Fix 'Please insert a disk into removable disk' Without Losing Data

Error Description

A removable disk, such as a USB flash drive, memory card or pen drive sometimes can't work on the Windows OS or Mac OS X, sending error messages that prevent users from utilizing the drive and accessing data. One of the common errors while using USB drive in Windows 10/8/7 is "Please insert a disk into removable disk G: (or any other drive letter)".

What Will Happen When "Please insert a disk into removable disk" Error Occurs

• Double-click on the USB drive letter and trying to open it, Windows prompts error "please insert a disk into removable disk".
• The USB drive shows 0 bytes used and 0 bytes available when checking its properties.
• The USB drive state is "No Media" in Disk Management.
• Can't format the USB drive as "Windows was unable to complete the format".

Causes

When you receive the notification "Please insert a disk into removable disk (drive letter)" while trying to open the device, it's probably because your removable device is not well connected, not recognized by the computer or is inaccessible. It could result from hardware issues or physical damage to the USB drive. If you are not sure about the specific cause of the error, we recommend you follow the solutions we provided below to have a try.

How to Fix "Please insert a disk into removable disk" 

In most of the cases, if you get the prompt "Please insert a disk into removable disk", you will see the USB drive shown as "no media" in Disk Management. That indicates physical errors of your device. To help you make your USB drive usable again, we detail all the possible ways to fix the issue "Please insert a disk into removable disk".

Method 1. Change the Connection of the USB Drive

Generally, you connect a USB to your computer via one of the front USB ports. Technically, there is no difference between the front and rear USB ports. However, since the front USB ports are connected to the motherboard via a cable while the rear USB ports are soldered to the motherboard directly, the rear USB ports are more stable compared to the front ones. Thus, connect your USB drive to your computer via the rear USB ports and check whether the problem still exists.

In addition to excluding the connection issue, you can also change the USB cable to have a check.

Method 2. Scan for Hardware Changes

The feature "Scan for hardware changes" is used to examine and the load the changes you made to your hardware. Execute this operation is also helpful to remove the error "Please insert a disk into removable disk (your USB drive)" in some cases.

Step 1. Go to "This PC" > "Manage" > "Device Manager".

Step 2. Find and right-click your USB drive, then choose "Scan for hardware changes".

Step 3. Check whether your disk works properly again.

Method 3. Update Driver

If you’ve got a problem with a device, you should consider upgrading the driver. Drivers are what make the interaction between your computer and a hardware device happen. To update drivers:

Step 1. Go to "This PC" > "Manage" > "Device Manager".

Step 2. Find and right-click your USB drive, then choose "Update".

Step 3. Check whether your disk works properly again.

Method 4. Repair the Drive by Formatting

Note: Formatting will erase all the files on your storage device. Be careful to perform the operation if you have important files on the USB drive.

You can also follow the steps below to format the hard drive and repair 'please insert a disk into removable disk' error in Windows 10/8/7 PC to have a try. Depending on the situation you are in, the effectiveness of this tip varies.

• Right-click This PC/My Computer > Manage > Disk Management;
• Right-click on the hard drive, USB/SD card etc > Format Volume > Reset File System (NTFS/FAT32 etc.) and rename the device;
• Click Finish to complete repairing devices with 'please insert a disk into removable disk' error;

After applying the four solutions above, you will probably encounter three kinds of situations:

• Your USB drive is shown properly in Disk Management and you can use it as usual.
• Your USB drive is not shown as "No Media" in Disk Management anymore. Instead, the USB drive is shown as "RAW" or the device can be recognized by Disk Management but is still inaccessible.
• Your USB drive state is "No Media" still.

If you are in the first situation, you can eliminate your worries now since you have solved the problem "Please insert a disk into removable disk" successfully. If you are in the second situation, you should feel relieved since your data can be rescued with third-party software, which is presented below. However, if you are in the third one, it's highly likely that your removable device has suffered from some physical damage. In that case, we heartily recommend you send your USB drive for manual repair.

How to Recover Data from Inaccessible USB Drive

It's possible that after you try the fixes for error "Please insert a disk into removable disk", you bring your disk "half" back to life. That means you haven't fixed it fully but it is far better than its original "No Media" state. If you check the USB drive in Disk Management and see the disk shown as RAW or something else that indicates your USB drive can be recognized, you can recover files from your inaccessible USB drive.

To recover data from USB drive that is RAW or inaccessible, you can use the advanced hard drive recovery software - EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard. It can:

• Recover deleted/formatted/lost data
• Recover files from RAW, inaccessible or virus infected devices, including local/external hard drive, USB, memory card, digital camera...
• Recover almost all file types

Besides, it's 100% secure, virus free, and plugin free. To recover data from your inaccessible USB drive:

Step 1. Plug the USB flash drive into your computer.

Please do not use your USB flash drive once you lose or delete files on it. The sooner you take actions to restore lost data, the bigger chance you'll have to restore all of them.

Step 2. Run EaseUS data recovery software and scan flash drive.

• Launch EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard and choose your flash drive under External Devices.
• Click Scan to start finding your flash drive files.

Step 3. Check and preview found flash drive data.

You can double click to preview found files.

• Delete Files: List your deleted files there.
• Drive: It loads all the found data there.
• Lost Partition Files: Check first if it's for formatted recovery.
• Extra Files: Finds files that lost names or paths.
• Filter: A quick way to your wanted files.
• Search: e.g. File name/file extension.

Step 4. Restore flash drive data.

• After checking and finding lost flash drive files, select them and click Recover to restore.
• Please save the found files into a safe location on your PC rather than to your flash drive.

After the data recovery, you can now switch to a new USB drive to send the device for manual service.