(5 Easy Ways) How to Recover Data from USB Flash Drive Not Recognized

USB flash drives are incredibly convenient for storing and transferring data, but they can also cause frustration when they suddenly stop working. If your USB drive is not recognized by your computer, it may indicate as if your data is lost forever. However, with the right tools and techniques, you can often recover your data and fix the underlying issues.

In this article, we'll explore how to recover data from USB flash drive not recognized and provide step-by-step solutions.

How to recover data from USB flash drive not recognized

Even if your USB drive not recognized in Windows Explorer, your computer may still detect it. As long as the flash drive is visible in Disk Management and displays the correct size, data recovery is possible. To successfully recover data from USB drive not recognized, we strongly recommend using AOMEI Partition Assistant, a powerful data recovery tool that can recover files from nearly any storage device, including corrupted flash drives.

Method 1. Recover data from USB drive not recognized

If you're facing a situation where your USB flash drive is not recognized, and you suspect the issue might be related to partition or file system errors that cause data loss, using AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional can help you. This is a powerful disk management tool that can help recover lost data from a USB flash drive that is not recognized by your computer.

It is specifically designed to recover files from various storage devices in scenarios of accidental deletion, formatting, corruption, or physical damage that makes the drive unreadable. Such tools scan the storage media at a comprehensive to find and reconstruct lost data.

Now, follow the steps to do easy USB data recovery.

Step 1. Open and run the installed AOMEI Partition Assistant. Find "Recover" > “Recover Data” in the main interface.

Step 2. Select the partition location in the pop-up window, and then click “Start Scan”

Step 3. After scanning, you can find that all the deleted files, recycle bin and other lost data show up. Choose the target data, and click “Recover”.

Step 4. Select the folder path to reserve the restored data.

Step 5. Wait for the process patiently till it shows the Completion icon. Now, you can find that the selected files have been recovered successfully.

Method 2. Clean the USB connector

Over time, dust and dirt can accumulate on the USB connector, creating a physical barrier that prevents proper communication between the drive and the computer. This will easily cause USB drive not recognized. You can do the following things to clean to USB connector.

Step 1. Use compressed air to blow out any dust or debris.

Step 2. Gently clean the connector with a cotton swab lightly dampened with isopropyl alcohol.

Step 3. Allow the connector to dry completely before reinserting it into the USB port.

Method 3. Update or reinstall USB drivers

Outdated or corrupted USB drivers can cause communication issues between the drive and the computer. To update or reinstall the drivers:

Step 1. Open Device Manager (right-click Start, and select Device Manager). Expand the "Disk drives" section, right-click your USB drive, and select "Update driver."

Step 2. Choose "Search automatically for updated driver software."

If no updates are found, right-click the drive again and select "Uninstall device."

Disconnect and reconnect the USB drive to force the drivers to reinstall automatically.

Method 4. Disable USB selective suspend

Windows' USB Selective Suspend feature can sometimes cause issues with USB devices. To disable this feature:

Step 1. Open Control Panel and navigate to Hardware and Sound > Power Options.

Step 2. Click "Change plan settings" for your current power plan.

Step 3. Click "Change advanced power settings." Expand "USB settings" and then "USB selective suspend setting."

Step 4. Change the setting to "Disabled" for both "On battery" and "Plugged in." Click "Apply" and then "OK."

Method 5. Format the USB Drive

If the previous methods don't work, formatting the USB drive can also be effective in solving the problem of the USB drive not recognized. But please note that formatting deletes all data on the drive, so make sure you have recovered important files first.

To successfully format a USB drive without any problems, you can also use AOMEI Partition Assistant. It supports formatting USB flash drives larger than 32GB to FAT32 and allows you to format to NTFS, FAT32, EXT2/3/4 and exFAT. You can also use it to convert NTFS to FAT32 without losing data.

Step 1. Connect the USB stick with a running PC that has the downloaded AOMEI Partition Assistant. In its main interface, right-click the USB drive and choose "Format Partition".

Step 2. Select the file system based on your demand. Then, click "OK".

Step 3. Then, you will return to the main interface. Click "Apply" and "Proceed" to commit the operation.

Conclusion

This guide on how to recover data from USB flash drive not recognized will be helpful for you. You can read this article to find a solution to the problem and recover any lost/deleted data with AOMEI Partition Assistant. 

Although primarily known for its powerful data recovery, it also includes utilities for disk conversion, OS migration, and system optimization, and partition management such as resizing, moving, merging, and splitting partitions without data loss. For Windows Server users, please download the AOMEI Partition Assistant Server edition.