Facing ‘Please insert a disk into USB drive' Error on Windows 10? Fixed!

You may have meet with this problem: insert your USB flash drive into Windows 10 computer, when you're trying to open this USB flash drive, Windows 10 pops up a note saying "Please insert a disk into USB drive". BUT IT HAS BEEN INSERTED! It seems like this problem is nonsense and has no solution. Actually, it's not. And this article is going to offer 5 solutions to fix it.

Why ‘Please insert a disk into USB drive' error occurs

Some main reasons for this issue:

Physically damaged USB drive or corrupted partition;

The USB drive is not compatible with the computer's operating system;

USB drive tries to get a drive letter that's already assigned or reserved.

So, instead of directly repairing the USB flash drive, it's better to test the USB flash drive on another computer and another operating system to see if the root is the USB flash drive, USB port or the incompatibility between USB drive and the OS.

How to fix ‘Please insert a disk into USB drive' on Windows 10

This part will represent 5 solutions to fix this problem on Windows 10.

Solution 1: Run USB repair tool - CHKDSK utility

Solution 2: Try hardware and devices troubleshooter

Solution 3: Fix USB drive using diskpart.exe

Solution 4: Update or reinstall USB drivers

Solution 5: Manually assign a new drive letter to the USB drive

Solution 1: Run USB repair tool - CHKDSK utility

CHKDSK utility is often used to fix corrupted USB drive.

Step 1: Open Command Prompt.

Press Win + X and select Command Prompt.

Step 2: Run CHKDSK utility.

In Command Prompt window, enter chkdsk Z: /f /x

Note: Replace "Z" with the drive letter of personal USB drive.

/f - will attempt to fix any errors on the disk

/x - will force the USB drive to be dismounted before initiating the scan

/r - will scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors

Solution 2: Try hardware and devices troubleshooter

Step 1: Open Troubleshooting in Control Panel.

Open Control Panel and click Troubleshooting.

Step 2: Select Configure a device under Hardware and Sound.

Step 3: Open Troubleshooting to detect problems.

After detecting, Troubleshooting may offer some fixes to address problems. Users can choose to apply the fix.

Solution 3: Fix USB drive using diskpart.exe

Step 1: Open diskpart.exe.

Type "diskpart" in the Run box and press Enter.

Step 2: Type the following commands in order:

diskpart
        list disk
        select disk x
        clean
        create partition primary
        active
        select partition x
        format fs = fat32
        

Note: Replace "Z" with the drive letter of personal USB drive.

Solution 4: Update or reinstall USB drivers

Windows 10 users should update and reinstall USB drivers with Device Manager.

Two ways to open Device Manager.

Way 1: Open This PC, click Manage in System tab under Computer.

Way 2: Press Win + X, select Device Manager.

1. Update USB drivers

Step 1: Open Device Manager, right-click the USB drive under Disk drives and select Update Driver Software Wizard.

Step 2: Wait for Update Driver Software Wizard to search for the latest update driver software.

After searching, select Update Driver.

2. Reinstall USB drivers

Step 1: In Device Manager, right-click the USB drive, and select Uninstall.

Step 2: Click OK >to confirm Device Uninstall.

Step 3: Restart computer and the USB drive will be reinstalled automatically.

Solution 5: Manually assign a new drive letter to the USB drive

Step 1: Open Disk Management.

Step 2: Right-click the removable disk and select New Simple Volume Wizard.

Step 3: Assign Drive Letter or Path and Format Partition.

Now the USB drive is successfully assigned as H.

How to recover deleted files after this error is fixed

These solutions may format the USB flash drive so files from the device will disappear.

In such a scenario, it's suggested to utilize some expert data recovery tools like iSumsoft Data Refixer to recover lost data and files.

Download: Data Refixer

Open this software. Select the USB flash drive and click Start to launch scanning process.

After scanning finished, check-select the files that need recovery and click Recover. Choose a proper path to save recovered files.

Bottom Line

There are three main reasons for ‘Please insert a disk into USB drive' error. And aiming to specific reasons, Windows 10 users could choose methods introduced beyond on follow the steps:

If the reason is USB drive is corrupted, then take advantage of CHKDSK utility on Windows 10 or try Troubleshooting hardware and devices, or format it with diskpart.exe on Windows 10.

If it's because of incompatibility between USB drive and computer's operating system, try to update or reinstall USB drives.

If it results from that USB tries to get an assigned or reserved drive letter, it's recommended to assign a new drive letter to USB drive.

After repairing, data from USB flash drive may be deleted because of formatting. In this case, give some expert data recovery tools like iSumsoft Data Refixer a shot.