One of the common issues many Windows 10 or Windows 11 users are experiencing is the missing optical drive icon. According to users, after installing the operating system or upgrading to Windows 10/11, Windows 10 or 11 doesn’t recognize the DVD drive. Because of this, the DVD drive does not appear either in Windows Explorer (File Explorer) or in Device Manager.
Even though we are not sure about the root cause of the issue, you can try out the possible fixes given below to restore the missing DVD drive in the File Explorer of Windows 10/11.
NOTE: If you have installed Windows 11 or Windows 10 on a newly assembled computer and experiencing the problem, we suggest you check optical drive cables for loose connections before following any of the given methods.
Fix the missing DVD drive in Windows 10 or 11
Method 1:
Step 1: Launch the Command Prompt with administrator rights. To do this, switch to the Start screen, type CMD, and then simultaneously press Ctrl + Shift + Enter keys to launch the elevated prompt. Click Yes for the User Account Control prompt. You can also try other methods mentioned in our how to launch the Command Prompt as an administrator in Windows 10/11 guide.
Step 2: In the elevated prompt, copy and paste or type the following command and press enter key:
reg.exe add “HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\atapi\Controller0” /f /v EnumDevice1 /t REG_DWORD /d 0x00000001
(You can simply right-click on the prompt and select paste)
Step 3: Exit the Command Prompt, and reboot your PC. You should now see the DVD drive in Windows Explorer as well as Device Manager.
Method 2:
For some users, the procedure mentioned above may not work. If the procedure mentioned above isn’t working for you or if you are too lazy to open Command Prompt and execute the command, download and run the free utility named CD-DVD Icon Repair (click here for download links in Google).
CD-DVD Icon Repair is a portable tool that helps you when Windows doesn’t recognize the CD/DVD drive. Even though the program was designed for Windows 7, it works perfectly fine on Windows 10 and Windows 11 as well. Launch the tool, click the Repair CD-DVD Icon button, and then restart your PC.