What to do if your Motorola Moto E4 smartphone is not recognized by your Windows PC [Troubleshooting Guide]

Data management in mobile devices are usually done using computers. Backing up files, downloading contents, and even installing software updates on the phone can be done through computers especially if wireless option isn’t available. To make all these possible, you will need to connect your phone to your computer through USB connector/cable. The entire process is indeed very easy and simple. But there are some factors that would make it complicated.

Tackled in this post is among the common issues encountered by some owners of the Motorola Moto E4 smartphone who were having trouble getting their phone recognized by a Windows PC. Read on to find out what to do if ever you’ll bump into the same issue when attempting to manage your phone data on a Windows computer but couldn’t do so because the computer doesn’t recognize your Moto E4 smartphone.

Before we proceed, if you’re looking for a solution to a problem with your phone, try to browse through our troubleshooting pages to see if we support your device. If your phone is in the list of our supported devices, then go to the troubleshooting page and look for similar problems. Feel free to use our solutions and workarounds. Don’t worry it’s free. But if you still need our help, then fill up our Android issues questionnaire and hit submit to contact us.

Troubleshooting your Moto E4

To rule out software issues on your Moto E4 that might have hindered it from communicating with Windows OS, try to carry out these workarounds first.

First solution: Soft reset/reboot your Moto E4.

Temporary glitches on your phone software may be causing syncing issue between your phone and Windows PC. This is likely the case if this is the first time you attempt to connect your device to the computer and then it failed. To clear such errors, try to soft reset or reboot your Moto E4 with these steps:

Press the Power button for a few seconds then release when the menu appears.
Select Power off then tap OK. Your phone will then shut down.
After 30 seconds, press the Power button to turn the phone on again.

Alternatively, you can force restart your Moto E4 with these steps:

Press and hold the Power button for about 10 to 20 seconds.
Release the button when the phone restarts and goes through the boot-up sequence.

Errant cache and corrupted data from the phone are likewise cleared in the process. Thus any error attributed to cache will likewise be rectified.

This won’t affect your data stored on the internal memory of your device, thus you won’t lose any critical information in the process.

Second solution: Wipe cache partition on your Moto E4.

System errors on the phone including those that are triggered by corrupted system data or cache may also inflict syncing errors. To ensure that this is not what’s stopping your phone from establishing contact with the computer’s operating system, try wiping cache partition on your Moto E4 too. Here’s how it’s done:

Turn your phone off.
Then, press and hold both the Volume Down and Power buttons for a few seconds and then release both buttons when the Boot options screen appears.
Press the Volume Down button to scroll to and highlight Recovery.
Press the Volume Up button to select. The Motorola logo will display followed by the Android recovery screen.
On the Android recovery screen, press and hold the Volume Up button for about 10 to 15 seconds.
Then quickly press and release the Power button. The Android recovery screen will then show up.
Press the Volume Down button to scroll to and highlight Wipe Cache Partition from the given options.
Press the Power button to confirm selection. Your device will then instigate wiping the cache partition and then prompts you to Restart when done.
To confirm restart, press the Power button.

As soon as your phone is finished rebooting, retry to connect it to your computer via USB and see if it’s already recognized. If not, then proceed to the next workaround.

Third solution: Activate Developer options and enable USB Debugging mode on your Moto E4.

USB Debugging mode is a hidden Android feature grants you a level of access or more control control over your device. For instance, you can gain direct access to your phone through your computer with Android SDK (software development kit), thus allowing you to run terminal commands or other relevant actions with ADB. These commands can help you restore a bricked phone. App developers also test their applications through Developer options. And to facilitate connection between your phone and your computer, enable developer options on your Moto E4 with these steps:

Go to the Main menu or Home screen.
Tap Settings.
Tap About phone.
Scroll down to the bottom of the screen then tap Build Number option repeatedly for 7 times or until you see a quick message stating that you’re already a developer or something similar.
Go back to Settings menu and then tap to enable USB Debugging mode option.
If prompted with the Allow USB debugging message, tap OK to confirm.

USB debugging mode will then be enabled and your phone should now be recognized by your Windows PC.

Troubleshoot your Windows PC, if necessary.

If your computer still doesn’t recognize your Moto E4 smartphone after performing all prior methods, then there must be something wrong on the computer. To rule out damaged port from the underlying cause, try to connect your phone to a different USB port available. Also remove any other USB paraphernalia from your computer. If that doesn’t help either, then try these basic workarounds to clear minor software errors that might have prevented your computer from recognizing your phone.

First solution: Power cycle or reboot your computer.

A system reboot can help clear software errors that may be halting your PC from detecting or recognizing your phone even when it’s already plugged into the USB port. This can occur when a relevant program on your computer is acting up. Usually, these problems are easily remedied by a reboot on the computer. So here’s what you should do first:

Click the Start/Windows icon on the bottom left corner of the task bar.
Click the Power icon.
Then select the option to Restart.
Alternatively, you can do a right-click on the Start/Windows icon and then select Restart from the given options.

There may be slight various on the menu options depending on the Windows version your computer is running on. The above steps are applicable on Windows 10.

Second solution: Manage security software on your computer.

If you’re using an antivirus or firewall, then you may have to adjust the settings so it will not deny access to your phone. Some security software will automatically deny an external device whenever a security threat is perceived. As a result, your computer won’t be able to detect the device even if it’s already plugged into the USB port. If you are already familiar with your security software, then try to configure its settings to make it grant access to your phone. Or you can disable it temporarily until you’re done syncing your phone with your computer.

For further assistance, you can contact the manufacturer of your security software or Microsoft Support. They’ll be able to assist you in managing permissions and grant exceptions to your Moto E4 to access the computer.

Third solution: Manage USB drivers on your computer.

USB drivers are required for your computer to recognize USB devices the moment they’re plugged into the USB port. And likewise, drivers for Motorola devices are also necessary for the computer to recognize your Moto E4 when it’s connected via USB. These drivers must be installed on your computer beforehand. To make sure you have the required Motorola drivers installed on your Windows PC, follow these steps:

Click on Start then go to Device Manager. A list of all drivers and devices will show up on the screen.
Select the driver for your Motorola Moto E4 smartphone from the list.
If necessary, expand a category by to find the name of your smartphone then right-click on it and select the Update Driver option.

If you don’t see the driver, you can ask more information from your carrier or visit the Motorola Support website for the list of required drivers and relevant details.

Seek more help

Contact Microsoft Support for further assistance in performing more advanced troubleshooting procedures and to help you configure your Windows PC accordingly so that it will be able to recognize your Moto E4 smartphone among other external devices connected through USB.

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