How to Fix USB Drive Not Accessible on Windows 11/10

What does USB is not accessible mean

If a USB flash drive is not accessible on Windows 11/10, it means you cannot open it or read and write files as usual. When a "USB is not accessible" error displays, it is usually accompanied by the following messages on your computer:

How to fix the USB is not accessible on Windows 11/10

In the first place, you can perform some basic checks to troubleshoot. You can check the USB port by inserting the USB into another port on the same computer or another computer. If you use a USB hub, check if enough power to connect a USB device to the computer.

Case1. USB drive displays in File Explorer when it is not accessible

If the USB drive shows up in File Explorer but is not accessible, the problems may relate to authority, drive name, bad sectors, and incompatible file systems. Try the following methods to fix the inaccessible USB.

Modify the Ownership of the inaccessible USB drive

• 1. Right-click on the inaccessible USB drive and choose Properties.
• 2. Select the Security Tab.
• 3. Under Group or usernames, choose your account name to check if you have permission to access the USB drive.
• 4. Select the files you want to get back and then click Recover.

If you don't have permission to access the USB drive, go to the next method.

Add an Authenticated User to the inaccessible USB drive

Besides, you can also add an authenticated user to gain access to the USB files.

• 1. Right-click on the inaccessible USB drive and choose Properties.
• 2. Select the Security Tab.
• 3. Click on Edit. The Permissions box will appear.
• 4. Click on the Add button to continue.
• 5. Add a new user named Authenticated User and click on OK.
• 6. Tick the Allow box after the Full control option.
• 7. Click on Apply, then OK.

Check the USB drive error

As mentioned above, bad sectors can also make a USB flash drive inaccessible. Running chkdsk command on Windows can check and repair bad sectors on a drive.

Option 1: Go to Properties > Tools > Check Now.

Option 2: Run chkdsk /r.

• 1. Type cmd into the search box from the Start menu and press Enter.
• 2. Enter chkdsk /r *: in the pop-up window and press Enter. For example, if the inaccessible USB drive is disk G, enter chkdsk /r g:
• 3. After that, it will pop up a window, check Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors. Click Start to complete these operations.
• 4. Wait for the system to automatically repair it.
• 5. Reboot your Windows 10 computer and try to access the USB drive.

Reformat the USB

If the file system of the USB is incompatible with the operating system, you cannot open the disk on Windows 10. You will be suggested to format the USB to a compatible file system. On Windows 11/10, you can format external hard drive like a USB with Disk Management and Diskpart.

However, formatting will erase all the data from the USB. So you should try professional data recovery software, like iBoysoft Data Recovery for Windows, to rescue the files on the USB flash drive as much as possible.

Case2. USB drive displays in Disk Management when it is not accessible

When you cannot find the USB drive in File Explorer, you can check whether it displays in Disk Management. To open Disk Management, click Start and type diskmgmt.msc in the search bar, and hit ENTER. If the USB shows up there, then it indicates that the drive got corrupted or there is an error in the disk.

Rename the USB flash drive

If an improper name is on the USB or it shares the same name as another drive on the computer, it will also make the USB inaccessible. So, try to rename the USB flash drive to see whether you can access the USB normally.

• 1. Press Windows + R simultaneously, input diskmgmt.msc, and hit Enter to open Disk Management.
• 2. Locate the USB disk partition, right-click it, and choose Change Drive Letter and Path...
• 3. In the pop-up window, click Change and assign a new drive letter to the partition.

Create partitions on the USB drive

If there is no partition on the USB drive, it will display in Disk Management rather than File Explorer. It will show as unallocated space. Then, using Disk Management to create new partitions on the USB can solve the inaccessible issue.

• 1. Right-click on the external hard drive (often marked Unallocated space) and select the New Simple Value option.
• 2. Click Next and follow the wizard to specify the volume size, assign the drive letter, and choose the File System you want.

Case 3. The USB drive doesn't show up in File Explorer or Disk Management

Unluckily, you may fail to find the USB in File Explorer or Disk Management. In this way, try to update the disk driver, and see whether it works.

To update the disk driver:

• 1. Right-click on Start, and click Device Manager.
• 2. Expand the Disk driver and locate the USB that cannot be found in Disk Management.
• 3. Right-click on the disk and select Update Driver Software from the context menu.
• 4. Select Search automatically for updated driver software.

Hopefully, you can fix the USB drive not accessible on Windows 11/10 error and access files seamlessly through the methods. If it still fails, this inaccessible USB drive may be physically damaged, and you should send it to a local repair service.

Why a USB drive is not accessible on Windows 11/10

You can take a look at the possible reasons why a USB drive becomes inaccessible on Windows 11/10/8/7 or earlier Windows operating systems.