Make sure the USB external drive is powered.
USB External Drive Not Recognized On Surface: Try the basics first As a result, I decided to write up a quick troubleshooting guide to help you, in the event that you run into the same problem. It actually happened to me at my day job this week. Well, believe it or not, this is a pretty common occurrence. You get it home, plug it into your Surface and…… NOTHING happens! You did your research, read the reviews and finally chose one. You’ve decided to get an external USB drive to store and back up your data.