When your external hard drive becomes unallocated, relax! Follow solutions on this page to fix external hard drive unallocated errors without losing any data.
How to access unallocated external hard drive data
“Hey there, do you know how to fix an external hard drive with an unallocated error? My 1TB WD external drive suddenly appears unallocated under Disk Management. It’s important files are very important to me and I don’t want it formatted.
I can’t access any saved data on the external hard drive that isn’t yet allocated. Please help me.
What causes your external hard disk to become unallocated. Here is a list of reasons that may cause external hard drive or storage devices unallocated:
- File system and internal device error
- Improper operations
- Virus attack
- Outdated disk driver
If you are experiencing the same issue on an external hard drive, USB drive, SD card or memory card, etc., stop using the device. In the following, you’ll learn how to restore data, repair the unallocated external hard drive and tips to avoid the unallocated issue.
Part 1. Restore data from unallocated external hard drive
As most users use an external hard drive to save valuable files and essential data. When an external hard drive is not allocated, data restoration becomes a priority.
With the help of professional data recovery software such as EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard, you still have a chance to recover data from the drive. How can you do this?
This software allows you to easily recover data from hard drives or external hard drives that are not allocated. Download EaseUS hard disk recovery software here and follow the guide below to restore data:
Activation is required when you tend to restore all found files. Be sure to backup the recovered data to another secure device.
Step 1. Choose the external hard drive
- Since you’re going to recover data from an external hard drive, you need to correctly connect the drive to your Windows computer.
- Run EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard and choose the exact external drive where you lost data.
- Step 2. Click on Scan.
Step 2. Check the scan results
The software will immediately start scanning the selected drive for all lost data. During the scan, you can see more and more data showing up in the results. You can use the Filter feature to quickly find files of one type, such as pictures, Word/Excel/PDF documents and videos.
Step 3. Preview and recover data
- Double-clicking a file will allow you to preview its content.
- Choose the file(s) and click Recover.
- To save the files, choose a different drive.
Video Tutorial of External Hard Drive Data Recovery
Part 2. Repair unallocated external hard drive
It’s easy to fix the external hard drive unallocated issue. You only need to create a new partition and set FAT32 or NTFS as the file system.
Below are two options that you can use to help.
# 1. [Automated] Repair unallocated external hard drive with partition manager freeware
By creating a new partition on the unallocated external hard drive with a compatible file system, users can store files on the device again.
Free partition manager software like EaseUS Partition Master Free supports to do so within 3 steps:
Step 1. Start EaseUS Partition Master. On the main window, right-click on the unallocated space on your hard drive or external storage device and select “Create”.
Step 2. Step 2. for the new partition and click “OK” to continue.
Step 3. Click on the “Execute Operation” button and create a new partition by clicking “Apply”.
Watch the following video tutotial and learn how to create a partition in NTFS, FAT, or EXT file system.
After this, you can save the previously restored data back to the external hard drive and even save more files on it again.
# 2. [Manual] Create a new partition on external hard drive with Disk Management
Another free method that you can try is to create a partition on the unallocated device by using Disk Management. Be careful while following steps here to fix the unallocated external hard drive issue:
- Step 1: Connect the unallocated external hard drive to PC, enter Disk Management.
- Right-click on This PC/My Computer > Manage > Disk Management.
- Step 2: Locate and right-click on the unallocated space of the external hard drive, select “New Simple Volume”.
- Step 3: Set partition size, drive letter and file system (NTFS), etc.
- Step 4: Click “Finish” to complete the process.
After this, you’ll be able to use the external hard drive to save and store important data again. The previously restored data can be transferred back to the external hard drive.
Tips to prevent external hard drive from becoming unallocated
Here are some practical tips that you can follow to prevent further unallocated errors from happening on your external hard drive and other storage devices:
- 1. Update external hard drive driver.
- 2. Repair file system error on external hard drive with CHKDSK or EaseUS partition manager software.
- 3. Run anti-virus software to clean up viruses in PC and external hard drive.
- 4. Use storage devices and unplug carefully from your PC.
