Cannot Access My USB Drive Plugged into the TP-Link Router

This article introduces solutions when the USB device cannot be accessed after being plugged into the router.

Scenario 1: The USB drive cannot be recognized

There are many partition formats for USB drives. Our router supports part of them. Some models only support NTFS/FAT32. Some support exFAT/HFS+/NTFS/FAT32. You can check the specification page on our official website. For example https://www.tp-link.com/en/home-networking/wifi-router/archer-ax20/#specifications

Notes:

-We recommend NTFS because this format has better compatibility and performance.

-For the macOS systems, you can use exFAT or HFS+.

-The router does not guarantee compatibility with external hard drive enclosures, especially multi-bay ones. Compatibility may vary, and performance cannot be assured.

Scenario 2: The TP-Link shared folder cannot be found on the network

This issue is related to the windows sharing settings. Suggestions:

1. Enable smbv1 in the windows system.

1) Open the control panel.

2) Click Uninstall a program.

3) Click Turn Windows features on or off.

4) Enable SMB 1.0/CIFS Client. Then click OK.

2. Enable Network discovery in the network and sharing center settings.

1) Open the control panel.

2) Click Network and Internet.

3) Click Network and Sharing Center.

4) Click Change advanced sharing settings.

5) Enable Turn on network discovery in the Private and Guest or Public.

6) Open Windows Explorer. Go to Network. Click TP-SHARE(Red) to access the USB drive.

Note: TP-Share(Green) is not USB storage sharing.

7) If you still fail to access USB storage, you can refer to this FAQ to access it: How to access USB storage device on the TP-Link Routers from Windows or Mac OS

Scenario 3: Unable to access USB sharing via Samba (SMB)

Some windows system has some limits to accessing the samba. Suggestion:

1. Enable smbv1 in the windows system.

1) Open the control panel.

2) Click Uninstall a program.

3) Click Turn Windows features on or off.

4) Enable SMB 1.0/CIFS Client. Then click OK.

2. Enable insecure guest logons.

1) Press Win+R. Within the run box, type “gpedit.msc”

2) Within the Local Group Policy Editor, select Administrative Templates > Network > Lanman Workstation.

3) Double-click the Enable Insecure guest logons option >> tick the Enable option >> OK.

Scenario 4: Unable to access USB sharing after changing the password

If you change the account under Advanced > USB Devices > Sharing Access > Account from Use Default Account to Use New Account,or if you change the USB access password under Use New Account, you may encounter an error when you access the USB device again.

You can follow the steps below to resolve this issue.

1. Open Credential Manager in Windows, then click Windows Credentials.

2. Find the entry such as \\VX231v, then click Remove.

3. Restart the Windows computer, then you can access the USB device using the new authentication password.