My Surface Pro 11 will not recognize my external hard drive

Question

I have just started to set up my new Surface Pro 11. I removed all my personal files (6 GB) from my two old computers onto a (also new/up to date) 1 TB external hard drive. The Surface will not recognize the hard drive at all. It has worked normally on three other Windows 11 computers today. I am using the heavy-duty USB-C-to-USB-C cable that came with the hard drive. It makes the happy "I'm connected" noise when I plug it in, but 5 seconds later makes the "disconnected" noise. I have tried a hard reset. Device Manager recognizes it as a disk drive and shows it's working properly. It shows up under "Bluetooth & Devices --> Devices --> Other Devices", with a happy little green dot that shows it's connected, but all I can do there is remove it. It is not recognized by File Explorer to allow me to write to it. Any additional troubleshooting tips would be appreciated! If I can't get this to work with my drives, I have a $2000 paperweight. Thank you!

Answer 1

Hello CycleRae,

Welcome to Microsoft Community.

The Surface Pro 11's two Thunderbolt™ 4 ports normally support data transfer, but if the current 1TB external hard drive is not recognized, you need to consider whether the problem is coming from the external hard drive or from the Surface Pro 11. Or is this just a compatibility issue?

If you notice that you have tested your external hard drive on three other Windows 11 computers, it works fine, which proves that everything is fine with the 1TB external hard drive.

You may now want to test whether other USB devices have the same problem on the Surface Pro 11. Since the Surface Pro 11 is equipped with a USB-C port, you can test separately:

• USB devices that use the USB-C port directly.
• USB devices that require a USB-C adapter, and if necessary, try replacing another USB-C adapter. We do receive reports from other customers that third-party adapters are not compatible with Surface devices. Even if they did work, they don't seem to be compatible with the latest Surface firmware.

If you notice that USB devices that directly use USB-C as a port work directly, then this proves that the Surface Pro 11's USB-C port is not faulty. But if you see the same exception on devices connected with an adapter, it means the adapter may not be compatible with the Surface.

So, the solution is:

1. To purchase a USB-C adapter for Surface, you can confirm with the seller whether the new adapter is suitable for Surface Pro 11, or ask Microsoft's official superior sales expert for this question to confirm whether there are still available adapters in stock:

Microsoft Surface USB-C to USB Adapter | Microsoft USB Adapter - Microsoft Store ****

2. Purchase Surface Dock products designed for Surface:

Buy Microsoft Surface Dock 2 – Microsoft Surface

Buy Surface Thunderbolt™ 4 Dock (Ports, Compatibility, Price) - Microsoft Store

They are all designed for Surface with unparalleled compatibility.

Best Regards,

Mitchell | Microsoft Community Support Specialist

Answer 2

My USBc Samsung Portable SSSD T7 works fine plugged into my iphone but gives a device error on Surface11.

Connecting via a USB-C mini-hub unpowered, and connecting the SSD via USBa-USBc cable works fine.. but is unsighlty.

an alternative USBc USBc cable also worked in iphone but failed in surface11