[Solved] How to Fix Network Drive Not Showing Up (2023)

So you were ready to share your data but couldn't find your drive on the device? Don't be upset. Most Microsoft software including UAS and file explorer often causes problems showing up on the drive just because of the security of the device. If you lost your hard drive location, don't worry. In the content below, we got our hands on the easiest ways to solve this problem.

It is totally unreasonable not to be able to find your drive after mapping it to another computer to share data. The network drive often does not show up when you save your data to another computer by connecting the drive. This guide will help you solve this problem with the simplest possible solutions.

Part 1: Causes and Symptoms of Network Drives Not Showing Up

1.What is causing the mapped drive not to appear?

One of the main reasons for the network drive not showing up is the use of UAC (User Account Control). Whenever you log in as an administrator in any window, two options are available on the screen.

One admin has rights, the other has no rights. So if you connect another device to your computer to save the data on it, in this case you map the drive programmatically. But those users who map the drive without administrator rights find the problem that the network drive does not connect to the desired device.

Another reason is responsible for the shared network drive not showing up when using File Explorer. Whenever a user maps a drive with File Explorer, network locations locate the branch. All legal rights of use are included in this case. But when you map a drive as an administrator, not all standard rights are shared.

This will not show the mapped network drive on the drive. It doesn't matter whether it was created with admin rights or not.

2.Symptoms of network drive not showing up

Most of the users face the inconvenience that the network drive does not show up when they share the data or save it to another device. Among the significant symptoms of this problem is the disappearance of the drive from the mapped location. In addition, the network drive is not displayed in Windows Explorer and XYplorer.

Network usage will automatically show that your drive is mapped on the device, but you won't see it in the folders. The issue of network drives not showing up also occurs in several other applications such as Primavera P6 Enterprise Project Portfolio.

They also solve the network drive not showing up when generating the PDF files from the related software on Windows. Additionally, Windows 7 supports this issue even when User Account Control is enabled.

Part 2: Fix network drive not showing up in File Explorer

Most Microsoft users can benefit from file authorization notifications when using the disk applications. This action is performed to protect the device from malicious programs running in the background. For this protection mechanism, Microsoft uses the user account control, which prohibits viewing the drive.

It doesn't matter, even if you use standard user rights to run the drive utility, UAC won't allow the drive to be viewed. In addition, if the mapped drive does not appear in the application, the system will not be supported.

To solve this problem, you can follow the steps below.

Step 1Click the "Start" button and type "regedit" in the file field. Press Enter to open the Registry Editor program.

step 2Examine the given address: llHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System

After approaching the above address, create a new "DWORD Value". To create the DWORD value, right-click and select the key.

step 3Rename the entered value to EnableLinkedConnections and right click to change the entered value to 1. This action allows you to enable the Administrator Approval Mode user form and all other User Account Controls (UAC).

step 4Click "OK" to save the new value in the file box. Also, exit the "Registry Editor" and restart your device.

Method 1: Configure network proxy settings

Step 1. To open "Settings", press "Windows+I" and select "Network and Internet".

Step 2. In the Status, click "Change Adapter Options".

Step 3. Right click on the Ethernet and click on the "Properties" button.

Step 4.Click on “Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/Pv4). You can find this option under the Network tab. In the next step go to "Properties". A pop-up window will appear on your screen Make sure you click both Obtain an IP address automatically and Obtain DNS server address automatically.

Method 2: Enable SMB features

• Step 1. After finding the search box, type "Programs and Features".

• Step 2. Go to Turn Windows features on or off on the left side of the window. A mini window will appear on your screen with all the functions on it.

• Step 3. Explore all SMB features and click "OK".

• Step 4. Restart your computer to activate the changes you made.

Part 3: Fix Network Drive Not Showing All Files/Folders

If your drive is not showing up in all files/folders, the most likely reason for this insecurity is that all your folders are hidden on the NAS drives. This includes the mapped drive and the network drive.

Here are the solutions to make network drive work on Windows 10, 8 and 7 respectively.

For Windows 10 and 8

Open File Explorer, click the "View" tab and select the "Hidden Items".

For Windows7

1. Open File Explorer. Go to the "Organize" tab. Select the "Folder and Search Options" option. Click on "Show". Now select "Hidden files and folders".

2. Select "Show hidden files, folders and drives". Now click on OK".

Part 4: The Perfect Tool: Recover Hidden Files for Hidden Network Drives

If any of the above techniques don't work, the last remaining option is to format all your data on the hard drive. You can get rid of the problems that cause your hard drive not showing up on screen. But wait, you will immediately think of recovering your data after formatting. Don't worry; We've got you covered here too.

There are many fantastic software that can help you recover all lost data instantly without any extra effort.Tenorshare 4DDiGis also included in the exciting list of such software. This software is 100% recommended for those who are always looking for a strong backup plan to recover their data.

Choosing Tenorshare 4DDiG will be your best decision as it comes with some of the top-notch features. Explore some of them as follows.

• It can recover data from laptop/PC, any external drive, USB and flash drive.
• You can recover 1000+ files including photos, videos and documents.
• This software recovers the files lost due to formatting, lost partition, corruption or due to crashed drive.
• It runs on Windows 10/8.1/8/7.

Recovering your data with Tenorshare 4DDiG is relatively easy. Follow the given steps to recover data lost from missing hard drive.

Let's take a look at the steps of Tenorshare 4DDiG

Install Tenorshare 4DDiG on your computer and launch the program. If you can't find your device, you can follow the on-screen wizard to have the drive recognized by 4DDiG, or simply select "Lost Location". After that, you can choose it to scan.

Now 4DDiG will start scanning the drive to find the lost data. After scanning, you can switch from tree view to file view to find lost data.

Now you can preview and select the items you want to recover and click "Recover". to save them in another location.

Part 5: Frequently asked questions about network drive not showing up issue.

How do I get my network drive displayed?

If you want your drive to show up in Windows:

• 1. Click Open Windows Explorer or any file explorer on your PC.
• 2. Select the "This PC" option on your computer if you are using Windows 10.
• 3. For Windows 7, select the "Computer" option.
• 4. When you are done with the above step, click on the "Map Network Drive" command.
• 5. Select any drive letter from the drives folder.
• 6. Select the path of the folder in the folder field and browse the location of the desired drive folder.
• 7. Reconnect using the login panel when you log out of your PC. Click Finish to complete the process.

Why isn't my mapped network drive showing up in network locations?

The main reason why your mapped network drive is not showing up in network locations is that UAC mostly prohibits the mapped network drive from showing up on the screen. In addition, File Explorer has problems displaying the mapped network drive even when using standard rights.

Why doesn't the mapped network drive show all folders?

The main reason for mapped network drives not showing up in all folders is that all folders on the NAS and other drives are hidden.

Why is the Windows 10 network drive not showing up?

The main reason for mapped network drives not showing up in all folders is that all folders on the NAS and other drives are hidden.

Why doesn't the network drive connect?

In Windows 10, User Account Control (UAC) prevents the drive from being seen to protect the device from malicious programs.

Conclusion

We have covered all possible methods to solve the network drive not showing up issue. This uncertainty prevents you from sharing and storing the data on other devices. File Explorer and User Account Control are the major reasons behind enabling this issue on most devices including Windows and Mac.

Besides, you don't have to worry about data loss after formatting hard drive data as we have named one of the best recovery softwareTenorshare 4DDiG. You can use it and recover what you lost while solving the problem.

Read the entire guide above and get the best solution according to your convenience and the type of device you have.