What causes the
partition not showing up in Windows 11/10
issue? How to fix the error? Here,
MiniTool
offers you solutions to partition not showing up on Windows 10/11 in different cases. Use corresponding fixes according to your situation.
Reasons for Partition Not Showing up in Windows 11
As multiple factors can result in the “hard disk partition not showing up” issue, you may experience it like many other users too. Some possible reasons for the Windows 11 disk partition not showing up error are summarized as follows.
The hard drive is old or incompatible with your PC.
There is physical damage to the disk.
There are bad sectors or corrupted files on the hard drive.
What can you do to fix the “Windows 11 disk partition not showing up” issue? Well, this post offers you solutions to it in 3 cases.
Case 1: Partition Not Showing up in Windows 11/10
Fix 1: Run Hardware and Devices Troubleshooter
Hardware and Devices Troubleshooter is a tool on Windows that helps you fix hardware-related issues. After the hard disk partition not showing up issue occurs, you can run it to solve the issue. As the Troubleshooter is not available in Windows 10/11
Settings
, you need to open it from other sources like Command Prompt and Run window.
Follow the steps below to run the Troubleshooter.
Step 1:
Type
cmd
in the search box and then click
Run as administrator
under the
Command Prompt App
.
Step 2:
In the prompted window, type
msdt.exe -id DeviceDiagnostic
and press the
Enter
key. This will open the Hardware and Devices troubleshooter. Alternatively, you can open it by typing
msdt.exe -id DeviceDiagnostic
in the
Run
window and hitting
Enter
.
Step 3:
Run the troubleshooter by clicking the
Next
button in the elevated window. Finish the operation by following the on-screen instructions and then check if the Windows 11 disk partition not showing up issue is solved.
If the partition is hidden, you won’t see it in File Explorer. Then the hard disk partition not showing up issue happens to you. To fix the issue, you should unhide it.
#1. Use MiniTool Partition Wizard
This software helps you hide and unhide partitions within a few clicks. You just need to download and install MiniTool Partition Wizard on your computer and then follow the given steps to unhide your partition.
As mentioned earlier, bad sectors on the hard drive will lead to partition not showing up in Windows 11. Therefore, you’d better check that after the issue occurs. You can check hard drive for errors via either the
CHKDSK command
or third-party software.
If you encounter the
CHKDSK not working
issue, try MiniTool Partition Wizard instead. It enables you to find bad sectors and file system errors on your hard drive or partition. Here we show you how to find bad sectors through the program.
1. Run the software on your PC.
2. Right-click on the target hard drive and click
Surface Test
.
3. In the prompted window, click
Start Now
to begin the process.
4. After the scanning process ends, find if there are any red blocks in the scanning area. If you find them, it indicates that there are bad sectors on the hard drive. Then refer to
this guide
to get rid of them.
Fix 4: Perform Partition Recovery
The partition not showing up on Windows 10/11 issue may occur if you delete it by accident. Actually, multiple reasons can result in partition loss such as power surges, virus infection, hardware issues, Windows updates, etc. No matter what reason causes partition missing, you can recover it with the help of MiniTool Partition Wizard.
Step 1:
After launching the software, click
Partition Recovery
and then click
Next
in the prompted window to continue.
Step 2:
In the prompted window, choose the disk where the lost partition locates for recovery and click
Next
.
Step 3:
Pick a scanning range from the given options:
Full Disk
,
Unallocated Space
, and
Specified Range
. Here, we choose
Unallocated Space
. Then click
Next
.
If you don’t remember the specified range of the lost partition, it is recommended to scan the full disk.
Step 4:
Select a scanning method based on your demands and click
Next
. You can either choose
Quick Scan
or
Full Scan
.
Step 5:
Then the scanning process will start automatically. You can view the progress in the elevated window.
Step 6:
After the scanning process ends, check all needed partitions (including existing partitions and deleted/lost partitions) from the list and click
Finish
.
As the existing partitions will be checked by default, you just need to check the lost/deleted partition by yourself. If
Partition Recovery Wizard
can’t find your lost partition, use the
Data Recovery
module to recover the data on the missing partition.
Step 7:
Finally assign a letter for the recovered partitions.
Fix 5: Reformat Partition to a Recognizable File System
If there are issues with the file system of your partition, you will receive the disk partition not recognized error. Some common file system issues are summarized as follows.
Your partition contains an unsupported file system by Windows.
The file system of the partition is corrupted.
The file system becomes RAW.
How to fix these issues? Well, a good way is to format the partition to a Windows-support file system like NTFS, FAT32, and exFAT. However, formatting the partition will erase data. Hence, you should
make a copy of your partition
before that. Then start the operation with the steps below.
2. Learn what formatting a hard drive does from
this post
.
Step 1:
Right-click on the
Windows
icon, and then click
Disk Management
.
Step 2:
Right-click on the target partition and tap
Format
.
Step 3:
Choose a file system for the partition and click
OK
.
For the security of data, you’d better check the
Perform a quick format
option. Click
Quick format vs full format
to learn the difference between them.
Step 4:
Click
OK
in the prompted window to confirm the operation.
The GPT disk partition not recognized issue often happens to a GPT system disk. You may receive the issue when you reboot your PC but it can’t recognize and boot from the drive. What triggers the error? Here are some possible causes.
You failed to configure the GPT disk as the boot drive, so Windows can’t detect it as a boot disk in BIOS and fails to boot from it.
You didn’t enable UEFI boot mode successfully in BIOS.
The motherboard of your PC doesn’t support UEFI boot mode.
How to solve the disk partition not recognized issue with the GPT disk? Here are 3 methods for you.
Method 1: Set the GPT Disk as the Boot Drive
Step 1:
Enter the BIOS setup screen of your computer. To do that, restart your computer and then keep pressing its BIOS key like F2, F8, or Del when the PC boots up.
Step 2:
Navigate to the
Boot
tab by using the arrow keys.
Step 3:
Set the target GPT disk as the first boot option.
Step 4:
Press
F10
and
Enter
keys to save and exit the change.
Step 5:
After that, your computer will automatically boot from the selected GPT disk. Then your GPT partitions will show up on your PC.
If the current boot mode of your PC is Legacy BIOS, the GPT system partition can’t be recognized by the device. In this case, you should switch the boot mode to UEFI mode. The prerequisite is that the PC supports both UEFI and Legacy BIOS boot modes.
Step 1:
Likewise, enter the BIOS setup screen and move to the
Boot
tab.
Step 2:
Find the UEFI/BIOS Boot Mode. If it displays “
Legacy
”, choose the “
UEFI
” option by using the down arrow.
Step 3:
Save the changes you have made and exit BIOS.
Your computer may only support Legacy boot mode due to hardware limitations. As a result, the GPT partition not showing up on Windows 10 issue occurs. If so, a good fix is to convert the GPT disk to MBR and then set it as the boot drive.
How to
convert GPT to MBR without data loss
? Well, MiniTool Partition Wizard comes into use. It helps you complete the conversion easily. Reversely, it allows you to convert MBR to GPT.
Note: To convert a data disk to MBR/GPT disk, simply use the MiniTool Partition Wizard Free Edition. If you are going to convert the system disk to a GPT disk, get the Pro or higher editions.
Step 1:
After installing the program on your computer, run it to access its main interface.
Step 2:
Right-click on the target disk and click on the
Convert GPT Disk to MBR Disk
option.
Step 3:
Tap
Apply > Yes
to execute the operation.
Step 4:
Then set the disk as the boot drive in BIOS with the steps in
Method 1
.
Case 3: The Selected Partition Was Created by Windows and Might Contain Data
According to user reports, partitions sometimes can’t be recognized by Windows after a reboot. They also find that only the
Delete Volume
is available in
Disk Management
when they want to solve the issue in it. Besides, you may be prompted with an error message as shown below.
Some partitions suddenly become unavailable in Windows Explorer although they contain data.
“The selected partition was not created by Windows and might contain data recognized by other operating systems. Do you want to delete this partition?”
Why this issue takes place? It is likely that the current hard drive is an MBR with 2TB+ storage. Hence, the partition over 2TB limit can’t be recognized in Disk Management. Another reason is that a GPT disk over 2TB has been converted to MBR. An available solution to this issue is to convert MBR to GPT.
Partition not showing up in Windows 11/10? This post shows you possible reasons and troubleshooting methods in 3 cases. If you encounter the error in other cases, tell us in the comment area. We will try our best to help you. For any questions about MiniTool Partition Wizard, contact us via
[email protected]
.
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