Fix 'Please insert a disk into removable disk' without losing data

'Please insert a disk into removable disk (drive letter)' Error

Removable disk such as USB flash drive, memory card or pen drive sometimes can't work on Windows or Mac, sending error messages that prevent users from utilizing the drive and accessing data inside. 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".
• USB drive shows 0 bytes used and 0 bytes available when checking its properties.
• USB drive was assigned a different name under Disk drives in Device Manager.
• Can't format the USB drive as "Windows was unable to complete the format".

How to Fix "Please insert a disk into removable disk (drive letter)" 

Usually, trying to format the problematic USB flash drive doesn't help bypass "please insert a disk into removable disk". As a computer savvy indicates that this could happen due to the default behavior of Windows when you may have the same drive assigned to a network drive or other hardware drive that tries to occupy the drive's drive letter. Follow below steps to repair devices with 'Please insert a disk into removable disk' error in Windows PC without losing any data now:

Step 1. Change device drive letters of devices with 'Please insert a disk into removable disk' error

To fix "please insert a disk into removable disk" error on SD card or USB pen drive, follow the simple steps below.

Step 1. Open Disk Management by right-clicking in My Computer -> Manage -> Storage or just press Windows key + X and select Disk Management there.

Step 2. On the disk map, right-click on the removable drive partition and select Change Drive Letter and Paths.

Step 3. Change the drive letter to some other drive letter that has not been used, for example, X: or Z: etc.

Step 2. Recover Data from SD Card or USB Pen Drive with 'please insert a disk into removable disk' Error

Now go back to the USB drive with a new drive letter. Try to open the drive, and you should not see the "please insert a disk into removable disk" error. However, most of the time, your data within the USB drive disappeared. Don't  worry though, here's how you can find data back.

Step 1. Download and install EaseUS hard drive recovery software on your Windows computer. Launch it when installation finished.

Step 2. Select the USB drive that was previously stuck at "please insert a disk into removable disk" error, and click Scan.

Step 3. EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard will start a quick scan first. After the quick scan completes, a deep scan will automatically launch in order to find more files.

Step 4. Wait until the software finished scanning the USB flash drive and found all lost data there. Double-click on any file allows you to preview the file quality. Click Recover and save the files to another disk instead of the original USB flash drive.

Step 3. Repair disk with 'please insert a disk into removable disk' error by formatting

After restoring data from storage devices, you can follow to format them and repair 'please insert a disk into removable disk' error in Windows 10/8/7 PC now:

• 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;

By following the detailed guide about how to fix "Please insert a disk into removable disk" error in USB drive, pen drive and memory card & recover data, you can use the drive again without any hassle.