Solved: D Drive is not Accessible Access is Denied on Windows 10

Meet D drive is not accessible access is denied on Windows 10? Scroll down to get 4 effective solutions with step-by-step guides.

Kelsey

By Kelsey / Updated on April 2, 2024

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Error- D: is not accessible. Access is denied

 

All of a sudden, my local D drive gives me an error when I try to open it: D:\ is not accessible. Access is denied. I have some important files on the drive. How can I fix D drive is not accessible access is denied on Windows 10?

D Drive Is Not Accessible Access Is Denied

Sometimes, when you try to open a local disk or external hard drive, the “drive is not accessible access is denied” message might pop up and prevent you from accessing your files. Here, you can check the reasons that might cause this issue and learn some solutions to fix it.

Why is my hard drive access denied?

If you encounter D drive not accessible access denied on Windows 10, as well as other similar errors such as F is not accessible access is denied, external hard drive is not accessible access is denied on Windows 10, the reasons for this may be the following:

  • The hard drive file system is corrupted.
  • The hard drive becomes RAW or has bad sectors.
  • Your disk is infected with viruses.
  • You do not have permission to access this disk.

How to fix D drive is not accessible access is denied on Windows 10

How do I fix drive D is not accessible? We offer you 4 simple and effective fixes. You can try the methods one by one to solve the D drive access denied on Windows 10 problem.

🖥 Get permission for inaccessible drive No permission to hard drives is the main reason for no access.
🛠 Run CHKDSK to repair disk errors Detect and repair errors on hard disks.
Reassign a drive letter to disk It is effective for drive missing issues.
💾 Format your hard drive Formatting can solve existing hard drive issues.

Method 1. Get permission for inaccessible drive

No permission to hard drives is the main reason why the D drive is not accessible on Windows. To get permission to the partition, you should review the following steps:

Step 1. Right-click the D drive in File Explorer and click Properties. On the pop-up screen, select the Security tab, and click Advanced.

Step 2. Hit the Change option next to the owner label.

Advanced Security Settings Change

Step 3. Then, input your user account in the Enter the object name to select filed, and click Check Names > OK.

Everyone Check Names

Step 4. After that, right-click the D drive again, and choose Properties > Security > Edit.

Security Edit

Step 5. Select your user account under Group or user names, and set the permission to Full control to click Apply.

Ful Control Apply

Method 2. Run CHKDSK to repair disk errors

If “drive D is not accessible access is denied on Windows 10” is caused by file system errors or bad sectors, you can use the CHKDSK command to detect and fix it.

CHKDSK, short for "check disk", is a system utility that can be run in Command Prompt to analyze hard drive errors and repair or recover corrupted hard drive data automatically. How to solve “access to D drive denied” using the CHKDSK command line? You can proceed with the following guide.

Step 1. Type “cmd” in the Windows search box, and choose Run as administrator.

Run As Administrator

Step 2. Input chkdsk d: /f or chkdsk d: /r (here D is the drive letter, and /f and /r are repairment parameters), and click Enter.

Start The Scanning Process

The repair process may take some time, depending on the severity of the damage and the size of the disk capacity. After repair, you can see if the disk can be accessed successfully.

Method 3. Reassign a drive letter to inaccessible disk

You can also have a try at modifying the drive letter to resolve “D drive not accessible access denied on Windows 10”. This can also be helpful in fixing D drive not working, computer drive missing, and other issues.

Step 1. Press WIN + X on the keyboard at the same time, and choose Disk management.

Step 2. Locate the target hard disk, right-click it, and select Change Drive Letter and Paths.

Change Drive Lette And Path

Step 3. Click Add and select Assign the following drive letter. Then, pick a new drive letter for your inaccessible hard disk, and click OK.

Assign The Following Drive Letter

Method 4. Format your hard drive

Formatting a hard drive can help delete harmful files, fix existing errors, and improve performance. But it cleans up all data on the disk as well. Therefore, in the next chapter, we will elaborate on how to recover data from formatted hard drive as well.

Now, let’s have a look at how to format a hard drive.

Step 1. Right-click D drive in File Explorer, and click Format.

Format In File Explorer

Step 2. If you don’t want to change the file system, allocation unit size, or volume label, leave them to their defaults, and hit Start > OK.

Start Format D Drive

How to recover data from formatted hard drive free

If you solve “D drive is not accessible access is denied on Windows 10” by formatting, you may have lost all your data. If you want to retrieve the formatted data, you can rely on MyRecover, a professional Windows data recovery tool.

This easy-to-use recovery software can help you recover data in various situations such as disk format, unintentional deletions, virus attacks, Windows crashes, and so on. It can also recover data from emptied Recycle Bin. It is significant that it supports the recovery of documents, images, videos, archive files, and more than 200 types of data.

The simple steps to recover formatted hard drive files are as follows:

Step 1. Download and run the MyRecover software on your computer, hover the mouse over the formatted partition, and then click Scan.

Download Software Windows 11/10/8/7/Server
Secure Download

Select The Formatted Partition To Scan

Note: MyRecover supports recovering files from computer local disks and external hard drives. If you want to recover files from external hard drive, please connect it to the computer beforehand.

Step 2. The tool will run Quick Scan and Deep Scan to find all lost files on the disk. You can preview files during the scanning and use Filter or File/Folder Search to find the items you need quickly.

Scanning External Hard Drive

Step 3. Tick the wanted files and folders, and click Recover XX files to recover data to the specified path.

Select Files To Recover From Formatted Partition

Conclusion

“D drive is not accessible access is denied on Windows 10” is an annoying problem that prevents us from reading data stored on it. But you can use the useful methods above to fix it. If you have to format your disk to make it accessible, you can use MyRecover to restore the formatted data in three simple steps. Download it now and experience it for yourself!

Kelsey
Kelsey · Editor
Kelsey is an English editor of AOMEI Technology. She is passionate about helping people find effective ways to deal with all problems in computer. She has great insights into data backup and recovery, disk partition and clone, and other data protection measures. She likes learn computer skills to improve herself and enjoy quality time with family and friends.