Fix: “This folder is empty” on a USB drive in Windows

This tutorial will show you step by step what to do when you see “This folder is empty” when opening a USB flash drive or external hard drive.

Steps

1. Open the Windows Command Prompt as administrator.

Three ways to open Command Prompt as administrator:

Type cmd or command in the Windows search box. Right-click on Command Prompt and then click on Run as administrator.
Windows 10: right-click on the start menu button and then click on Command Prompt (Admin).
Press the [Windows] + [R] keys on your keyboard to open the “Run” box. Type cmd into the box and then press [Ctrl] + [Shift] + [Enter] keys on your keyboard.

2. Enter the following command:

attrib -h -r -s /s /d f:\*.*

Note: Replace the letter f with the drive letter of your USB device.

Fix This folder is empty problem in Windows

To find out the drive letter of a USB device; open Windows Explorer, click on This PC (Windows 10) or My Computer, under Devices and drives, you will see the drive letter (e.g., (E:), (F:), etc.) next to the name of the USB device.

3. Press the [Enter] key on your keyboard.

4. Close the “Command Prompt” window.

5. Check if your USB device is displaying files.

How to fix your USB pen drive when it's showing less GB disk space

How to change the drive letter of a USB drive in Windows 10

References:

YouTube: Seeing “This folder is empty” when opening a USB drive? Here's a solution!

Fix: “This folder is empty” on a USB drive in Windows

Steps

Maybe you're also interested in:

References: