Your virtual disk has disappeared after updating to Windows 11: why it happens and how to recover it

If after updating your equipment you are left with a poker face because your virtual disk or drive D: has disappearedYou're not alone. It's a recurring issue some users experience after installing Windows 11 (and Windows 10, too), whether after a major update, a system reformat, or a simple reboot that coincided with pending patches.

The good news is that in most cases the source is identified and recovery is possible without losing data if you act methodically. Below you'll see real causes reported by the community and support technicians, typical symptoms (including units that appear for a few minutes and then disappear), and a set of solutions ordered from least to most invasive. Let's learn about Your virtual disk has disappeared after updating to Windows 11. 

Why your hard drive might disappear after updating to Windows 11

An update can "move pieces around" and cause changes to drive letters, drivers, or services. Common causes include: take note of these:

• Drive letter conflict: The installer or system assigns the DVD/virtual drive the same letter as your disc (e.g., D:), and your partition stops showing in Explorer. The solution is usually to reassign the letter.
• Lost drive letter: After the update, a valid partition is left without a letter and appears as hidden in Disk Management.
• Outdated or incompatible storage drivers: After updating, the disk driver does not load properly and the drive does not mount; update or reinstall driver reverses the problem.
• Corrupted/RAW File System: The partition is still there but Windows marks it as RAW due to corruption; in this case, Do not format before attempting data recovery.
• Recovery partition mounted by mistake: Update may mount a hidden recovery partition; It looks like an “empty” disk that you didn't have.
• Virtual disks or network drives: OneDrive (Files On-Demand), Google Drive, VMware/VirtualBox or encryption tools (VeraCrypt) mount virtual volumes which, after the update, change font or are displayed as new disks.
• Storage Spaces: Group reconfigurations can be leave volumes unassembled until checking the corresponding control panel.
• Bad connection or problematic USB: Intermittent failure of cables or ports causes the disk to appear for a few minutes and disappear after.
• Windows “Reserved Storage” – Although it may consume 7–10 GB, does not explain by itself a supposed “1 TB disk” newly visible; be careful not to confuse it with other units.
• Residual entries in the log: rare cases where old metadata from records cause misidentification.

An important nuance: if you see an “empty 1 TB disk” that you have never seen before, remember that a nominal 1 TB It shows as ~931 GB in Windows. This helps identify whether what you're seeing is a real disk or a virtual/recovery volume.

Signs and initial diagnosis: what to look for before touching anything

Before applying changes, it's a good idea to locate the problem with reliable steps. The first place to go is Disk management (Win+X > Disk Management):

• Check if the drive is listed as “Unallocated,” “Offline,” “RAW,” or with the wrong drive letter. This greatly limits the diagnosis..
• Check for unallocated space or “healthy” partitions without a letter. Sometimes it’s just missing assign the letter.
• Check if there is a recovery volume mounted by mistake with a visible letter; can be confused with an empty disk.

Also check the Device administrator: Expand “Disk Drives” to see if your hardware is listed and if there are any warning icons. If there is no sign of the drive there, consider physical connections or BIOS/UEFI.

If the computer is a laptop with multiple internal drives, or a desktop with bays, identify if the problematic drive is visible in the BIOS/UEFI (F2/Del key at boot)If it doesn't appear in the storage tab, the issue may be with the hardware or connection, not Windows.

Finally, ask yourself if you use OneDrive/Google Drive, virtual machines, or encryption: virtual or software-mounted volumes They can change their behavior after an update and “step on” drive letters.

Essential Windows Solutions (from Simplest to Most Effective)

1) Rescan disks in Computer Management

A rescan forces Windows to detect the volumes again. Go to Disk Management and, from the menu, select Action > Rescan disksIf the unit reappears, you know it was a temporary detection issue.

2) Reassign (or correct) the drive letter

When the disk is visible in Disk Management but not in Explorer, it is often the letter is missingRight-click the partition and choose “Change Letter and Paths” > “Add” (or “Change”) and assign a free letter.

If the conflict is caused by a DVD or virtual drive that has taken over the letter D:, change the letter on the DVD (for example, to Z:) and returns D: to your data partition.

3) Update or reinstall the disk driver

Open Device Manager and under “Disk Drives” try Update Driver automatically. If nothing is found, uninstall the device and restart so Windows can reinstall it. You can also go to the PC or storage driver manufacturer's website to install the latest version.

4) Run the hardware and devices troubleshooter

From the Control Panel, search for “Troubleshooting” and open “View all”. Launch “Hardware and Devices"And the wizard continues. It doesn't work miracles, but it detects basic conflicts that prevent the drive from mounting.

5) Check the physical connection and ports

On desktops and USB drives, change the port or cable. Poor contact causes intermittent disappearances (typical case: the drive appears at startup and disappears after a few minutes). If possible, try the drive on another computer.

6) Check if the disk is RAW or unallocated

If the partition is listed as RAW or appears as unallocated space, stop and prioritize data recoveryDon't format yet: Below you'll see safe options to recover first and format later.

7) Disconnect network drives and close cloud apps

In “This PC”, right-click on a blank space and choose “Disconnect network drive” to release old mappings that may be occupying the D: drive. Sign out of OneDrive/Google Drive and sign back in; temporarily disable “Files On-Demand” features to check if a virtual cloud disk is entering into conflict.

8) Review virtual machines and encryption

If you're using VMware/VirtualBox, check that you don't have a VMDK/VDI mounted with a "stolen" drive letter. Using encryption tools (e.g., VeraCrypt), check for mounted hidden volumes. Take down those volumes and check if your original drive reappears.

Advanced Settings and Scenarios: Storage Spaces, BIOS, and Cleanup

9) Check Storage Spaces

Go to Control Panel > Storage Spaces and confirm if there are any groups or volumes with issues. After an update, a group may be degraded or put on hold and the volume is not mounted until alerts are resolved.

10) BIOS/UEFI: Is the disk detected?

Reboot and enter BIOS/UEFI (F2 or Del). In the storage section, check if your drive appears. If not, suspect hardware, cables, bay or power supplyOn laptops, it could be a second internal SSD/HDD that's disconnected or failing. If you'd like to learn more about BIOS/UEFI, we recommend opening this guide: What to do if Windows 11 doesn't recognize the disk in UEFI mode

11) Interference from external devices

Disconnect hubs, card readers, docks, and USB ports. Sometimes a peripheral creates volumes that mount with lowercase letters. cover D: and mess up the detection. Restart with the minimum and try again.

12) Hide a ghost volume (if confirmed not to be a real disk)

If after checking you deduce that the “new empty disk” is a virtual or recovery volume mounted in error, you can hide it by removing its letter in Disk Management. This way you avoid confusion until the underlying cause is resolved.

To clean up assignments with DiskPart (only if you know what you're doing), you can use these commands, which remove the letter from a specific volume without deleting data:

diskpart
list volume
select volume X   (X es el número del volumen problemático)
remove letter=Y   (Y es la letra que quieres retirar)
exit

13) Restore system to a previous point

If you create restore points, it's a quick lifesaver. Search for "System Restore," go to "System Properties" > "System protection” > “System Restore,” choose a point before the update, and run the wizard. Your PC will restart during the process; don't interrupt it.

14) Uninstall a problematic update

If you've isolated the problem to a specific patch (for example, a recent KB), you can temporarily uninstall it to see if the unit returns. Some reports cite the KB "KB5051989" as an example of diagnosis; remember that updates usually bring important security patches, so please assess the risks and try updating again later.

Recover partitions and data without losing information

When the partition is RAW, has been accidentally deleted or the system refuses to mount it, the priority is rescue the data before any formatting. For this purpose, specialized partitioning and recovery tools help locate lost volumes and restore them.

There are utilities like EaseUS Partition Master that combine two phases of analysis (“quick” and “full”) to detect deleted partitions and mark them as “lost” before allowing their deletion. one-click recoveryYou can preview the contents of a detected partition and confirm the recovery if everything is correct.

If what you need is to extract files from a partition that now comes out as RAW or inaccessible, a data recovery software (e.g., EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard) scans the device and lists recoverable files by type, path, and date. It's safer to recover first and format later.

Recommended flow to minimize risks: 1) run data scan on the problematic drive/partition, 2) save the files to another disk, 3) verify the integrity of the recovered information, and only then 4) proceed to format or rebuild the partition.

Format (only after data recovery)

If no solution repairs the volume and you've already saved the data, formatting will restore the drive to service. You can do this from Disk managementRight-click the partition > “Format,” select NTFS (or the file system you need), and confirm. Adjust the cluster size if necessary or leave it at its default value.

Another option is to create the partition from scratch if the space appears as “Unallocated”: right click on the space, “New Simple Volume”, the wizard continues, assigning a letter and formatting it to NTFS. After this, the drive should appear under “This PC.”

Real cases and how they fit into this diagnosis

Users have reported situations such as “Every time I start I have to change the letter for the data drive (D:) to appear”, typical after updating to 23H2 after formatting C:. This indicates a conflict or loss of letter: reassigning it and ensuring that there are no network mappings or virtual drives occupying D: usually stabilizes it.

Another example: on a laptop, when you turn it on the D: drive appears with all the files, but after a few minutes disappears from Explorer, cmd and Device ManagerIf the system's hardware is "crashing," consider drivers, power, or an unstable physical connection. Updating drivers, changing ports (if USB), and checking the BIOS can help isolate the cause.

There are also cases of a mysterious "Disk 0 empty" after a blue screen and forced update, while D: does not even appear in Disk Management. Here it is important to differentiate whether this "Disk 0" is a recovery volume mounted by mistake or if it is a cache/log information causing an anomalous identification; removing the letter from the recovery volume and rescanning disks clears the picture.

Frequently asked questions and practical notes

How do I find a lost drive quickly? Start with the lowest-impact actions: rescans disks, reassign drive letters, update or reinstall the driver, use the hardware troubleshooter, and try a different port/cable if it's USB. Formatting should be the last resort after data recovery.

How do I see all drives in Windows 11? Open Explorer (Win+E), enter “This team” and you'll see all the active drive letters. If it doesn't appear there, look in Disk Management to see their actual status.

Why has my hard drive disappeared? The most common reasons are a conflict or loss of letter, an outdated driver, a corrupted (RAW) file system, a faulty port/cable, or a virtual/network volume occupying your drive letter.

Can I prevent this from happening again? Keep your storage drivers up to date, set drive letters that aren't commonly used by readers/virtual drives (e.g., assign D: to your data drive and map the optical drive to Z:), and check network mappings after each major update.

Although it may be shocking to see a volume disappear, with an orderly diagnosis —Disk management, drive letters, drivers, and virtualization checks— most issues are resolved without drama. And if the damage is already done, the recovery steps before formatting can make the difference between losing everything or getting back to work in no time. Now you know how to fix everything about Your virtual disk has disappeared after updating to Windows 11.