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USB drives are widely used to store and transfer important files such as documents, photos, videos, and software. However, sometimes when you connect a USB drive to your computer, it may appear in Disk Management but show “No Media” or 0 bytes of storage. This problem can prevent you from accessing your files and may even make the USB drive appear unusable.
The ” USB Drive shown No Media“ is a common problem in Windows systems. It usually occurs due to driver issues, corrupted firmware, or hardware failure. The good news is that in many cases, the problem can be fixed using simple troubleshooting methods.
In this guide, we will explain the causes of this issue and provide simple methods to fix a USB drive shown no media so you can regain access to your device.
Common Causes of USB Drive Shown No Media Issue
USB drives not showing media detection on a USB drive typically means that there is a communication issue between the PC and the drive. More precisely, it could happen as a result of:
- Poor or slack connection.
- A broken, obsolete, or nonexistent USB driver.
- Infection by a virus.
- Corruption of the file system.
- A large number of defective sectors on the disk.
- Failed USB flash drive (caused by physical damage, normal wear and tear, etc.).
- Overloaded USB ports (occur when a single PC has several USB drives linked to it).
- Turning off the USB device in the BIOS.
How to Fix “USB Drive Shown No Media” Error?
Let’s begin with simple and fast solutions. If none of them work, you can move on to somewhat more “advanced” methods. Simply give each one a try until you discover the one that fixes the issue. Otherwise, you can use data recovery tool to recover hidden data from USB/Pendrive.
- Verify that the USB device is securely placed into the USB port.
- If at all possible, attach the impacted device to a different PC to check if it is correctly detected.
- Use the relevant OS option to eject your USB device, then reconnect it.
- Consider connecting your gadget to a nearby USB port.
- After using an antivirus program to scan the impacted USB device, reconnect it.
1. Using Device Manager, enable USB
- Click Start, type Device Manager into the search bar, hit Enter, and choose this tool from the list.
- Look for your USB flash drive under USB Mass Storage in the Universal Serial Bus Controller section.
Look for an arrow or a red mark on it. In such a case, right-click on it and choose Enable. It is implied that this option is already enabled if it is absent.
You could also see if the BIOS has the USB deactivated. To fix this, restart your computer, go into BIOS, choose USB Keyboard Support, and enable it if it’s currently displayed as disabled. After that, hit F10 to save the modification and leave the BIOS.
2. Modify Disk Management’s USB driver properties
- Launch the disk management application. There are several methods for using this tool. The following are a few of them:
- Search for “disk management” using the taskbar field.
- Right-click on Start, then choose the relevant choice from the context menu that appears.
- press the Windows key + R to launch Run, type “diskmgmt.msc” in the dialog box, and press “OK”.
- Navigate to System and Security > Windows Tools > Computer Management in the Control Panel, then pick the appropriate option.
- Right-click on the disputed USB drive in the Disk Management box and select Properties. Navigate to the Volume tab in the dialogue that has opened. Next, select Properties by clicking on the USB driver.
- Click the Hardware tab in the ensuing box, choose the relevant USB device from the list of all disk drives, and then click Properties.
- Next, click the Populate button and navigate to the Volume tab. Once all of the drive’s information has been found and shown, select OK.
Verify whether the USB drive shown no media issue has been resolved.
3. Format the USB flash disk that is impacted
Note: Before you format the affected drive, it is advised to use an expert solution to recover your data. You can use the BLR Pen Drive Recovery tool and recover data from the USB drive that shows no media. Pen drive data recovery software will analyze the device and help recover important files from the USB drive safely. The software will also recover data even if the USB constantly connecting and shows no data.
- Launch Disk Management (refer to the preceding comprehensive instructions).
- From the context menu that appears, right-click on the relevant drive in the list and choose Format.
- Select a file system, give your USB flash drive a letter, enable Quick Format, and press the Start button to begin the formatting process.
Conclusion
The USB drive shown no media issues hampering your work. There can be various reasons you are facing this issue, such as driver problems, file system errors, firmware issues, or hardware damage.
Before you try to advance fixes, the simple troubleshooting ideas can work. Check the simple, easy solutions we mention, and if the problem continues, then use the top data recovery software to secure your data.
