How to Fix the GoPro Not Showing Up on PCs and Recover Data?

Why is my GoPro not showing up on my PC?

Following an extensive day of capturing moments with your GoPro device, you connect a GoPro to a computer and intend to transfer GoPro photos and videos to your computer. But after connection, you find your connected GoPro camera not showing up in Device Manager. That is to say, this GoPro camera cannot be recognized by your Windows OS.

In general, if the SD card/external hard drive access is denied, photographers and other users are not permitted to access their taken photos and videos on their GoPro cameras. Then these users are at risk of losing data.

So some anxious users raise questions:

Please be calm because there’s a set of solutions ready for you to put into action and fix your GoPro not showing up on PCs. But before that, we’ll go over the potential reasons why is my GoPro not showing up on my PC.

💢 Incorrect settings: Please ensure the GoPro settings have been adjusted to enable your computer to recognize it as a storage device because incorrect settings can lead to your PC failing to acknowledge the presence of your GoPro camera.

🧨 Faulty hardware: A faulty SD card reader, cable, or port is also responsible for GoPro not showing up on PCs.

📸 Outdated or damaged device drivers: In computing, hardware can automatically link up with your computer’s needed drives. If these computer drives missing, your PC may not be able to identify your connected GoPro.

💣 Corrupted file systems: Undoubtedly, damaged file systems can discourage users from accessing the data on their GoPro camera SD cards.

If you don’t want to solve this issue by formatting the SD card, why don’t you give the following fixes a chance?

Part 1. How to fix the GoPro not showing up on PCs?

So how to solve the connected GoPro not showing up on PCs? There are eight feasible ways for you and you can try the following fixes one by one if needed.

Fix 1. Try another USB port on your PC

“Why is my GoPro not showing up on my PC?” There might be something wrong with your connected USB port. When picking a reliable USB port, please directly connect it to your computer’s motherboard. For desktop computers, you can find these USB ports on the back panel.

Fix 2. Change another USB cable

Most of our gadgets rely on USB cables, but not all USB cables are created equal. The issue might actually lie with the USB cable, particularly if your GoPro is connected via USB but is not showing up consistently.

Cheaper cables, often made from subpar materials, tend to be less trustworthy and could be damaged on the inside. So you can use another USB cable to test it.

Fix 3. Check your GoPro camera SD card

Give that SD card a good look-over.

🚫 Please check if the plastic housing and connectors are damaged.

🔗 Ensure those connectors are not covered in a sneaky layer of dust or dirt that could mess up the connection.

💧 If your SD card had a run-in with water, give it time to fully dry out before using it once.

Fix 4. Try another working PC

If there’s nothing wrong with your GoPro camera SD card, USB port, and USB cables, it might be caused by your PC.

This is especially true if the GoPro camera can get charged but cannot show up on your PC because Antivirus software or security settings can prevent your GoPro camera from being read. So you’d better connect your GoPro camera to another working PC to check it.

Fix 5. Check your Windows updates

If your GoPro not showing up on PCs, it may be related to an outdated Windows update version because newly released Windows update files can automatically address issues and keep your essential hardware drivers up-to-date. Please refer to the following steps to check your Windows updates.

Step 1. Press Win + I to open Windows Settings > click Update & Security.

Step 2. Click Check for updates to confirm if there are available update files.

Fix 6. Update the GoPro camera SD card device driver

Device drivers enable your hardware to communicate with others. Without drivers, your Windows OS definitely cannot recognize your SD card and refuse to open any of the media on it.

In this case, an outdated GoPro camera SD card device driver is also one of the possible reasons for the GoPro not showing up on PCs. Let’s show how it works by updating its device driver.

Step 1. Connect your GoPro camera SD card to the Windows PC> press Win + X and select Device Manager to open this Windows built-in tool.

Step 2. Expand Disk Drives > right-click on your outdated GoPro camera SD card > select Update driver.

Step 3. Click Search automatically for drivers. Please wait patiently.

Fix 7. Check the connection mode on the GoPro camera

Please don’t expect your GoPro camera can automatically connect to your computer as a storage device. Meanwhile, ensure you’ve chosen the right connection mode if you’re eager to access your data. Let’s take the GoPro HERO8 black as an example.

» Swipe down on your GoPro > click Preferences > Connections > USB Connection > select MTP > connect your USB and test.

Fix 8. Run the Hardware and Devices troubleshooter

If your GoPro device driver is up-to-date and your hardware is working normally, your last resort is to use the Windows troubleshooter.

As the name implies, this Windows built-in tool is designed to tackle specific problems.

» Press Win + I to open Windows Settings > click Update and Security > Troubleshoot > Hardware and Devices > Run the troubleshooter.

After that, please wait patiently.

Part 2. How to recover deleted GoPro videos & photos from SD cards?

If you’ve accidentally deleted photos/videos from your GoPro camera, you cannot find them on its SD card because SD cards do not provide a temporary storage place to save these accidentally or recently deleted items.

In other words, these removed GoPro camera photos/videos have become permanently deleted files. To recover deleted GoPro camera photos and videos, you’re recommended to download and install a trustworthy SD card data recovery tool.

MyRecover stands out among data recovery software because of its advanced scanning method and high recovery rate. Supported by AOMEI Tech, MyRecover is designed to recover deleted and missing images and videos from SD cards.

💚 MyRecover can support SanDisk, Lexar, PNY, Samsung, Gigastone, and Kingston brands of SD cards that are commonly utilized in the newly released GoPro camera HERO10/HERO11 Black.

💚 For images, the GPR (GoPro RAW Image) file format is unique to GoPro cameras. For videos, GoPro cameras usually create MP4 and MOV file format videos.

💚 MyRecover can recover Nikon NEF images, Olympus ORF images, Fujifilm RAF images, Sigma X3F & DNG images, etc.

Step 1. Connect your GoPro camera SD card to the Windows > launch MyRecover > hover the mouse over your connected SD card > click Scan.

Step 2. After clicking Start Scan, MyRecover can automatically run Quick Scan and Deep Scan to detect all the recoverable images and videos on your chosen SD card.

During scanning, you can filter/preview your desired files according to Filename, Document Type, Path, Size, Date, etc.

• Name: Enter the filename of your wanted SD card files to narrow the search area.
• Date modified: Set the date (today, yesterday, last 7/30 days, etc.)
• Size: Filter file size (<128KB, 128KB~1MB, 1MB~512MB, etc.)

Step 3. Go to the Other Missing Files folder, and select the images and videos you want. Then click Recover x files.

• After SD card data recovery, please save your retrieved files in another drive instead of the original GoPro camera SD card.
• Please consider upgrading MyRecover if you want to recover a large number of deleted and missing files from SD cards.

Wrapping up

“Why is my GoPro not showing up on my PC?” How to fix the GoPro not showing up on PCs? How to recover deleted GoPro videos from SD cards? After reading this article, you may find the corresponding answer.

To prevent data loss at the source, please develop a good habit of making backups regularly via AOMEI Backupper Standard because this free Windows backup software offers richer backup features and more friendly operating steps than Windows backup features.