Hey everyone, my USB drive suddenly stopped appearing in my Files Explorer. I tried it on another computer with the same result, but other USB drives work fine on both machines. I looked in the Device Manager and it doesn't show up there either. Any ideas on how to troubleshoot this? I'm a bit worried about possibly losing data, so I'd love some help before assuming it might be a virus or something worse!
2 Answers
It sounds like your USB drive might be broken. When you plug it in, see if it feels loose or wobbly. Sometimes you can jiggle it a little to get it working again temporarily, which means you might have a chance to recover your files.
Unfortunately, it’s likely that your USB drive is dead. If you’re up for it, you could try using a live Linux USB to create a recovery environment with a tool like PhotoRec. This isn’t a simple process and might require some command line work, but it could help if your drive isn't completely nonfunctional. You can find instructions online easily! Good luck!
You actually don't need to use Linux for PhotoRec! It works fine on Windows too, with a somewhat simpler GUI version called qphotorec. You navigate with arrow keys, which makes it less daunting for those not used to command lines. Just a heads up: remember not to write anything back to the USB while you're recovering your files. Good luck!