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

Please Insert a Disk into USB Drive - 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 11/10/8/7 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
• Your USB drive is not recognized by the computer
• Your device is inaccessible

These cases may result from hardware issues or physical damage on 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 USB Drive"

In most 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. Assign a New Drive Letter to the USB Drive

If the drive letter of your USB drive is conflicted with the drive letter of one of the partitions on your computer, you may receive the error prompt saying "Please insert a disk into a removable disk." If you are sure there is such a conflict, follow the steps below to manually assign a new drive letter to your USB drive.

Step 1. Log in as Administrator account in your system or any other account with administrative privileges.

Step 2. Press "Windows + X" and click "Disk Management".

Step 3. Right-click on your removable drive partition and select "Change Drive Letter and Paths" under Disk Management.

Step 4. Change the drive letter to any drive letter which has not been assigned to in windows.

Method 3. 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 4. 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 5. 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 11/10/8/7 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;

Method 6. Repair your USB Drive

Some manufacturers of USB drives provide exclusive repair tool for the device they produce. If there is such a repair tool available for your USB drive, you can download and run the utilities to check and repair the errors on your device. Some of the repair tools fix the errors by restoring your USB drive to factory settings, which means the data on your device will be erased. Thus, if there are important files on the problematic removable device, you are not recommended to try this method. Or you can try to recover data from the inaccessible hard drive and then repair it.

After applying the 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. Now follow the video guide and step-by-step guide to recover data from your inaccessible USB drive:

Step 1. Choose the flash drive to scan

Launch EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard and choose your flash drive where you lost important files. Click "Scan" to start.

Step 2. Check and preview flash drive data

After the scanning is finished, you can quickly locate a specific type of file by using the Filter feature as well as the Search.

• Filter: A quick way to your wanted files (Click "Filter" > Choose "Type/Time/Size" > Click Tree View on the left side).
• Search: e.g. File name/file extension.

Step 3. Restore flash drive data

After checking and finding lost flash drive files, select them and click "Recover" to restore. You shall save the found files to 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.

The Bottom Line

Honestly speaking, if one of the first three methods fails to fix "please insert a disk into USB drive", it's highly likely there are hardware damages on your USB drive, which cannot be fixed using any of the methods provided here. In such a case, you should send your device for manual repair.