The My Passport™ for Mac drive is trusted, portable storage that perfectly complements your on-the-go lifestyle. Compatible with USB-C™ and USB-A, the My Passport for Mac drive comes equipped to connect with today's latest technology.
WD My Passport Can't Access
'When I connected my 1TB WD My Passport external hard drive to my desktop, Windows 10 prompts me with an error message saying you need to format the disk before you can use it. I wouldn't do that because data is still there. I tried to eject the drive and reconnected it for the second time, but the error is still there. It seems that I can't access the WD external hard drive nor my data without formatting, can anyone help?'
Mac users interested in Wd drive unlock utility generally download: WD Drive Manager Installer 2.0 Free The WD Drive Manager Installer contained within the zip file installs the Drive related light, button. In general, when a stable WD My Passport gets plugged into Mac, the drive will be readily available on the Desktop, Finder, and Disk Utility. Then it is possible to has full read-write access to the WD My Passport. However, there are times when your My Passport for Mac is.
If you're one of the Western Digital hard drive customers and happen to use the My Passport type, you must be interested in this post. A commonly seen issue with Western Digital My Passport hard drives is that sometimes, you cannot access the drive's data. The typical symptoms are, the power LED is on but the drive is not accessible. Meanwhile, you'll receive error messages like:
- You need to format the disk before you can use it.
- Drive X: is not accessible. Access is denied.
Besides the exact error messages, when you check the drive's status, you may see other different signs. For example:
- In Disk Management, The disk 0 or disk 1 shows as unknown, not initialized, or the type of file system is RAW.
- In the drive's properties, the hard drive shows 0 bytes used and 0 bytes free.
How to Access, View or Recover Data from Inaccessible WD External HDD
When WD My Passport shows you an error and you can't access the data, don't worry, as the files can be easily rescued. Just download EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard to recover the data from a corrupted or inaccessible drive. It's the top-ranking hard drive recovery software that reduces the worry and risk of losing your data when disk storage devices, such as WD drives, cannot be accessed or opened.
Step 1. Choose the WD hard drive to scan.
Launch EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard, locate the Western Digital hard drive and click 'Scan'. Let this program fully scan the WD hard drive and don't stop it in midway.
Step 2. Preview lost files in WD hard drive from the scan result.
After the scan, you can choose to preview files like pictures, documents, videos or audio files from the scan result in 'Deleted Files', 'Lost Files'. 'Filter' or 'Search' can also help you find lost WD hard drive files via file types, names and even extensions.
Step 3. Select and restore found WD hard drive files.
Choose the wanted files you'd like to restore and click 'Recover'. Do not save the data to the original WD drive in case of further data overwritten.
How to Repair Not Accessible WD My Passport External Hard Drive
As explained, you cannot access an external hard drive for many reasons, for most of the time, the consequence results from either a hard drive connection problem or hard drive self corruption.
So, when you cannot open a connected drive as usual in Windows 10/8.1/8/7, first look over the data cable, is it loose? Data cables can degrade over time from bending and flexing. The connectors can get bent or the internal pins may corrode from contact with contaminates. To check the data cable, you can:
- Use a different data port
- Use a different data cable
- Use a different computer, if possible
Next, proceed with WD My Passport repair tools as recommended here if the data cable is perfectly intact.
What are the WD My Passport repair tools?
You can feel free to use many Windows inbuilt programs as perfect WD My Passport repair tools, including Windows Disk Management, Windows CHKDSK Comand Prompt, and Windows Troubleshooter. They are all supposed to tackle hardware device problems of not recognizing, not detecting, not working or not reading, etc. Make sure that you've extracted the data from the inaccessible drive with the help of EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard before the repair process. This is the most guaranteed way to protect data from permanently gone.
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1. Windows Disk Management
It's for performing a quick format, to solve most of the hard drive corruption problems, such as the file system is RAW. When a hard drive turns to RAW, it's not seen in the File Explorer, and it's a good idea to check if it's showing in the Disk Management. Otherwise, you need to convert the RAW external hard drive to NTFS or FAT32 so that Windows can read your WD My Passport normally.
Step 1: In Windows 10/8.1/8/7, press Windows + R keys to bring up the Run box, type diskmgmt.msc and hit Enter.
Step 2: Right-click on the WD My Passport external hard drive, you'll see a context menu of many options, among which choose 'Format'.
Step 3: Follow the onscreen wizard. Choose a proper file system and complete the process of fixing a not accessible WD My Passport external hard drive with Disk Management.
If the issue persists, try changing the drive letter by following the steps below and check again.
Step 1: Choose 'Change Drive Letter and Paths...' this time.
Step 2: Among 'Add, Change, and Remove', click the 'Change' button, and then select a drive letter from the list. Click 'OK' to assign a new drive letter to the WD My Passport.
2. Windows CHKDSK Command Prompt
When hard drive becomes inaccessible and access denied, it's because bad sectors grew. To check and repair bad sectors that prevent users from accessing hard drive data, the CHKDSK command is a good choice. If you want to check for errors or repair the hard drive, always try the below command.
Step 1: In Windows 10/8.1/8/7, press Windows + X keys to bring up a context menu, and choose Command Prompt (Admin).
Step 2: Type chkdsk H: /f /r and hit enter.
H represents the drive letter of your WD My Passport external hard drive. Replace it with the correct drive letter of your own drive.
If you don't have any technical know-how and want to minimize data risks, using third-party software could be a better choice. The Command line is suitable for computer professionals since wrong commands can cause severe problems. Therefore, we strongly recommend you try an automatic command line alternative.
EaseUS Tools M is a practical computer fixing tool that is safe and light-weighted. It's a perfect alternative to CHKDSK command. Use this one-click tool to solve your computer issues.
To fix file system error or disk error:
Step 1: DOWNLOAD EaseUS Tools M for Free and install it.
Step 2: Open the software and select the 'File showing' option.
Step 3: Choose the drive and wait for repairing. After the operation completes, click the 'View' button to check the drive.
3. Windows Troubleshooter
This troubleshooter checks for common issues and makes sure that any new device or hardware attached to your computer was installed correctly.
Step 1: In Windows 10/8.1/8/7, press Windows + R keys to bring up the Run box, and type control and hit Enter to open the Control Panel.
Step 2: Find Troubleshooting and click in.
Step 3: Click 'View all' on the left pane.
Step 4: Find and run 'Hardware and Devices'. Follow the onscreen instruction to til the end.
How do I fix My WD Passport Ultra not showing up on my computer?'
When your WD My Passport Ultra hard drive or external hard drive is not showing up, you can neither access nor use the drive on your computer. And don't worry.
Follow this guide, you'll learn the causes and how to fix the WD Passport Ultra external hard drive not showing up error on your own.
Here is the complete guide to making your WD Passport external hard drive detected again:
- Part 1. Check The State of WD Passport External Hard Drive in Disk Management
- Part 2. Fix WD My Passport External Hard Drive Not Showing Up Error - 6 Fixes
- Part 3. Get Data Off and Format WD External Hard Drive to Work Again
Some of you may also want to learn what causes the wd external hard drive not showing up issue on the computer. Continue reading and check it out.
Why Is My WD Passport Not Showing UP
We consulted many experienced users and IT professionals, and we concluded the causes below. Check out why is your WD Passport Ultra external not showing up:
- 1. A faulty USB port/cable, or a damaged USB hub on PC
- 2. No drive letter is assigned to WD Passport drive
- 3. Corrupted file system or bad sectors makes WD drive unreadable
- 4. WD drive driver is out of date
- 5. Universal USB controllers drivers are outdated
These causes may also lead to some of your other devices malfunctioning, such as:
So how to fix these errors and make your WD Passport Ultra external hard drive show up on PC again? Follow through the tutorials below to get rid of this issue immediately.
Part 1. Check The State of WD External Hard Disk in Disk Management
Connect the WD external hard drive to your computer via the USB cable. Follow steps here to check the state of your WD external hard drive in Disk Management:
Step 1. Press Windows + R keys, type diskmgmt.msc in the Run box, and click 'OK'.
Step 2. In Disk Management, locate and check the state of your WD external hard drive.
Part 2. Fix WD My Passport External Hard Drive Not Showing Up Error
Check the state of your not showing up or not detected WD My Passport Ultra external hard drive and refer to the right fix to make your drive work normally again.
Tips to Remove WD External Hard Drive Not Showing Up/Not Detected Error:
Disk Status in Disk Management | Workable Solutions |
---|---|
1. Disk Shows Up, No Drive Letter | Fix 1. File system is normal, add new drive letter...Full steps Fix 2. File system is '*Others', fix file system...Full steps Fix 3. File system is 'Unknown', sent for repair...Full steps |
2. Disk Show Up, Not In File Explorer | Fix 4. Contact EaseUS support team for help...Full steps |
3. Disk Not Show Up | Fix 5. Change a different USB cable/port or PC...Full steps Fix 6. Update WD external hard drive driver...Full steps |
Pick a respective fix and follow the full guide to fix your WD My Passport external hard drive not showing up issue now.
Fix 1. Add New Drive Letter to Make WD Passport External Hard Drive Showing Up
Applies to: Fix WD passport external hard drive not showing up error due to drive letter confliction.
If your WD displays as 'New Volume' with no drive letter in Disk Management, it won't show up in File Explorer. Don't worry.
You can change or add a new drive letter so to make WD passport detectable and accessible again in Windows PC:
Step 1. Press Win + R keys, type diskmgmt.msc in the Run dialog, click 'OK' to open Disk Management.
Step 2. Right-click on WD drive which fails to show up and choose 'Change Drive Letter and Paths...'.
Step 3. Click 'Add', set a new drive letter to assign to the WD external drive, and click 'OK'.
If the WD drive has already been assigned with a letter, click 'Change' to choose another letter for it.
After this, restart your PC and check if you can visit the WD external hard drive in Windows File Explorer.
Fix 2. Fix Corrupted File System/Bad Sector That Makes WD External Not Showing Up
Applies to: Fix WD passport external hard drive not showing up due to file system error or bad sectors.
If the system files are corrupted or the WD device contains bad sectors, Windows disk management may detect it as '*Others' or RAW. Your computer may not even able to detect it from File Explorer.
EaseUS partition manager software with its Check File System feature can help. As long as your Disk Management can detect it, you can apply this tool to fix the corrupted file system and bad sectors on WD hard drive.
Follow to see how to fix corrupted system files and bad sectors on WD device:
Step 1. Open EaseUS Partition Master on your computer. Then locate the disk, right-click the partition you want to check, and choose 'Check File System'.
Step 2. In the Check File System window, keep the 'Try to fix errors if found' option selected and click 'Start'.
Step 3. The software will begin checking your partition file system on your disk. When it has completed, click 'Finish'.
After this, you can check the drive. If your files were missing, move to Part 3 and apply reliable data recovery software to bring back all your WD external hard drive data.
Fix 3. Send 'Unknown' & Not Detected WD External Hard Disk for Repair
If your WD external hard drive displays as 'Unknown' in disk management, the last thing you can try is to send the disk for repair.
You have two options for this issue:
- Option 1. Beyond the Warranty: Send WD external disk for repair in a local repair center
- Option 2. Within the Warranty: Send WD external disk back to its manufacturer
Fix 4. Contact EaseUS Support Team for Help
If your WD external hard drive is detected in Disk Management but not showing up in File History, you have two choices:
- #1. Refer to External Hard Drive Shows Up in Device Manager Not in This PC for help.
- #2. Contact the EaseUS support team for manual service help.
- 1. Unformat the drive
- 2. Repair the RAID, RAW disk or operating system
- 3. Recover lost partition (the one that cannot be recovered by software)
Fix 5. Try a Different USB Cable/Port or PC
When your WD hard drive neither shows up in File Explorer nor Disk Management, you can try to change the USB cable, try another USB port, or a new PC to see if the drive can be read or not.
Step 1. Switch a USB port/cable and replug it to your computer.
If the drive can be read via new a USB cable or on a new PC, then the drive is working fine. The problem is with the USB cable.
Step 2. Reconnect the WD drive via a new USB hub or to a new PC.
- If the WD Passport drive shows up, it is the damaged USB hub that stops WD from showing up.
- If the WD passport is not detected either on your current or the new PC, replace the WD drive with a new one.
Fix 6. Update WD External Device Driver & Reinstall BUS Controllers
When the WD Passport drive is not working, it might be caused by the outdated device drivers. So the best way is to update its driver via the following three paths:
#1. Download and Install WD Device Driver:
Step 1. Connect the problematic WD external hard drive to your PC.
Step 2. Right-click on the Windows icon and select 'Device Manager'.
Step 3. Find and expand Disk Drivers, Portable Devices, Universal Serial USB Controllers, or Other devices.
See if the WD external hard drive is shown as an 'Unknown' device.
Step 4. Right-click on Unknown or not working WD external hard drive, select 'Properties'.
Step 5. Go to the Details tab, set Property to 'Hardware Ids'.
Step 6. Right-click the top Value and click 'Copy'.
Step 7. Paste it into a browser and search for the correct device driver.
Step 8. Find and download the correct WD device driver and install it on your PC.
After this, restart your computer. And everything shall work fine with your WD My Passport Ultra drive.
#2. Update WD Device Driver from Device Manager:
Step 1. Right-click on the Windows icon and select 'Device Manager'.
Step 2. Expand Device Manager and right-click the WD My Passport Ultra drive.
Step 3. Select 'Update driver'.
Step 4. Select 'Search automatically for updated driver software', wait for the process to complete.
#3. Uninstall/Reinstall USB Controllers
When the Universal USB Bus Controllers are outdated, it may also stop your WD passport from being detected or showing up. So you can try to uninstall and reinstall USB controllers:
Step 1. Right-click on the Windows icon and select 'Device Manager'.
Step 2. Expand Universal Serial Bus controllers, right-click on USB controllers of the WD drive, and select 'Uninstall device'.
Repeat to uninstall each USB controller one by one.
Step 3. Restart the computer and Windows will automatically reinstall the USB controllers of your WD drive.
After this, you shall be able to visit and access saved data on your WD Passport Ultra drive normally by then.
- Notice:
- If the WD external hard drive is still not showing up in both File Explorer and Disk Management after trying all these solutions, send your drive for repair as shown in Fix 3.
Part 3. Get Data Off WD External Disk and Format It to Work Again
If your WD hard drive shows up and you can access the disk again. Take the last guide in this part to fully protect your files and make the WD external hard drive viable for saving and editing data again.
#1. Get Data Off WD External Hard Drive
Here are two ways that you can fully get files from your WD external hard drive:
- 1. Open and copy data from your WD hard drive to another storage device as a backup.
- 2. Recover lost files from WD drive with EaseUS file recovery software.
Note that, if you lost some valuable files during the process, don't worry. Professional file recovery software can scan and bring back your files in 3 steps:
Step 1. Choose the external hard drive
Since you're going to recover data from the external hard drive, run EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard and choose the exact drive where you lost data. Click Scan.
Step 2. Scan for lost data
The software will start immediately to scan all over the selected drive for all lost data. During the scan, you could see more and more data showing up in the results.
Step 3. Preview and recover data
After the scan is over, check the scan results for the desired data. You can preview the file by double-clicking on it. Click Recover and choose another location to save the recovered data.
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1. Windows Disk Management
It's for performing a quick format, to solve most of the hard drive corruption problems, such as the file system is RAW. When a hard drive turns to RAW, it's not seen in the File Explorer, and it's a good idea to check if it's showing in the Disk Management. Otherwise, you need to convert the RAW external hard drive to NTFS or FAT32 so that Windows can read your WD My Passport normally.
Step 1: In Windows 10/8.1/8/7, press Windows + R keys to bring up the Run box, type diskmgmt.msc and hit Enter.
Step 2: Right-click on the WD My Passport external hard drive, you'll see a context menu of many options, among which choose 'Format'.
Step 3: Follow the onscreen wizard. Choose a proper file system and complete the process of fixing a not accessible WD My Passport external hard drive with Disk Management.
If the issue persists, try changing the drive letter by following the steps below and check again.
Step 1: Choose 'Change Drive Letter and Paths...' this time.
Step 2: Among 'Add, Change, and Remove', click the 'Change' button, and then select a drive letter from the list. Click 'OK' to assign a new drive letter to the WD My Passport.
2. Windows CHKDSK Command Prompt
When hard drive becomes inaccessible and access denied, it's because bad sectors grew. To check and repair bad sectors that prevent users from accessing hard drive data, the CHKDSK command is a good choice. If you want to check for errors or repair the hard drive, always try the below command.
Step 1: In Windows 10/8.1/8/7, press Windows + X keys to bring up a context menu, and choose Command Prompt (Admin).
Step 2: Type chkdsk H: /f /r and hit enter.
H represents the drive letter of your WD My Passport external hard drive. Replace it with the correct drive letter of your own drive.
If you don't have any technical know-how and want to minimize data risks, using third-party software could be a better choice. The Command line is suitable for computer professionals since wrong commands can cause severe problems. Therefore, we strongly recommend you try an automatic command line alternative.
EaseUS Tools M is a practical computer fixing tool that is safe and light-weighted. It's a perfect alternative to CHKDSK command. Use this one-click tool to solve your computer issues.
To fix file system error or disk error:
Step 1: DOWNLOAD EaseUS Tools M for Free and install it.
Step 2: Open the software and select the 'File showing' option.
Step 3: Choose the drive and wait for repairing. After the operation completes, click the 'View' button to check the drive.
3. Windows Troubleshooter
This troubleshooter checks for common issues and makes sure that any new device or hardware attached to your computer was installed correctly.
Step 1: In Windows 10/8.1/8/7, press Windows + R keys to bring up the Run box, and type control and hit Enter to open the Control Panel.
Step 2: Find Troubleshooting and click in.
Step 3: Click 'View all' on the left pane.
Step 4: Find and run 'Hardware and Devices'. Follow the onscreen instruction to til the end.
How do I fix My WD Passport Ultra not showing up on my computer?'
When your WD My Passport Ultra hard drive or external hard drive is not showing up, you can neither access nor use the drive on your computer. And don't worry.
Follow this guide, you'll learn the causes and how to fix the WD Passport Ultra external hard drive not showing up error on your own.
Here is the complete guide to making your WD Passport external hard drive detected again:
- Part 1. Check The State of WD Passport External Hard Drive in Disk Management
- Part 2. Fix WD My Passport External Hard Drive Not Showing Up Error - 6 Fixes
- Part 3. Get Data Off and Format WD External Hard Drive to Work Again
Some of you may also want to learn what causes the wd external hard drive not showing up issue on the computer. Continue reading and check it out.
Why Is My WD Passport Not Showing UP
We consulted many experienced users and IT professionals, and we concluded the causes below. Check out why is your WD Passport Ultra external not showing up:
- 1. A faulty USB port/cable, or a damaged USB hub on PC
- 2. No drive letter is assigned to WD Passport drive
- 3. Corrupted file system or bad sectors makes WD drive unreadable
- 4. WD drive driver is out of date
- 5. Universal USB controllers drivers are outdated
These causes may also lead to some of your other devices malfunctioning, such as:
So how to fix these errors and make your WD Passport Ultra external hard drive show up on PC again? Follow through the tutorials below to get rid of this issue immediately.
Part 1. Check The State of WD External Hard Disk in Disk Management
Connect the WD external hard drive to your computer via the USB cable. Follow steps here to check the state of your WD external hard drive in Disk Management:
Step 1. Press Windows + R keys, type diskmgmt.msc in the Run box, and click 'OK'.
Step 2. In Disk Management, locate and check the state of your WD external hard drive.
Part 2. Fix WD My Passport External Hard Drive Not Showing Up Error
Check the state of your not showing up or not detected WD My Passport Ultra external hard drive and refer to the right fix to make your drive work normally again.
Tips to Remove WD External Hard Drive Not Showing Up/Not Detected Error:
Disk Status in Disk Management | Workable Solutions |
---|---|
1. Disk Shows Up, No Drive Letter | Fix 1. File system is normal, add new drive letter...Full steps Fix 2. File system is '*Others', fix file system...Full steps Fix 3. File system is 'Unknown', sent for repair...Full steps |
2. Disk Show Up, Not In File Explorer | Fix 4. Contact EaseUS support team for help...Full steps |
3. Disk Not Show Up | Fix 5. Change a different USB cable/port or PC...Full steps Fix 6. Update WD external hard drive driver...Full steps |
Pick a respective fix and follow the full guide to fix your WD My Passport external hard drive not showing up issue now.
Fix 1. Add New Drive Letter to Make WD Passport External Hard Drive Showing Up
Applies to: Fix WD passport external hard drive not showing up error due to drive letter confliction.
If your WD displays as 'New Volume' with no drive letter in Disk Management, it won't show up in File Explorer. Don't worry.
You can change or add a new drive letter so to make WD passport detectable and accessible again in Windows PC:
Step 1. Press Win + R keys, type diskmgmt.msc in the Run dialog, click 'OK' to open Disk Management.
Step 2. Right-click on WD drive which fails to show up and choose 'Change Drive Letter and Paths...'.
Step 3. Click 'Add', set a new drive letter to assign to the WD external drive, and click 'OK'.
If the WD drive has already been assigned with a letter, click 'Change' to choose another letter for it.
After this, restart your PC and check if you can visit the WD external hard drive in Windows File Explorer.
Fix 2. Fix Corrupted File System/Bad Sector That Makes WD External Not Showing Up
Applies to: Fix WD passport external hard drive not showing up due to file system error or bad sectors.
If the system files are corrupted or the WD device contains bad sectors, Windows disk management may detect it as '*Others' or RAW. Your computer may not even able to detect it from File Explorer.
EaseUS partition manager software with its Check File System feature can help. As long as your Disk Management can detect it, you can apply this tool to fix the corrupted file system and bad sectors on WD hard drive.
Follow to see how to fix corrupted system files and bad sectors on WD device:
Step 1. Open EaseUS Partition Master on your computer. Then locate the disk, right-click the partition you want to check, and choose 'Check File System'.
Step 2. In the Check File System window, keep the 'Try to fix errors if found' option selected and click 'Start'.
Step 3. The software will begin checking your partition file system on your disk. When it has completed, click 'Finish'.
After this, you can check the drive. If your files were missing, move to Part 3 and apply reliable data recovery software to bring back all your WD external hard drive data.
Fix 3. Send 'Unknown' & Not Detected WD External Hard Disk for Repair
If your WD external hard drive displays as 'Unknown' in disk management, the last thing you can try is to send the disk for repair.
You have two options for this issue:
- Option 1. Beyond the Warranty: Send WD external disk for repair in a local repair center
- Option 2. Within the Warranty: Send WD external disk back to its manufacturer
Fix 4. Contact EaseUS Support Team for Help
If your WD external hard drive is detected in Disk Management but not showing up in File History, you have two choices:
- #1. Refer to External Hard Drive Shows Up in Device Manager Not in This PC for help.
- #2. Contact the EaseUS support team for manual service help.
- 1. Unformat the drive
- 2. Repair the RAID, RAW disk or operating system
- 3. Recover lost partition (the one that cannot be recovered by software)
Fix 5. Try a Different USB Cable/Port or PC
When your WD hard drive neither shows up in File Explorer nor Disk Management, you can try to change the USB cable, try another USB port, or a new PC to see if the drive can be read or not.
Step 1. Switch a USB port/cable and replug it to your computer.
If the drive can be read via new a USB cable or on a new PC, then the drive is working fine. The problem is with the USB cable.
Step 2. Reconnect the WD drive via a new USB hub or to a new PC.
- If the WD Passport drive shows up, it is the damaged USB hub that stops WD from showing up.
- If the WD passport is not detected either on your current or the new PC, replace the WD drive with a new one.
Fix 6. Update WD External Device Driver & Reinstall BUS Controllers
When the WD Passport drive is not working, it might be caused by the outdated device drivers. So the best way is to update its driver via the following three paths:
#1. Download and Install WD Device Driver:
Step 1. Connect the problematic WD external hard drive to your PC.
Step 2. Right-click on the Windows icon and select 'Device Manager'.
Step 3. Find and expand Disk Drivers, Portable Devices, Universal Serial USB Controllers, or Other devices.
See if the WD external hard drive is shown as an 'Unknown' device.
Step 4. Right-click on Unknown or not working WD external hard drive, select 'Properties'.
Step 5. Go to the Details tab, set Property to 'Hardware Ids'.
Step 6. Right-click the top Value and click 'Copy'.
Step 7. Paste it into a browser and search for the correct device driver.
Step 8. Find and download the correct WD device driver and install it on your PC.
After this, restart your computer. And everything shall work fine with your WD My Passport Ultra drive.
#2. Update WD Device Driver from Device Manager:
Step 1. Right-click on the Windows icon and select 'Device Manager'.
Step 2. Expand Device Manager and right-click the WD My Passport Ultra drive.
Step 3. Select 'Update driver'.
Step 4. Select 'Search automatically for updated driver software', wait for the process to complete.
#3. Uninstall/Reinstall USB Controllers
When the Universal USB Bus Controllers are outdated, it may also stop your WD passport from being detected or showing up. So you can try to uninstall and reinstall USB controllers:
Step 1. Right-click on the Windows icon and select 'Device Manager'.
Step 2. Expand Universal Serial Bus controllers, right-click on USB controllers of the WD drive, and select 'Uninstall device'.
Repeat to uninstall each USB controller one by one.
Step 3. Restart the computer and Windows will automatically reinstall the USB controllers of your WD drive.
After this, you shall be able to visit and access saved data on your WD Passport Ultra drive normally by then.
- Notice:
- If the WD external hard drive is still not showing up in both File Explorer and Disk Management after trying all these solutions, send your drive for repair as shown in Fix 3.
Part 3. Get Data Off WD External Disk and Format It to Work Again
If your WD hard drive shows up and you can access the disk again. Take the last guide in this part to fully protect your files and make the WD external hard drive viable for saving and editing data again.
#1. Get Data Off WD External Hard Drive
Here are two ways that you can fully get files from your WD external hard drive:
- 1. Open and copy data from your WD hard drive to another storage device as a backup.
- 2. Recover lost files from WD drive with EaseUS file recovery software.
Note that, if you lost some valuable files during the process, don't worry. Professional file recovery software can scan and bring back your files in 3 steps:
Step 1. Choose the external hard drive
Since you're going to recover data from the external hard drive, run EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard and choose the exact drive where you lost data. Click Scan.
Step 2. Scan for lost data
The software will start immediately to scan all over the selected drive for all lost data. During the scan, you could see more and more data showing up in the results.
Step 3. Preview and recover data
After the scan is over, check the scan results for the desired data. You can preview the file by double-clicking on it. Click Recover and choose another location to save the recovered data.
Remember to save the recovered files to another secure location and then move to the next guide to format your WD My Passport external hard drive to usable again.
#2. Format WD External Hard Drive to Usable
Here, you may also let EaseUS Partition Master help. It's easy and efficient in formatting a disk:
Step 1. Launch EaseUS Partition Master, right-click the partition on your external hard drive/USB/SD card which you want to format and choose the 'Format' option.
Step 2. Assign a new partition label, file system (NTFS/FAT32/EXT2/EXT3), and cluster size to the selected partition, then click 'OK'.
Step 3. In the Warning window, click 'OK' to continue.
Step 4. Click the 'Execute Operation' button in the top-left corner to review the changes, then click 'Apply' to start formatting your external hard drive/USB/SD card.
After this, you can save the data back to your WD external hard drive again.
Make Your WD External Hard Drive Show Up and Work Now
On this page, we explained why is WD My Passport Ultra external hard drive not showing up on Windows PC and provided 6 practical fixes for you to follow and make the drive show up again.
As a beginner, we suggest that you follow the whole guide one by one. These fixes also work to resolve the same issue on all brands of external hard drive, internal hard drive, USB, or SD card.
Wd My Passport Utilities Machinery
Now, it's your turn. Take steps to fix your not showing up WD external hard drive and make it work again without losing any data.
People Also Ask
For further issues related to the WD passport, check the questions and answers below. You'll get a satisfying answer:
1. WD My Passport not showing up on Mac
If you are having a similar issue that WD My Passport external or internal hard drive not showing up on Mac, you can try the following tips as listed here for help: (Some are similar as shown on this page)
- #1. Reconnect WD Passport to Mac
- #2. Change WD Passport drive letter
- #3. Remount WD Passport to Mac
- #4. Update WD Passport drive driver
- #5. Format WD My Passport on Mac
2. How to use WD Passport on Windows 10?
For a new WD Passport: Connect Passport to Windows 10 PC > Open Disk Management and Initialize Disk > Create a New Partition on WD Passport drive.
For a used WD Passport: Connect it to Windows 10 > Open it in File Explorer to use it. If you need more space, delete some useless files on it to free up space.
3. Why is my external hard drive not showing up?
Accordingly, many reasons may cause your external hard drive not showing up. Here is a list of major reasons:
Wd Passport Mac Not Working
- The external hard drive is not connected to the PC correctly
- Faulty USB cable or USB hub
- External hard drive is not initialized
- External hard drive is doesn't contain a volume
- External hard drive has no drive letter
- External hard drive contains file system error, bad sectors, or virus
For a resolution, follow to External/Internal Hard Drive Is Not Showing Up in Windows 10/8/7.