that the USB flash drive is not showing data files, or the USB flash drive is detected but not showing up in My Computer?

Method 1: If You Can't Access the USB Drive

If your computer can detect the USB but cannot access it, you can use a data recovery tool to retrieve your files. Data Recovery Wizard Pro can recover data from inaccessible, damaged, faulty, and RAW disks.

Follow the steps below to easily recover files from a USB flash drive.

Step 1: Select the drive and start scanning

Launch the Data Recovery Wizard, and hover the mouse over the partition where you lost your data. This can be an internal hard drive, an external disk, a USB, or an SD card. Then, click “Scan.”

Step 2: Preview and select the scanned files

Narrow down the scan results using the file type filter on the left or in the top-right corner until you find the needed file. If necessary, click the "Preview" button or double-click the file to preview its content.

Step 3: Save the recovered lost data to a secure location

Check the box next to the files you wish to recover, then click “Recover” to save your lost data to a secure location. We recommend that you do not save recovered data to the same disk from which the data was lost.

Other important features of the Tool Data Recovery Software include:

• Recover deleted files from the Recycling Bin, as well as HDD, SSD, USB, flash drives, SD cards, external hard drives, and more
• Restore over 1000 types of files, including photos, videos, documents, emails, and more
• Repair corrupted files while recovering data on Windows 11/10/8/7 and macOS

Method 2: If the USB flash drive is detected, but doesn't show in File Explorer

There's one more thing you can do to check if it appears in Disk Management. To open Disk Management, simply press Windows + R keys to open Run, then type diskmgmt.msc in the blank box, and click OK.

Does your USB drive show up in Disk Management?

Check if your USB flash drive appears in “Windows Disk Management.” Skip to the next two symptoms and solutions.

If the USB drive appears in Disk Management:

This indicates the presence of errors or corruption on the disk. You could also try to recover data from the USB drive using data recovery software and format the device for repair.

Format USB Flash Drive:

Step 1: Right click on the removable disk partition and choose “Format…”.

Step 2: Select the appropriate file system and perform a quick format. Click OK.

If you don't see the USB drive in Disk Management, try the following:

Please check the Device Manager to see if it's listed there. If it is, try updating the USB drive's driver to see if that helps. Here's how:

Step 1: Click on "My Computer" and then choose "Properties."

Step 2: Click on “Device Manager” in the left taskbar > click the “+” (plus sign) next to “USB Controllers.” You should see a yellow exclamation point.

Step 3: Right-click it, and select "Update driver software."

Step 4: Click on "Search for driver software online..."

Wait for the driver to install, then restart your computer.Plug the USB flash drive back into your computer and see if you can access the USB flash drive.