What to do if your HTC U12/U12 Plus is not recognized by your Windows PC? [Troubleshooting Guide]

So you need to back up some important files from your HTC U12/U12 Plus to your Windows PC but couldn’t get it done because your HTC phone is not recognized? If you’re dealing with the same issue, then this post may help. Read on and find out how to fix this problem with some simple workarounds.

If however, you are looking for a solution to a different problem, drop by our troubleshooting guide for we have already addressed the most common issues with this phone. Find problems that are similar with yours and use the solutions we suggested. If they don’t work for you or if you need more help, then feel free to contact us through our Android issues questionnaire.

How to troubleshoot HTC U12/U12+ that’s not recognized by PC

Before you troubleshoot, verify and make sure that your USB cable/data connector and USB port in use are working or not damaged. You can switch between available USB ports or use other compatible USB cable to test and ensure functionality.

Troubleshoot your phone

Software glitches on the phone may prevent it from communicating properly with the computer system. To clear this out, you can try the following workarounds then retry connecting your phone to the computer afterwards.

First solution: Reboot or soft reset your HTC U12/U12 Plus.

Restarting your phone (soft reset) can help clear minor software errors and glitches that might have halted the phone system from communicating properly with the computer system. If you haven’t restarted your phone yet, then do so with these steps:

Press and hold the Power button for a few seconds or until the menu options appear.
Then tap Restart.
Alternatively, you can press and hold the Power button for at least 10 seconds and then release the button when the HTC logo appears.

Your phone will then reboot as intended.

Second solution: Wipe cache partition on your HTC U12/U12 Plus.

Corrupted cache or temporary data can also cause your device to act up and fail to perform certain task like syncing. As resolution, wiping cache partition is recommended. Doing so will clear all cached files and temporary data saved on the phone’s internal memory for better and smoother run. Here’s how it’s done:

Power the phone off completely.
With the phone powered off, press and hold the Volume Down button while turning the phone on.
Continue to hold the Volume Down button until the bootloader screen is displayed.
Press the Volume Down button until Recovery is selected.
Press the Power button to confirm selection. The phone will then seem to reboot and the screen will turn black for 15 to 30 seconds.
Wait until the recovery screen is displayed then continue with the next steps.
Hold the Volume Up button and then press and release the Power button.
Press the Volume Down button repeatedly until Wipe Cache Partition option is highlighted.
Then press the Power button to confirm selection.
Press the Volume Up button repeatedly after the process completes.
Press the Power button to select Reboot system option.

Wait until your phone is finished restarting then try to connect it to your computer again.

Third solution: Update your device software to the latest version.

Installing the latest software update available for your device can also help if the problem is inflicted by some bugs. Software updates offer security enhancements to get rid of any bugs that might have caused problems to your device. Here’s how to update software on your HTC U12/U12 Plus.

Make sure your phone is connected to the Internet then continue with these steps:

Slide the Notifications panel open.
Then tap the system update notification.
If necessary, tap Update over Wi-Fi only if you don’t want to download the update using data connection.
Then tap Download to continue.
Wait until the download is finished then select the option to Install now.
Tap OK to confirm.

Your phone will restart automatically after updating. By then you can connect your phone to your computer again via USB and see if it’s already detected.

Fourth solution: Enable USB Debugging mode on your HTC U12/U12 Plus.

Android phones including HTC U12/U12 Plus have this hidden feature called USB debugging under Developer options. This feature helps when dealing with errors connecting the phone to a computer. And here’s how to enable USB debugging mode on your phone:

Tap to open the Apps drawer.
Then go to Settings-> About Device/Phone.
Scroll to and tap on Build Number for about 7 times or until you see the popup message saying that You are now a developer! The developer options menu on your HTC U12/U12 Plus is now unlocked.
Tap the option to go back to the previous menu then tap to enable USB debugging option.

Then try to connect your phone to the computer again via USB and see if it’s now detected. Otherwise, continue troubleshooting.

Troubleshoot your computer

The problem is not only attributed to software issues on your phone but can also be from within the computer system. To clear this out, you can perform the basic troubleshooting methods to deal with minor software issues that might have halted your computer system from recognizing your phone. Here are a few things you can try doing on your end.

First solution: Remove any external paraphernalia then restart PC.

Sometimes, other USB devices plugged in the computer’s USB port would cause conflict and that may cause the computer to fail detecting new external devices attached. To make sure this isn’t the culprit, remove any USB devices from your computer’s USB ports and then restart your computer to dump cache and temporary data from the internal memory.

You can do the usual restart via Start-> Restart menu or click Start-> Power off option to shut down your computer for a few seconds and then turn it back on again.

After the computer restart, connect your phone to a working USB port and see if it is now recognized by your computer.

Second solution: Disable firewall temporarily on your Windows PC.

Firewall and security software may be the main reason why your computer does not recognize your smartphone. The security software might have sensed some threats from your device and therefore it has denied it from having access to the computer system. Note that your phone will be read among other external storage media the moment it’s plugged into the computer’s USB port and if the firewall or security software perceived some security threat from your phone, it will work as intended and block it. To make sure this isn’t what’s halting the computer from detecting your smartphone, follow these steps to configure the firewall settings and grant access to your HTC U12/U12 Plus:

Click the Start icon/button.
Select Settings.
Go to Update & Security.
Select Windows Security.
Click Firewall & network protection.
Select a network profile.
Navigate to Windows Defender Firewall, then adjust necessary options.

For further assistance in configuring the Windows Firewall, you can contact Microsoft Support or the manufacturer of your computer, if not, the security software developer. Any of these support groups can help walk you through the entire process of managing the security program settings properly.

Third solution: Manage USB drivers on your Windows PC.

Certain drivers are required for your computer to recognize external devices including your smartphone. To check if the USB drivers are okay, you can head over to the Device Manager with these steps:

Click the Start button.
Type in to search for Device Manager then select it from the list of results.
From the Device Manager screen, expand the categories by clicking the + or expand icon.
Find and select the name of your device (LG V35 ThinQ), then right-click or tap and hold it.
Select the option to Update Driver to update the device driver to the latest version. Or select the option to uninstall or reinstall driver, if necessary.

After making all changes, restart your computer to refresh its memory and clear OS from minor glitches. Then plug your phone back into the USB port as soon as your computer boots up completely and see if the problem is solved. Otherwise seek more help.

If you don’t know exactly of which drivers to use or configure for your computer to work with your HTC U12/U12 plus smartphone, contact your computer administrator or Microsoft Support for further assistance and recommendations. Alternatively, you can reach out to Microsoft Support and ask a representative to verify and check if you have to correct drivers installed.

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