How to Fix Mapped Drive Keeps Disappearing Windows 11/10

Why my mapped drive keeps disappearing?

Drive mapping in Microsoft Windows links a local drive letter (A to Z) to a shared storage location on another computer, often a File Server, via the network. Essentially, a mapped drive functions like a shortcut to a drive located on a different machine.

With a mapped drive, you can access and modify files from this shared area as though they were stored on your local hard drive.

However, mapped drives may sometimes disappear or disconnect due to issues like:

━ Accidental unmapping
━ Misidentification by Windows
━ Being remapped or deleted
━ Failing to display files or folders.

How to fix mapped drive keeps disappearing

Based on the possible causes, you have two main approaches to consider.

※ If your mapped drive repeatedly disconnects, you can adjust your network card settings using the Registry Editor.
※ If there’s an issue with the mapped network drive itself, you can start by checking Hidden items in File Explorer.

Next, I’ll guide you through four methods to resolve the issue of a mapped drive disappearing, including using File Explorer, disabling User Account Control, modifying the Registry Editor, and configuring Proxy and SMB settings.

Fix 1. Show hidden mapped network drives via File Explorer

In addition to Windows 10, Windows 11 can sometimes fail to display shared files or folders stored on NAS drives (like mapped network drives missing) because these items are hidden. Here’s how to reveal hidden items using File Explorer.

Step 1. Press “Win + E” to open Windows File Explorer.

Step 2. Click This PC > View > Show > Hidden items.

Fix 2. Disable User Account Control to show mapped drives

In certain situations, enabling User Account Control (UAC) might cause mapped drives to vanish in Windows 10. Follow the steps below to disable UAC.

Step 1. Type “change user account settings” in the search bar and hit “Enter” to open it.

Step 2. In the User Account Control window, drag the slider to the bottom “Never notify” and click the “OK” button.

Fix 3. Remap the drive via Registry Editor

When remapping a drive using the Registry Editor, be sure to use the same IP address and original hostname. Here's how to do it.

If you're wondering how to make a mapped drive persistent, you can create a new DWORD named ProviderFlags with a value of 1. To ensure mapped network drives remain persistent, you can configure a Group Policy to delay reconnection until the network interface is fully operational.

Step 1. Press “Win + R” to open the Run box and type “Regedit” in the Run box. Then hit “Enter” or press “OK” to open the Registry Editor.

Step 2. Go to the following path and right-click on the registry subkey to create a new DWORD Value.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System

Step 3. Rename a Value Name and set the Value data to 1. This modification will enable the “administrator in Admin Approval Mode” user type and all other UAC policies.

Step 4. Please remember to click “OK” to save these changes and exit the Registry Editor. Then you can restart your computer.

Fix 4. Configure Proxy and SMB to recognize network drives

If your mapped drive disappears due to frequent disconnections, you can follow these steps to help your Windows PC recognize the network drive.

First of all, press “Win + I” to open Windows Settings. Under the Network & internet section, click the “Proxy” button. Then you can add a script to manually configure the proxy.

Step 1. Type “programs and features” in the search box and click “Turn off Windows features on or off” to open the Windows Features window.

Step 2. In the Windows Features window, tick the features with SMB. Then click the “OK” button.

Step 3. Reboot your PC to see if these changes have been applied or not.

Bonus tip: How to recover lost files from mapped hard drives

If you accidentally delete files from mapped drives, can they be recovered from hard drives? While mapped drives function similarly to hard drives—whether they’re on a virtual, cloud, or network system—the term "hard drive" here specifically refers to your local hard drive. This is because the shared files and folders are actually stored on another computer’s hard drive.

So, how can you recover files from hard drives effortlessly? The most reliable solution is to use AOMEI FastRecovery, a professional data recovery tool available for Windows Server or Windows 11, 10, 8, or 7. It is capable of recovering over 1,000 file types and designed to restore data from formatted, corrupted, or deleted hard drives. To recover files from a mapped drive, simply follow the steps outlined below.

Step 1. Install and launch AOMEI FastRecovery. Choose the mapped drive where your data is lost and click Scan.

Step 2. Then, the recovery tool start to scan and search. lt will execute the “Quickly Scan" first to find your deleted data fast, and then execute the “Deep Scan" for searching other lost data.

Step 3. Once the scan is completed, all deleted files, recycle bins and other missing files will be displayed. Please select the file you would like to recover and then click "Recover".

Step 4. Then, select a folder path to save your recovered files.

Step 5. Wait patiently for this process of recovering ends.

Conclusion

As you can see, this post has resolved two concerning questions: Why my mapped drive keep disappearing, and how do I fix it? Detailed explanations and step-by-step solutions have been displayed clearly. If you are unfortunate to lose data when you fix the drive disappearing issue, you can use AOMEI FastRecovery to easily draw them back.

To prevent future data loss, it is recommended to back up files, folders, disks, partitions, or only the operating system. For example, you can clone hard drive, migrate OS, or move files from one drive to another.