Why Does My M.2 Drive Disappear and How to Fix It

Why my M.2 drive disappeared

The user, feeling extremely anxious, reported that their M2 storage device suddenly "disappeared" from the BIOS, putting a large amount of data at risk of being lost. Faced with such a tricky situation, what exactly caused this problem, and how can we recover from it?

Next, this article will specifically introduce the reasons why M2 drive keeps disappearing and how to fix it.

Cause of M.2 SSD not detected

① The physical connection of the M2 device is loose, causing it to be unrecognized. This may be due to poor contact at the interface caused by vibration, improper insertion and removal, etc.

② The M2 device's driver is experiencing issues, such as being corrupted, missing, or incompatible versions, causing the operating system and BIOS to fail to recognize the device.

③ The M2 device itself has hardware malfunctions, such as chip damage, circuit shorts, etc.

④ BIOS settings are incorrect, possibly disabling the relevant options for the M2 device, causing it to be unrecognized.

How to fix M.2 drive not showing up

1. Reseating the M.2 Drive

1. Power down your system and disconnect the power supply.

2. Carefully reseat the M.2 drive in the slot.

• On desktop PC: Find the M.2 connector on the lower middle of the motherboard > You can see a horizontal slot labeled SATA or PCIe > Remove the mounting screw opposite the slot > Insert the M.2 SSD > Secure the SSD with the screw.

 

• On laptop: Open M.2 slot > Slide M.2 SSD to the slot > Secure SSD with the screw.

3. Reconnect the power supply and boot up the system to check drive detection.

2. Update M.2 driver and firmware

1. Visit motherboard and M.2 drive manufacturer websites.

2. Download the latest drivers and firmware.

3. Follow provided instructions to update drivers and firmware.

3. Configure BIOS/UEFI settings

If your M.2 drive keeps disappearing from BIOS, you can configure your M.2 SSD

1. Restart the computer, press F2/Delete to enter the BIOS setup interface

2. Expand "SATA Configuration" and select "Configure SATA as IDE."

3. Press F8 to save and exit.

✍Tips: Look for settings related to M2 devices in the BIOS, find options related to storage devices, and confirm whether the M.2 slot is enabled and configured correctly. Additionally, check the boot order settings to ensure the M.2 drive is in the correct position in the boot order list.

To avoid M.2 SSD failures, regularly backing up data is crucial. After all, no matter how many preventive measures we take, unexpected situations such as hardware failures, virus intrusions, and human errors can still occur. Once a problem arises, the hard-earned stored data could be at risk.

How to restore data securely when M.2 drive disappeared

AOMEI Cyber Backup, as an efficient and reliable backup and recovery software, is indeed the best choice. Through comprehensive data backup, whether it's virtual machines in VMware or Hyper-V environments, Microsoft SQL databases, or disk backup, system backup, etc., it can all be done in one stop.

✔ Through a centralized web console, you can easily set up, back up different devices, and monitor all created tasks, greatly reducing management costs.
✔ Flexible backup schedules can be customized to support one-time, daily, weekly, and monthly backups.
✔ Automatically clean up backups, keep the latest backup data while deleting old versions to save storage space.
✔ Fast recovery of large amounts of data, it can significantly shorten the recovery time and reduce the impact of data loss on work and life.

Click the download button to secure your data; don't wait until the M.2 SSD suddenly disappears.

Backup and restore disk easily to prevent data loss

Regular disk backup can effectively protect your M.2 drive from problems such as M.2 drive disappeared. When you

Step 1. Before launch AOMEI Cyber Backup, please make sure you have installed the Agent on your computer.

Step 2. Click Backup Task >> + Create New Task >> Disk Backup. Then make some personalized settings for your backup task according to your own needs, such as: Task Name, Device Name, Backup Content, Target, and Schedule.

Step 3. Click … >> Restore on the left of the backup task to perform recovery. After you have selected the content to be recovered, the address to be recovered and other settings, click Start Restore and you are done.

Conclusion

By addressing potential causes and implementing suggested solutions, you can troubleshoot and resolve M.2 drive disappearance. Regularly updating drivers, firmware, and checking hardware connections are essential practices for a stable M.2 storage experience. Seek assistance from manufacturer support or online forums if the issue persists.