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How to Format an External Hard Drive That is Not Visible

You can use a third-party tool or run the hardware troubleshooter

5 min. read

Updated onOctober 4, 2023

updated onOctober 4, 2023

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Key notes

There are multiple user queries where users have asked how to format an external hard drive if it is not visible on their PCs. Here isone user query:

How can format WD 500GB External Hard disd drive that is not visible at my computer. The disk simply shows at the task bar, it cannot be read, the green light also shows on the disk. I need to format the drive…….how do I do that since it’s not visible.

If you also have a similar question regarding how to format an external hard drive that is not visible, then this guide is here to help you. We will show you some solutions to help you format the external hard drive when it’s not visible. So, let us get right into it.

Why is the external hard drive not showing up?

Here are a few reasons that could cause the external hard drive to not show up on your Windows PC.

How can I format an external hard drive if that is not visible on my PC?

Before applying advanced troubleshooting methods, here are some quick fixes to help you resolve the error.

Let us move on to advanced solutions.

1. Update the driver

In addition, you might want to check the manufacturer’s website for the latest drivers. After updating the driver, try formatting the external hard drive and see if this resolves the issue. Getting the latest drivers also helps when anexFAT drive is not showing up.

Alternatively, to ease manually updating drivers on your PC, you can use third-party software. Thedriver updating appsare reliable solutions that contain libraries of millions of up-to-date drivers, and you can install them with a few clicks.

⇒Get Outbyte Driver Updater

2. Run the troubleshooter

Once the troubleshooting process is finished, check whether you can format the external hard drive.

3. Use AOMEI Partition Assistant

Several users have reported that their undetectable external hard drive was detected using a third-party partition tool AOMEI Partition Tool.

You can also try using the tool, format it within it, and see if this resolves the error.

4. Check if your hard drive shows in BIOS

You can look closer at our dedicated guide that will teach you how to easilyaccess the BIOS menuif you are finding it hard to do.

For users facing issues with their new hard drives, refer to our guide, which gives you some important steps to troubleshoot thenew hard drive not showing up in Windows 10/11.

If the second hard drive is causing a similar issue, thenwe have a bunch of solutionsthat will help you fix the problem.

You might also be interested in reading our guide onhow to format an NVMe SSD on Windows 11.

That is it from us in this guide. Let us know in the comments below which one of the above solutions helped you with how to format an external hard drive that is not visible problem.

How to Format an External Hard Drive That is Not Visible#

Why is the external hard drive not showing up?#

How can I format an external hard drive if that is not visible on my PC?#

1. Update the driver#

2. Run the troubleshooter#

3. Use AOMEI Partition Assistant#

4. Check if your hard drive shows in BIOS#