Windows 10 does not recognize external hard drives or flash drives

hi Wyatt. I'm Greg, 10 years awarded Windows MVP, specializing in Installation, Performance, Troubleshooting and Activation, here to help you.
One of these fixes usually works for the error:

https://www.thewindowsclub.com/windows-cannot-l...
(Avoid ad links which intrude into editorial copy, especially avoid Restoro, PC Repair Tool and Reimage ads)

https://blog.darrenjrobinson.com/recovering-fro...  
https://www.whatech.com/computer-support/blog/6...
https://appuals.com/fix-windows-cannot-load-the...
https://appuals.com/fix-windows-cannot-load-the...
(Avoid ad links which intrude into editorial copy, especially avoid Restoro, PC Repair Tool and Reimage ads)
If none of those help then I'll give you all possible fixes for External Drive not detected. Even if you've tried one please try it again in sequence and report back results. I'll be standing by to help you here:

Disable any 3rd party antivirus, or uninstall and turn on built-in Defender, to see if that resolves it.

Right click Start button to open Disk Management, scroll down to try to find the drive on the map by size and label, right click on it to assign a drive letter so it's detected in File Explorer.

Try disabling or removing any 3rd party antivirus. I would run built-in Defender which always offers best Windows performance with least issues, and is from Microsoft who knows how to protect their OS best.

For USB drive not detected issue, first try steps here: https://mspoweruser.com/solved-usb-device-not-r...

Go into Device Manager to look for the drive under Disk Drives. It may be listed by it's model or Serial which you can google to determine which is it. Click on the Device, then Driver tab, choose Roll Back if available. If not then choose Uninstall, restart PC to reinstall driver. If that fails choose Update Driver, first Automatically, then if that fails choose Browse > Let Me Pick to try all previous drivers.

If no newer or this doesn't help, then go to the USB category in Device Manager, open each Enhanced, Hub and Host controller, from Driver tab select Roll back if available, or if not choose Uninstall.
If your keyboard and mouse are USB, first program the power button to effect the needed restart after Rolling back or uninstalling the driver. Go to Settings > System > Power & Sleep > Additional Power Settings > Choose what Power buttons do to choose Shutdown.
Test the drive using diagnostics to know for sure it's condition: https://www.lifewire.com/free-hard-drive-testin...
Follow this up with a DIsk Check from the Command Prompt if necessary: https://www.groovypost.com/howto/check-hard-dri...

You can check which Updates were installed just before this happened, then uninstall them at Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update > Installed Update History - look first for installed drivers. Then you can hide these Updates using the Hide Updates tool: https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/8280-hide-s...

You can also try to System Restore to a point before this happened, then check for Updates using the Hide Updates Tool to block the Updates offered:

Check if the drive is detected in another PC. If so back up the data to a folder on it's desktop. Once you confirm all the data is off the external, wipe it with Diskpart Clean Command:
https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/85819-erase...
If nothing else works see if you can run Data Recover on it using
Recuva: http://www.piriform.com/recuva/features
Then plug it back into the PC which cannot detect it, reformat in Disk Management:
http://www.wikihow.com/Format-an-External-Hard-...

If nothing works you can try file Recovery starting with Recuva: http://www.piriform.com/recuva/features

Feel free to ask back any questions. Based on the results you post back I may have other suggestions if necessary.

______________________________________________

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As I have previously mentioned:
-the external drives do not show up on the Disk manager, so any solution requiring the disk manager is out of the question.

-I have multiple times uninstalled the usb drivers and rebooted. The problem was not solved.

For some strange reason, Windows 10 home edition does not have a troubleshooting tool for hardware, so that option is out the window.

Your suggestion of "check diagnostics" followed by a link is for a list of the "14 Best Free Hard Drive Testing Programs". Is there one I'm supposed to use?

And from what I can see, the big suggestion is that I go through all of the recently installed drivers with the latest windows update to see what's wrong? Because if that is the case then this probably won't go well.

I will say that I have been trying to figure this out for the past four hours. It is almost 1 AM where I am at, so I am going to go to bed and take another stab at this tomorrow.

Wyatt -

Just run one of the hard drive testing tools to know for sure it's physical condition, followed by Disk Check to repair any file system problems.

Hardware and Device Troubleshooter manual command:
Press Start then search command prompt
Right click then run as administrator
type: msdt.exe -id DeviceDiagnostic
Run the troubleshooter
Restart your computer

Sometimes Windows Update can cause these issues, so i gave you ways to roll them back to see for sure, then if they reinstall and cause the problem, roll back again or uninstall the recent ones and block them.

There were many fixes I linked in the beginning of the post for the specific error which usually fix that error. Please do not skip any steps. We often find out later that the fix was the skipped step. If you need help performing any step I will help.

You are wise to get some rest because tiredness works against us in these matters. I will be here all day tomorrow to help, and I will be here to help until this case is resolved.

I am standing by here to help with any of the dozen fixes I researched and wrote out for you. One of those will most certainly fix the problem, which is one I have helped with thousands of times in forums over the past 12 years.

This is an interactive process. I give steps to perform, you do each one and then report back results until something works, so I know what to suggest next. If you need help performing any step, just ask back. But please do not skip any steps. We often find out the skipped step is the fix.

1. It is not a problem with a particular disk. I ran a disk check on my three externals and they came back clean. I will also say again that I am working with multiple external hard drives and around 20 flash drives, so I highly doubt that this is a problem that is persistent across all of these devices.

2. Troubleshooter came back saying that no problem was detected.

3. It's hard to not skip steps when there are steps that I can't even take (please see my previous posts).

Many of the steps given in the links you've provided ask me to do such things as "delete registries" or "run a clean boot and delete/disable the problem drivers". It's a little hard doing either of these things when I have no idea what registries or drivers I'm supposed to be getting rid of.

Just ran the troubleshooter two more times. Both times it actually detected a problem and gave two options: "I can't see my device listed" and "USB mass storage device error". I clicked on both options only to have the troubleshooter reply with "Troubleshooting couldn't identify the problem".

In regards to those steps that you have suggested:

1. Disk management

Will not work because my external hard drives and flash drives do not show in the disk manager (as I had mentioned).
2. Follow steps on MSPoweruser
Followed, did not work.
3. Go to device manager and look for the drive under Disk Drives
External drives and flash drives do not show under the Disk Drives tab, so will not work.
4. Go to the USB category

None of the hubs have "rollback" as an option, so I uninstalled all of them then rebooted. Did not work.
5. Run a diagnostic.
No problem on the drives tested.

6. Check installed updates.
Looked for installed drivers only to see that the only driver listed was for a printer.
7. Try a system restore
The tutorial that you might have tried to link to only leads me to a site that sells fiber optic broadband.
8. Check if the device is detected on another pc.
Tried, and all of the devices that I've tested work on my other pc. All of them are detected and shown.
9. If the device checks on another pc, back it up and wipe it.
Why would I do this for a storage device that has no problems?
10. Run Data Recover on the device
See #9
11. Reformat
See #9
12. Perform file recovery using Recuva
See #9

I don't see any results posted for the dozens of fixes for the error you reported which were linked at the top of my first post.

Which drive diagnostics did you run from the list I provided. Disk Check is NOT drive diagnostics, it only repairs the file system that resolves on the physical drive which still needs testing separately.

The problem Update may not be only a driver, it can be another Update. To find out either uninstall latest Updates in Update History > Uninstall Updates, or System Restore a point before this started, then uninstall and block any Updates that reinstall and cause this.

Corrected System Restore link: https://www.windowscentral.com/how-use-system-r... Sorry!
You asked why I suggested to back up the data and wipe the drive in another PC that detects it, then reformat in the problem PC Disk mgmt. This is because something in the problem PC is blocking it from reading the drive and that often can be code in the boot sector or a formatting issue in partition table which is resolved by wiping the boot sector and partition table with Clean Command on another PC that reads it, the starting over to format it fresh in the problem PC or if necessary the other cooperating PC. This works about half the time when nothing else does.
The most common fixes are reinstalling the drive in Disk Mgmt if detected under Disk Drives, or reinstalling the USB controller drivers.

Keep me posted on your progress as I will be here to help until the case is resolved.

The reason why I didn't list the results for the "dozens" of solutions you provided is because I was either unable to implement them or they didn't work. But if you want to see the results:

wethegeek:

-uninstall device through device manager

Didn't work (as previously mentioned).

-clean registry

I don't know what registry items need to be deleted.

-update drivers.

Didn't work.

-runtroubleshooter
Didn't work.

thewindowsclub

-uninstall drivers

Didn't work

-run troubleshooter
Didn't work
-re-install usb drivers
Didn't work
-run clean boot
Don't know what drivers and programs I'm supposed to be deleting or isolating following the boot. Unhelpful instructions.

darrenjrobinson
-run troubleshooter
Didn't work

whatech
-make sure hard disk is never turned off
Didn't work
-reinstall device in device manager
Didn't work
-Update drivers
Didn't work
-Run troubleshooter
Didn't work
-Perform Clean Boot
Don't know what drivers and programs I'm supposed to be deleting or isolating following the boot. Unhelpful instructions

appuls
-hold shift while shutting down
Didn't work
-Reinstall devices
Didn't work
-Make sure hard disk is never turned off
Didn't work
-Run troubleshooter
Didn't work
-Perform Clean Boot
Actually gives proper instructions on what to do following a clean boot, but I think I'm going to actually try uninstalling updates before trying this.

So there you go. The "dozens" of solutions that you've linked to actually boil down to trying the same 6 things over and over again.

As for the drive diagnostic tool, I used DiskCheckUp. It didn't find anything.

Wyatt -

They added that Registry Cleaner since I first found that tutorial, so I've removed it and don't recommend any Registry Cleaner.

There is guidance for removing Startup freeloaders in Step 4 of this checklist:
http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wiki...

I link duplicate fixes because they are approached differently in one tutorial from the other, and each tutorial has fixes the others don't.

As to uninstalling drivers, a streamlined way of doing this is to See if you can System Restore to a point before the problem began following this guide: https://www.windowscentral.com/how-use-system-r...

System Restore is your first line of defense and can take you back to a point before a problem began like a time machine. If it doesn't help then you can undo it. Read about it first in the tutorial above and then try restoring to just before this started.

If the problem repeats or System Restore doesn't work then check which Windows Updates were installed at Settings > Update & Security > Windows Updates > Update History, uninstall them there or System Restore again, then immediately check for and block the Updates with the Hide Updates tool explained here which I would install now so it's ready:
https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/8280-hide-s...

Another way of explaining moving the data off and wiping the drive on a cooperating PC is that this sets it back to a new external drive as viewed by the problem PC.

I hope these help more. Please keep me posted. Usually this is fixable.