If you have photos of your grandmother or your crypto wallet keys on there,
Close File Explorer. Eject the drive physically, plug it back in, and try again. A virus scanner might be pawing through it. reformat external hard drive windows
Side note: Disk Management looks intimidating. It’s just a map of your storage. Don’t touch the drive labeled “C:” unless you enjoy reinstalling Windows. If you have photos of your grandmother or
Don’t just delete files. Nuke them from orbit. It’s the only way to be sure. plug it back in