How to fix external hard drive is not showing files

ISSUE

I had a user who has an external Western Digital with USB FAT32 format that couldn’t show files anymore. These were not the system files but her music files and pictures. When I right-clicked the drive and checked the properties, it showed the content size was there but just couldn’t see and access them.

CAUSE

Since the content size was there, I was sure that the files are still in the hard drive, it must be hidden somehow. It could be the hidden mode is turned on.

SOLUTION

To enable the hidden mode, follow these instructions. We will need to use DOS command prompt and system administrator rights.

1. Click Start and Run
2. Type CMD in the search field
3. Type the following command and assume the external hard drive letter is F:

attrib -h -r -s /s /d f:\*.*

4.  Press the Enter key and check the content of the drive

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