My Crucial M.2 SSD, purchased around 2020, stopped being detected after my computer froze while I was playing Old School RuneScape. The system shut down and restarted into BIOS. BIOS still recognizes my HDD, but it no longer sees the M.2 drive. I reseated the SSD and also tried the second M.2 slot beneath the GPU, with the same result. The motherboard is an MSI B550 and the red BOOT light remains on even after entering BIOS. Could the SSD have failed, or are there other troubleshooting steps I should try?
3 Answers
You can also install Crucial’s storage utility once the drive is detected, which may show its health and firmware status. It cannot help much if the SSD is completely invisible to the BIOS or USB enclosure, though.
Since the SSD is missing from both M.2 slots, this points more toward the drive itself than a single bad slot. However, age alone does not prove it is dead—SSD lifespan depends on usage, temperatures, and the specific failure. If the data is important, avoid repeatedly powering it on and consider professional recovery if the enclosure also cannot detect it.
A USB M.2 NVMe enclosure is a good next test. Remove the drive from the motherboard, place it in the enclosure, and connect it to another computer. If it is detected there, the motherboard slots or settings may be the problem. If it is not detected anywhere, the SSD controller may have failed.
I didn’t realize these enclosures existed, so I ordered one to test the drive.