New NVMe M.2 SSD or SATA hard drive not showing up in File Explorer
Installed a new solid-state drive or hard drive but it does not appear in 'This PC' or File Explorer.
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Common Symptoms & Tells
- New installed but missing in File Explorer / 'This PC'
- detects the model name but Windows does not show the drive
- Drive is unallocated or missing drive letter
Interactive Fix Checklist
0 of 3 steps completedInitialize and format disk in Disk Management (diskmgmt.msc)
Press Win+X, select 'Disk Management' (or press Win+R and type 'diskmgmt.msc'). Look at the bottom list for a disk marked 'Unknown / Not Initialized' or 'Unallocated'.
Initialize disk as GPT partition style
Right-click the disk number (e.g. 'Disk 1') -> select 'Initialize Disk'. Choose 'GPT (GUID Partition Table)' -> click OK.
Create Simple Volume and assign drive letter
Right-click the black 'Unallocated' space -> select 'New Simple Volume'. Follow the wizard: assign maximum size, choose a drive letter (e.g. D: or E:), format as NTFS with 'Perform a quick format'. Click Finish.
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