[Fix] Hard Disk Drives (Partitions) Not Visible in Computer
Yesterday while installing Windows 10 in my friend’s computer, I faced this issue. It was a new laptop and I was doing a clean installation of latest Windows 10 version. Since most of the branded computers come with a single or two partitions, my friend requested me to remove all existing partitions and create new partitions as per his requirements.
I removed all existing partitions and created 4 new partitions. I installed Windows 10 in his laptop and when we logged in, we noticed that only the system partition i.e. C: drive was visible in My Computer (This PC). No other partitions were visible.
My friend asked me where are the other partitions which were created at the time of installation? I knew what was the issue, so I performed a few steps and all hard disk partitions started showing in This PC.
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I’m sure many of you might have faced this issue in your computers or might face in future. That’s why I decided to create this tutorial.
This tutorial will help you if:
- You create new partitions at Windows installation time but the partitions are not visible in Windows Explorer
- Some of your hard disk partitions suddenly become unavailable in Windows Explorer although the partitions contain data
So basically if you find some of your hard disk partitions/drives missing in This PC (or My Computer/Windows Explorer) window, this tutorial will help you in getting them back.
Actually there is a built-in program in Windows operating system called “Disk Management” or “Disk Manager” which can be used to assign or remove drive letters to your hard disk partitions. You can also format, delete or shrink partitions with the help of this program.
Related: How to Restrict / Hide / Remove Drives in Windows Explorer
If you find some of your hard disk partitions not showing in This PC or My Computer window, you can use this program to add the missing partitions back by assigning them drive letters.
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STEP 1:
Press WIN+R keys together to launch RUN dialog box. Now type diskmgmt.msc in RUN dialog box and press Enter key. It’ll open Disk Management program window.
STEP 2:
Now you’ll see your existing partitions/drives along with some extra partitions in this program. Actually when you create new partitions at the time of Windows installation, the partitions are not formatted, so Windows doesn’t assign any drive letters to those partitions and that’s why you can’t see those partitions in This PC or My Computer window.
If you created a new partition but didn’t format it, the partition’s file system will show as RAW in Disk Management. You need to right-click on the partition and select Format option.
Windows will show format dialog box, click on OK button. It’ll take a few seconds and Windows will format the partition using NTFS file system.
PS: But if due to some other reasons, your existing partition suddenly disappeared from This PC or My Computer window, you don’t need to format it. You just need to assign it a drive letter.
Now right-click on the partition again and select “Change Drive Letter and Paths” option. It’ll open a new dialog box. Click on Add button.
Now select any desired drive letter which you want to assign to the missing partition and click on OK button.
That’s it. Now the missing partitions will become visible in This PC or My Computer window.
NOTE:
Sometimes the hard disk partitions/drives might be hidden in This PC or My Computer window due to a Registry key. If a DWORD with the name NoViewOnDrive or NoDrives is present under following key in Registry Editor:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Current Version\Policies\Explorer
Delete the DWORD and your drives will become visible in My Computer window.
For more information check out point 25 in following tutorial:
when I INSTALLATION OF window 10 in my computer it show my computer many partition and not window open
^^ Please provide more details about your problem. Are you trying to install Windows in your computer? Does your computer already have Windows 10 installed?
The larger partition on my main drive, and the entirety of my second drive are NOT visible in Disk Manager.
Was working fine earlier today, but when I went to update a game that was on the large partition, the whole partition disappeared and I can’t find it.
^^ Did you check disk management?
Thank you Sooooooooo Much dear ♥ ♥ ♥
Thanks u so much , it helped me a lot
i install linux on my laptop and this formate my hdd then i thik in windows i can recover my data so i deceide to reinstall windows .then i bootable my Usb go for windows installation progress then i can`t go installtion progress .Then i formate my hdd after formate my laptop show grup error .then i reformate my hdd and make partition . Since then my hdd only decetect only one device . my hdd didn`t connect my laptop or any other computer .Only decetect one coumputer that i formate and make partition .Now what i can do ???Plz help mee…
I have a problem that my pc doesn’t display partitions which i have done to my external memory my pc is hp spectre x360 at the same time if am going to insert the same external memory to another pc it shows all the partitions
sir, the same situation is here, i installed windows 10, today, having two hard discs ,, one 150 gb other 400 gb, but the windows shown only 150 gb in which the c drive, and other drive become 78 gb and two partitions are show is disc management only for 319 MB, How? and why? where gone my other three equal partitions? from the existing 400 gb? \
awainting your sweet guideline…………..regards……MZRA
^^ First check in BIOS settings whether the other HDD is detected or not.
i have 2tb drive n i created a partition of 186gb from it but i can find the rest of the space
there is no unallocated space is like i can’t find it at all
^^ Can you share a screenshot of Disk Management?
Hello,
I installed win10 on pc portable, 1 ssd of 250gb and 1 hdd of 1T.
I do 1 partition for win 200gb, 1 40gb for ubuntu and 2 partitions on hdd 1 of 600gb and 1 400gb. At the end of installation, i have a hide partition (400gb on hdd). I dont know where is it going. I had tried disk manager, AOMEI, terminal, win installer. This partition is hide for all but in AOMEI for the hdd there are 1 partition of 600 gb and 1 of 1T. I tried also in ubuntu with diskpart and terminal but hide.
Hope can find a solution, thanks
^^ What does Disk Management tool show in Windows? Does it show any information about the hidden partition?
No there is nothing, just ssd and the partition of 600gb. The only information is on AOMEI where the hdd disk appear 1 time 1T unallocated but there is also the 600gb partition of this same disk.
I cant merge the two together.
^^ It seems there is some problem in partition table. I’m afraid you’ll need to delete and then re-create partitions to solve the issue.
Fantastic , this info saved my time . Thank you
Thank you very much for helping me thanks to you I fixed my problem thank you again
great…thank you
I just Love uh….. Thank you so so so much. …. 💕💕💕💕💕💕💕😘😘😘😘😘😍
Can’t thank you enough, the article saved me 🙂
I don’t know why the format option is unavailable, even though it already has a name (Disk 1 partition 4).
When I click right on the partition, the “Format” option is gray and unclickable.
Hello old friend
My problem: I’ve installed Ubuntu in my external SSD and when I plug it in into Windows 10 the external SSD is not shown but is connected, and in disk management I can see external SSD (Disk 1 Partition 1, Disk 1 Partition 2) but only available option is Delete option can’t change drive letter.
Also Note: I was able to access the SSD before Ubuntu installation
^^ Try following:
https://www.askvg.com/how-to-access-linux-partitions-ext2-ext3-from-windows-in-dual-boot-system/
My partitions are not visible suddenly when I switch on my laptop today. Please help!
^^ Please provide more details about your problem. How many partitions were previously visible in your system?