If you see an entry that looks like your drive with a yellow exclamation mark, right-click on the device and choose Properties-you may find an error code you can Google. Expand the Disk Drives menu and the Universal Serial Bus menu to see if your external drive appears in either set. Open the Start menu, type 'device manager,' and press Enter when the option appears. Occasionally, Windows runs into driver issues that will render a device unrecognizable.

It's possible the drive just isn't formatted for the computer you're trying to use, and you'll need to copy that data onto a drive that's formatted for cross-compatibility. If you're a multi-platform household, I'd especially recommend trying it in a computer that runs another operating system-e.g., if you can't get the drive showing up on a Windows PC, try plugging it into a Mac. You might also try it in another computer. If it's plugged into a USB hub, try plugging it directly into the PC instead.

If it's plugged into a USB 3.0 port, try a USB 2.0 port. It's possible the port in question is failing, or just being finicky with your specific drive. If the drive still isn't working, unplug it and try a different USB port. Try Another USB Port (or Another PC) (Photo: Cronislaw/Shutterstock) With any luck, your drive will appear normally once it gets the juice it needs. If it came with two USB plugs, make sure they're both plugged into your PC. If your drive came with an AC power adapter but you haven't plugged it in, try hooking it up (and pressing the power button, if there is one). While some drives can draw enough power from your computer's USB port, others-especially larger drives not intended to be portable, like the Western Digital My Book-may require wall power to spin up. I know, I know, but hear me out: just because you plugged the drive into your computer doesn't mean it's necessarily receiving the power it needs. Make Sure It's Plugged In and Powered On Western Digital My Book Here are a few troubleshooting steps you can take to remedy the situation.

But if your drive isn't appearing when you plug it in, you might have a problem.

Best Hosted Endpoint Protection and Security Softwareīacking up your data is important, and while storing information on the cloud has become second nature to most, there's still nothing like having everything saved on a physical device.Įxternal drives are simple: you plug them in, they appear on your computer, and you can drag files right on over.

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