If you cannot access your drive or partition, and get 'drive not accessible, the disk structure is corrupted and unreadable' error message in Windows 10/8.1/7, relax. Here, we will show you how to fix he inaccessible drive and restore all your precious data with EaseUS data recovery software in simple steps.
"Try to access a 2-year-old WD MY BOOK ESSENTIAL, but failed with an error saying 'the disk structure is corrupted and unreadable.' What's the matter? This issue is very frustrating as all my important data is stored on this drive. Anyone can show me instructions on how to recover data when the disk structure is corrupted and unreadable?"
Don't worry if you encountered "The disk structure is corrupted and unreadable" error while trying to open a storage device on your PC. Follow the content navigation with presented fixes, you'll make your device accessible again without losing any data:
What is "the disk structure corrupted and unreadable" error? How to fix unreadable flash drives is one of the most universal hard disk corrupted problems that happen to external HDDs, memory cards, USB flash drives, and other storage devices.
With this error, users can't access the device nor open the saved files. Also, Windows will pop up a warning message, "Location is not available. Drive: \ is not accessible."
Why a hard drive, USB, or SD card suddenly becomes inaccessible? Generally, the error is caused by the following listed reasons:
The solutions to the disk management error may differ based on the diverse causes. Fortunately, the fixes are easy and you can address this error with the listed solutions in the next part.
Don't worry if you can't figure out how your USB, SD card, or external or internal hard drive becomes unreadable. Follow the fixes as listed here one by one to make the problematic drive work normally again:
Note that some methods for repairing hard disks may lead to data loss, especially Method 4 - formatting device, and if you lost data during the process, turn to reliable EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard as shown in Method 5 for help.
Applies to: Fix device with structure false due to improper ejection, connection, or power supply issue.
The first method you can try is reconnecting the device to your PC when the computer pops up with the error "the disk management is corrupted and unreadable".
Step 1. Unplug the USB, SD card, or external drive from the PC.
Step 2. Re-plug the device into your PC and check if it's accessible.
Step 3. If inaccessible, change a USB port or a new USB cable, and reconnect it to PC.
Step 4. Connect the device to another computer if Step 3 doesn't work.
After trying all the steps, congratulations if your USB, external hard drive, or SD card shows up and can be accessed. You may stop here and make use of your device and data again.
If these simple fixes don't help, it's likely caused by file system errors or by hardware corruption in rare cases. Don't worry. Following the methods below, you still have a high chance of recovering your data and making your device usable again.
Applies to: Repair hard disk, USB, SD card, or external hard drive corruptione issue caused by the invalid file system, RAW error, bad sectors, etc.
With an invalid file system, RAW error, or bad sectors on a storage device, you won't be able to access the device and its files.
You can either run CHKDSK in CMD or perform drive error checking and repair external hard drive. Both work exactly the same way.
Run CHDKSK to Fix Corrupted File System
Step 1. Click "Start" and type cmd in the Search box.
Step 2. Right-click "Command Prompt" and choose "Run as administrator".
Step 3. Type CHKDSK F: /f /r /x hit Enter.
(Replace F: with the drive letter of your corrupted or unreadable device. )
CHKDSK Alternative - Check Disk via Error Checking
Step 1. Go to "This PC". Right-click your drive and choose "Properties".
Step 2. Go to the "Tools" tab and click "Check" > "Scan drive".
The error-checking tool will automatically scan and fix corrupted files on the target device for you.
Applies to: Fix unreadable devices that were not detected or inaccessible due to outdated disk drives in Device Manager.
Sometimes, when the disk is not initialized or outdated, Windows PC may not detect it nor fail to display it in File Explorer. So the best way out is to update the disk management of your USB, SD card, or external storage devices.
Here are the steps that you can follow to update the device driver:
Step 1. Connect the malfunctioned drive to the PC.
Step 2. Right-click This PC and choose "Manage".
Step 3. Click "Device Manager", then expand Disk drives.
Step 4. Find and right-click the problematic USB drive and select "Update driver".
Step 5. Click "automatically search for driver software online".
Wait for the driver to be updated, then reboot your computer. Afterward, you can try to reconnect your problematic drive to your PC and check whether the folder is not accessible in the Device Manager.
This applies to: Fix the device's corrupt or unreadable issue due to an invalid file system, RAW error, or unsupported file system.
There is more than one way to format the disk in drive so as to make the problematic device readable again. Here, we'll show you the easiest one:
Step 1. Open "This PC".
Step 2. Right-click the disk management with the "structure is corrupted and unreadable" error message and choose "Format".
Step 3. Assign a file system to your drive and click "Start".
If you prefer to format the drive to ext2/3/4 or other file systems, the best formatting tool - EaseUS Partition Master could offer you a helping hand.
Fixes for External Hard Drive Not Formatted/Won't Format Error
TCommon external hard drive format errors include the external hard drive needs to be formatted and you cannot complete the format. Read more >>
Applies to: Recover lost files after fixing the disk if the structure is corrupted , restore data from an inaccessible device with ease.
You may try CHKDSK, update the disk driver, or format to fix the "the disk structure is unreadable" error on your USB, SD card, or external or internal hard drive. However, none of the above 4 methods can protect all the saved data on the malfunctioned device. In other words, data loss is possible.
Professional hard drive recovery software will help you recover data from an inaccessible drive, including a RAW drive.
Step 1. Select the drive where you lose your data and click "Search for Lost Data".
Step 2. Use "Filter" or "Search" to find the lost files when the scan completes.
Step 3. Select all the files you want and click "Recover". Then, browse another secure location to save them.
💡Tip: You can restore data on the local disks, external hard drives, and also the cloud storage.
After trying all the solutions mentioned above, the error "the disk structure is corrupted and unreadable" should have been addressed. And the valuable files will all be safely restored via EaseUS data recovery software.
Besides fixing this error, what matters more is protecting your device from this error. Here we've listed some tips for you to follow and safeguard your hard drives, USB, external hard drives, etc., from getting "USB drive not showing up", etc. errors:
There are many ways to check the health of a hard drive, including using the manufacturer's tools, CHKDSK and WMIC. Here, we will show you how to use WMIC to check your drive status:
Step 1. Click "Start" and type cmd.
Step 2. Right-click "Command Prompt" and choose "Run as administrator".
Step 3. Enter the following commands in order:
wmic
diskdrive get status
If your disk status is not so good, back up all data in advance and send it for repair immediately.
LEARN MORE
Still curious? Click here to learn about error 0x80070570.
This page explained how to fix the disk structure is corrupted and unreadable error, and the causes of this issue.
Although there are many potential causes of the error, many users found the main cause is file system errors, which can be perfectly fixed by formatting the device. To protect precious files existing on the hard drive, it's necessary to run EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard and then perform formatting.
Also the presented fixes can also be applied to fix similar issues:
Hope this guide is helpful to you.
Related Articles
Fix: The Volume Does Not Contain A Recognized File System in Windows 10/8/7
Memory Integrity Can't Be Turned On! How to Fix
Hard Drive Not Showing Up or Detected in Windows? Learn How to Fix
Discord RTC Connecting Stuck? Troubleshoot This Error Now (7 Ways)