Windows 10 is an Operating System that is produced by one of the most recognized companies called Microsoft. Due to various good features and useful applications that are available, Windows 10 has become the most used system software in the market. Despite there are many features and applications available with this OS, even then you can get many errors. One such issue that you can encounter is ‘WD My Passport not showing up Windows 10’.
Reasons Behind My Passport Not Showing Up Windows 10
This section will show you different reasons behind why the given issue occurs. Follow the points below to know the various causes.
- Sometimes you can face this problem if the USB cable of the Western Digital My Passport hard drive is damaged.
- If there are corrupt system files or bad sectors on the hard drive, then also you can face this issue.
- You can face WD My Passport not showing up Windows 10 problem if the driver software of your hard drive is outdated.
- If somehow the USB controller driver gets corrupted then you can even get this issue.
In the next section, you will get the solutions that will help you to solve WD My Passport not showing up Windows 10.
Methods To Resolve External HDD Detection Errors
This section will provide you with the methods to troubleshoot the WD My Passport not showing up Windows 10 issue. Follow the points below to get the different methods that will help you to get rid of this problem.
Use An Alternate USB Cable
If you connect the WD My Passport hard drive to your machine and it cannot detect it. Then, try connecting the drive to a different USB port and if it cannot be detected in that port. Then try to use a different USB cable to connect the drive. Before changing the USB cable, you can also connect your hard disk to another PC and check if it can be detected or not.
Correct Corrupt System Files Or Bad Sectors On WD Hard Drive
- First, look for good third-party software to fix the system files or any bad sectors present in the WD drive. After that, you can download that software and install it.
- After the installation is over, locate the My Passport hard drive and right-click on it. Now from the popup menu, tap on ‘Check File System’, to check and repair any corrupt system files within that external drive.
- Within the ‘Check File System’ dialog box, select the ‘Start’ button to correct this error. Select the Windows ‘Chkdsk’ application to fix the corrupt system files on your WD external drive.
- Allow this third-party software to check the WD hard drive and then fix any corrupt system files and bad sectors in it automatically. Now, after this checking and repairing process is over, hit the ‘OK’ button to complete this process.
Update WD My Passport External HDD Driver
- First, click on ‘Start’ and search for ‘device manager’, then from the search results, choose ‘Device Manager’ to open the tool.
- In the ‘Device Manager’ window, look for the WD hard drive within the following properties – ‘Disk Drivers’, ‘Portable Devices’, ‘Universal Serial USB Controllers. If cannot see this device on any of the above categories then go to the ‘Other devices’ category and expand it to look at the WD drive which can be shown as ‘Unknown device’.
- Now, go the ‘Unknown device’ and right-click on it. From the options, select ‘Properties’.
- Within the ‘Unknown device Properties’ dialog box, go to ‘Details’. There, under the ‘Properties’ heading, select ‘Hardware Ids’ from the drop-down menu.
- Now, in the ‘Value’ area, right-click on the first value and from the popup options menu select ‘Copy’.
- After that, paste the copied value into the browser’s address bar and look for the correct driver. Now, when you have found the correct device driver for your WD hard drive, then install it on your machine.
- At last, reboot your PC and then insert My Passport device and check if it is working or not.
Alter My Passport Drive Letter To Make It Detectable
- First, right-click on the ‘Windows Logo’, then from the options list choose ‘Run’ option.
- In the ‘Run’ dialog box, write the command ‘diskmgmt.msc’ in order to open Disk Management.
- Within the ‘Disk Management’ window, right-click on the WD drive, now from the options menu select ‘Change Drive Letter and Paths’.
- Now, choose ‘Add’ and then beside ‘Assign the following drive letter’ select the drive letter. At last, hit the ‘OK’.
- Finally, reboot the PC and inspect if this problem is there or not.
Remove And Reinstall The USB Controller On WD Hard Drive
- First, in the search area type in ‘device manager’ then select an option ‘Device Manager’ from the search result to open it.
- In that window, locate the category ‘Universal Serial Bus controllers’ and expand it. Now, select a USB controller for the WD drive and right-click on it. Then from the options list, choose ‘Uninstall device’.
- After the uninstallation of the driver is over, simply reboot your computer and the system will install the USB controller specific for the WD My Passport device automatically.
If you follow the above steps properly then you can be able to rectify My Passport not showing up Windows 10 error. The same issue also occurs in Mac, and you can refer to ”How to fix WD My Passport not showing up on Mac’’ for full guides. Now, if you cannot able to solve this problem on your own then contact us via the comment section that is given below this article.
