Question How to get USB key to be recognized again

[hw_user]

I wanted to copy a video file from my Android phone to a USB key (128G NTFS). I connected my phone to my WIN 11 laptop and used Windows File Explorer to copy the video file from my phone to a USB key (128G NTFS). The copy was successful. The video on the USB key played successfully on an Android TV box. I wanted to add another file from my laptop to the USB key. But Win 11 could not recognize the key. It is not showing up on File Explorer. It is not even showing using Diskpart. I thought the USB key must have a hardware failure. But I can still use the key when I plug it into the phone (i.e., I can play the video and list all the files on it using Android File Manager on the phone). The USB key is still OK. How can I make the key usable again by Windows 11?

 

[CountMike]

I wanted to copy a video file from my Android phone to a USB key (128G NTFS). I connected my phone to my WIN 11 laptop and used Windows File Explorer to copy the video file from my phone to a USB key (128G NTFS). The copy was successful. The video on the USB key played successfully on an Android TV box. I wanted to add another file from my laptop to the USB key. But Win 11 could not recognize the key. It is not showing up on File Explorer. It is not even showing using Diskpart. I thought the USB key must have a hardware failure. But I can still use the key when I plug it into the phone (i.e., I can play the video and list all the files on it using Android File Manager on the phone). The USB key is still OK. How can I make the key usable again by Windows 11?

Android uses different file system format than Windows.
Because Android is a Linux based operating system it uses the Linux default file systems. EXT4 usually, but it also supports EXT3. Before Android 2.3 it used the YAFFS2 file system which was specifically designed for NAND flash storage

 

[Moonstick2]

Except here the OP used Win 11 to transfer the file from the phone onto the NTFS USB drive, so the file system shouldn't be an issue.

It's possible that the Android TV did something odd to the USB drive. Or in the past I've had issues with Windows failing to recognise removable media that it once recognised fine just because in the interim the media had been plugged into something else.

@hw_user, did the TV ask about doing anything to the drive when you installed it? Can you try the drive in another computer? I would also try the drive in a different USB port, and especially if you're using an external hub try a port direct on the laptop.

 

[hw_user]

Other USB key works fine on my WIN 11 laptop. I plug the USB key into another WIN 11 laptop. The same problem. I can use the USB key on both my phone and my wife's phone (all Android). No , there was nothing asked to be done on the USB key. I just plugged the key in and used VLC to play the video.

 

[dwd999]

With some Android phones its safest to let the phone format the usb in whatever format the phone prefers. Some Android phones may even prefer the FAT32 format.