Hard Drive Appears Empty But Isn't? Fix It Now!

Why does my hard drive say it’s empty?

Hard disks showing empty but space occupied can be caused by diverse reasons. The following are the possible reasons:

✦ Hard drive files are hidden- Files or folders are hidden, causing data not to be displayed.
✦ Hard disk file system error- A file system logical error causes files to be inaccessible, but still remains on the hard drive.
✦ Hard drive is attacked by virus/malware - Viruses or malware delete or hide hard drive files, causing data to disappear but still taking up storage space.
✦ Hard drive is corrupted- Improper plugging and unplugging operations or other reasons cause the hard drive to become corrupted and files not be displayed correctly.

Luckily, many ways can help you to get back hidden files, retrieve files from viruses, or recover corrupted hard drive. You can check the following chart to go straight to the recommended methods quickly:

Hard drive appears empty but isn't - 7 useful fixes

Although there are different reasons why a hard drive may appear empty, it does not mean that the missing files cannot be recovered. Next, we will show 7 credible and effective methods to fix hard disk empty but full. Read on and find the solution that works for you.

▶ Method 1. Reconnect your hard drive

If you are using an external hard drive(i.e. USB external drive) and findyour files are not showing up but they are still taking up space, it may result from an incorrect connection. You can safely remove the external hard drivefirst and try to plug it into your computer again.

• If you only have one computer available at hand, please try another port.
• Connecting your USB to another computer is another way to check if the “hard drive empty but shows full or occupied" problem persists.

▶ Method 2. Show hidden files from File Explorer

If there is no problem with the hard drive connection, hidden files may be the culprit of "my hard drive shows empty but it's not". Mistaken operations and virus invasion both easily bring about hard drive data being hidden. Thankfully, you can recover hidden files by following the simple guidelines below.

Step 1. Ensure your hard drive is recognizable by your PC. Then, press the Windows + E keys to launch Windows File Explorer.

Step 2. Click on the View wizard on the top, tap Options, and go to the View tab.

Step 3. Tick the box next to Show hidden files, folders, and drives and click Apply > OK.

▶ Method 3. Recover hidden files using CMD

You could also recover data from hard drive using Command Prompt, which allows you to recover hidden files as well as deleted files. By executing the ATTRIB command, you can modify the hidden attribute of a file/folder to make it visible.

Step 1. Click Start and search for "Command Prompt". Select the Run as administrator option from the search result.

Step 2. Type “attrib -H -R -S /S /D G:\*.*” and press Enter to show hidden files on the G: drive. You can replace the drive letter G: with the one that you want to recover stored files on.

▶ Method 4. Run anti-virus software

In addition, virus infection is a common cause behind the “hard drive appears empty but isn't” issue. We strongly recommend you run antivirus software to check and remove the virus first. Directly use Windows Defender if you don't want to download any software.

Step 1. Press "Win + I" to openWindows Settings. Then, click Update & Security >Windows Security and select Virus & threat protection.

Step 2. Click Scan options.

Step 3. Select Microsoft Defender Offline scan to thoroughly scan your drive forviruses. Then, click Scan now to proceed.

▶ Method 5. Recover deleted or lost data on hard drive using software

If none of the above methods succeeds in fixing the “hard drive empty but shows used space” problem, your data is most likely deleted. Don't worry, using a simple and professional file recovery software - AOMEI FastRecovery you can easily recover deleted and lost data on hard drive, SSD, external disk, USB drive, etc.

Now, download MyReciver to get started.

Step 1. Run AOMEI FastRecovery and hover the mouse over the hard drive that lost data to click Scan.

Step 2. It will automatically run Quick Scan and Deep Scan to find all recoverable data. You can click Filter to select a specific file type or search for the file name in the search box to locate files quickly. Once found, preview files to confirm them.

Step 3. Select the items that you want and click Recover x files. Please select a new location to save the deleted or missing files as restoring to original location may cause data overwritting.

▶ Method 6. Check hard drive for errors

Also, the "internal/external hard drive appears empty but not" problem may be due to a logical error. If the hard drive has file system errors, your files may be inaccessible.

In this case, you can use the Windows native Error-checking tool, which can automatically check and repair file system errors, and recover lost data.

Step 1. Open This PC or My Computer, and right-click your hard drive.

Step 2. Choose Properties and head to the Tool section. Then, click on the Check button under Error checking.

Step 3. Then, click Scan drive to begin the scanning process.

▶ Method 7. Run Hardware and Device Troubleshooter

Sometimes, running the Hardware and Devices troubleshooter can help you identify and fix device problems on your computer when the device isn't working properly like external hard drive showing empty but isn’t. However, this tool seems to be deprecated from Windows 11/10,only available for Windows 7/8 users.

Here are steps on how to solve the “folder shows empty but files are there”issue with the troubleshooter.

Step 1. Click Start > Update & Security> Troubleshoot in turn.

Step 2. Tap Hardware and Devices and click on Run the troubleshooter to detect problems on your hard drive.

Summary

On this page, we collected 7 ways to help you fix the "hard drive appears empty but isn't" problem. You can try them one by one until the files are displayed properly. The possible reasons may be hidden, virus-infected, or deleted.

It's worth noting any operation after data loss (especially for deleted) may result in permanently deleted files. In this case, the most effective method is using powerful data recovery software. AOMEI FastRecovery will be a good choice due to its clear interface, top algorithms, rich features, strong compatibility, etc.