My computer no longer sees my Android as a USB drive.

It's a really aggravating problem: you want to transfer data to your Android, so you connect it to your PC through USB, only to find out that it's not being recognised as a hard drive. So you plug and unplug and double-check the wire and that both devices are correctly connected, all to no avail. What should I do? Continue reading!

This has happened with every Android device I've owned (including my Galaxy Note and my new Nexus 7), and I've realised that it's a potentially multifaceted problem that can be solved in a variety of ways. This essay seeks to give a complete range of solutions that will perhaps assist you in resolving the problem.

Make use of a different USB cord.

It may sound ridiculous, but you should rule out the chance that this is the issue first. It's not a silly problem at all: if you're using a cable that, say, was designed to connect your laptop to a cooling fan to power it, or came with an old device of some sort that you no longer use, it may work for charging but not for transferring data, because it was either designed for charging only or was never designed to transfer the kind of data that a smartphone requires. 

As a result, connect using the original cable that came with your device or a high quality cable that you trust to see if that resolves the issue.

uninstall and reinstall Android drivers.

This is what I found to be effective. Here's how to do it (on Windows 7, but the procedure should be similar on other operating systems):

First, ensure that your Android smartphone is connected to the PC (even if it is not recognised as a drive).

Go the the ‘Device Manager’:  either right click on ‘My Computer’ and select ‘properties’ then ‘Device Manager’  in the left sidebar, or go to ‘Control Panel’ then ‘system’ then ‘Device Manager’ from the left sidebar.

Next, find the Android device driver then right click uninstall. The driver may be listed under ‘Portable Devices’ or ‘Other devices’ or it may be listed under it’s own name (see the screenshot below for examples). Uninstall all entries you find. If not found at all then this intervention is not for you. Check some of the other options mentioned in this article

Once the drivers are uninstalled, unplug your device from the PC. Make sure your computer is connected to the Internet and automatic updating is turned on, then replug your device and allow Windows to find and install the drivers all over again.

Finally, go to ‘My Computer’ and check if your device appears as a drive. If so, then your problem is solved.  If not, see if some of the other interventions mentioned here might work for you.

Check that your Android is configured to connect as a 'Media Device' (MTP).

Go to settings / storage. Next, go to more options (typically upper left dotted area, depending on your device) and click ‘USB Computer connection’. Next click on the ‘Media Device’ (MTP) checkbox. If already checked, try unchecking it, exiting out of settings, then coming back again and rechecking it.

Make an attempt to connect as a 'USB Mass Storage' device.

This is an Android option in which your device storage and any external SD cards (if any) are mounted as USB mass storage volumes in Windows.

Go to settings / more settings. Next, click ‘USB utilities’, then ‘Connect Storage to PC’ and ‘Turn on USB storage’. It may prompt you to turn off USB debugging if you have it enabled, and it may prompt you to unplug and re-plug your device. It will also install any needed drivers.

When done, click into ‘My Computer’ and see if the new volume(s) are there. It may not quite be the same as identifying your Android device (since in fact it is doing something different, mounting your Android storage as volumes in Windows), but you will be able to move files back and forth just as you would any normal USB drive.

Turn on USB debugging.

This could be an issue if you've installed backup programmes on your Android that require USB debugging, or if you've installed Android desktop clients that communicate with and/or backup your device.

To enable USB debugging go to your Android’s settings, then find and click ‘Developer Options’. Click ‘ok’ at the warning screen, then enable ‘Developer Options’  (top right) and check the box next to ‘USB debugging’. Click ‘ok’ at the final warning screen.

Toggle USB debugging step1Toggle USB debugging step2Toggle USB debugging step3Toggle USB debugging step4

Cannot find USB Debugging in setting? In the latest versions of Android (4.2+) this option may be hidden. To unhide it, go to ‘settings’ then ‘About phone’, then scroll down to ‘Build Number’ and tap it seven times. (Note that it will take three taps for the your device to acknowledge that you are trying to unhide ‘developer’s options’. Persist and it will happen.

Once USB debugging is enabled, unplug and replug your device into your PC, and see if that solves the problem.