Windows 10: All flash drives have stopped working in Windows 11

I'm trying to troubleshoot for my father-in-law who has a fairly new 4-5 years old HP running Windows 11. His six flash drives one Lexar, the rest SanDisk, ranging from 1-128 GB have stopped being recognized on the Windows computer, but they all still work fine on his MacBook. Yesterday one was still working, but now none of the six works.I've tried all five USB jacks, of course. And the printer and the webcam both USB work fine in any jack.They all appear in Device Manager as Universal Serial Bus controllers >> USB Mass Storage Device and as Other devices >> Unknown devi

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USB Flash drive not seen on Laptop running Windows 11

Hi,EliBiek

Welcome to the Microsoft Community.



I'm sorry to hear that neither Windows 11 laptops nor Android phones recognize USB flash drives. Here are some steps you can take to try to retrieve data from a potentially damaged or corrupted USB flash drive:



1.Check the USB connection: Make sure the USB port you are using is working properly. Try connecting the USB flash drive to a different USB port on our laptop.



2.Using a different computer: Try connecting the USB flash drive to another computer to see if it is recognized. This will help determine if the problem is with the USB drive itself or the laptop.



3.Check Disk Management (Windows):

• Press Windows Key + X and select Disk Management.
  
• Look for the USB flash drive in the list of drives. If it appears but does not have a drive letter assigned, you may need to assign a drive letter to access it.
  

If none of these steps help to retrieve data from the USB flash drive and the data on the USB flash drive is critical, it is advisable to stop trying to access it further to prevent any further damage. Recovering data from a physically damaged drive is very complicated and you may consider seeking the help of a professional data recovery service. They have specialized tools and expertise to recover data from damaged storage devices.

Best Regards

Martin | Microsoft Community Support Specialist

 

Flash drives/external hard drives not working

Hi, presumably you've also run through all of these steps: Fixed: The Last USB Device Malfunctioned Windows 10 Error - MiniTool Partition Wizard - similar list without the detail:

 

Copying movie to Flash Drive

Hi Todd,

One way on how to save and move files to a flash drive is by using the File Explorer in Windows 10. To assist you with your concern, to save your movie file to a flash drive, we suggest that you follow these steps:

• Connect your USB flash drive to your PC.
• Navigate to the folder or location where you save your movie files.
• Right-click on the movie file and select
  Copy.
• Right-click on the Start menu, and select
  File Explorer.
• On the left-pane, double-click on This PC.
• Double-click on the drive letter that correspond to your USB flash drive.
• Right-click and select Paste.
• Wait for the process to complete the transfer.
• Once you’re done, you can safely remove your USB flash drive.

Let us know if the solution above works for you.