What to do if your Samsung Galaxy J7 Pro (2019) smartphone is not recognized by a Windows PC [Troubleshooting Guide]

There are many possible reasons as to why a Windows computer would fail to read or recognize a smartphone when connected via USB cable. The main problem can be attributed to a bad hardware or software errors either on the phone or the computer. Having said that, you will need to troubleshoot both the phone and the computer system.

Highlighted below are basic procedures and potential solutions to a relevant issue on the Samsung Galaxy J7 (2018) smartphone, which for some reasons is not recognized by a Windows PC. You may refer to this walkthrough whenever you’re dealing with the same issue on the same device. Read further for more detailed solutions.

For owners who are looking for a solution to a different problem, drop by our troubleshooting page for we have already addressed some of the most common problems with this device. Browse through the page to find issues that are similar with yours and use the solutions we suggested. If they don’t work or if you need further assistance don’t hesitate to contact us by filling up our Android issues questionnaire.

How to troubleshoot Galaxy J7 Pro that’s recognized by your PC

Before you begin to troubleshoot your phone and computer, ensure the USB cable and USB port in use are functional. If you have other spare compatible USB cable, try to use it instead. If your computer recognizes your computer using a different USB cable, then the problem must be with the cable you’re using. To determine if the problem is on the USB port, try switching between USB ports available and see if other ports are working. If none of that helps, then you may go ahead and troubleshoot your devices.

Troubleshoot your Galaxy J7 Pro (2018) smartphone

To eliminate software problems on the phone from the underlying causes, performing the following troubleshooting procedures can help. Don’t forget to reconnect your phone to the computer after carrying out each method to determine whether the problem is fixed. Move on and try the next applicable solutions, if needed.

First solution: Reboot your phone (soft reset).

Your device may be just glitching and so it failed to communicate with the computer system. To clear any software glitch, perform a soft reset simply reboot your Galaxy J7 Pro with these steps:

Press and hold the Power button for a few seconds or until the menu appears.
Select Power Off option then tap OK.
After 30 seconds, press and hold the Power button again to turn your phone back on.

After the phone reboots, connect it to the computer using a compatible USB cable or data connector. If it’s still not recognized by your PC, try the next solution.

Second solution: Wipe cache partition on your phone.

Wiping the cache partition clears temporary files and data that are stored as cache from the phone’s internal memory. Any corrupted cache that might have caused conflict with your phone’s syncing functions should also be rid off in the process. To wipe cache partition on your Galaxy J7 Pro, simply follow these steps:

Turn off your phone completely.
Press and hold the Volume Up, Home, and Power buttons simultaneously for a few seconds and then release all buttons when the Android bot image appears.
Wait for a few seconds until the Android System Recovery menu appears.
From the Recovery menu, press the Volume Down button several times to highlight Wipe cache partition option.
Press the Power button to confirm selection.
Press the Volume Down button to highlight Yes option then press the Power button to confirm.
Wait until your device is finish wiping cache partition and then highlights the Reboot system now option.
Finally, press the Power button to confirm system restart.

Allow your device to finish booting up and then reconnect it to your PC.

Third solution: Enable USB debugging mode on your phone.

Android devices including Samsung Galaxy smartphones have some useful hidden features for advanced users and developers. One of these features is the USB debugging mode, which allows the phone to be read by computers the moment it’s plugged in via USB cable. Enabling this option is recommended whenever the computer fails to recognize the phone even when it’s already plugged into the USB port. To enable USB debugging mode on your Galaxy J7 Pro, follow these steps:

Tap Settings from the Main app screen.
Scroll to and tap About phone.
Scroll to and tap on Build Number option seven times. On your 7th tap, you will see a message saying that “You’re now a Developer!”
Go back to Settings menu.
Scroll to and tap Developer options.
Tap to enable USB Debugging option.

This will make your device readable by the computer system. Now reconnect your phone to the computer via USB and see if the problem is fixed.

Troubleshoot your Windows computer

If none of the aforementioned methods is able to resolve the issue and your Galaxy J7 Pro (2018) is still not recognized by your Windows PC, try these basic troubleshooting methods to rule out software problems on your computer that might have prevented it from recognizing your phone as an external device.

First solution: Reboot your computer (power cycle).

Like mobile devices, minor software glitches in the computer are usually remedied by a system reboot, otherwise known as power cycle. This clears errant applications and refreshes the operating system, to make it work properly afterwards. There are many ways to restart a Windows PC.

You can do the typical reboot via Start-> Restart or Start-> Power off or Shutdown. After a few seconds, press the Power button to turn it on again. Alternatively, you can reboot the system using the shortcut key combinations.

Be sure to remove any other external devices from your computer and then try to connect your phone to see if it’ll be recognized this time.

Second solution: Disable security software on your computer.

Security software may also deny your phone from gaining access to the computer system especially when security threat is perceived. In that case, you have two options to try. Either you disable the security software temporarily or configure it in a way that it grants full access to your phone.

If you’re not sure of which options to access and modify, contact the software developer for further assistance.

Third solution: Reinstall USB drivers on your computer.

Drivers are required for external devices to communicate with the computer system and vice versa. There may be some drivers that need to be updated, uninstalled or reinstalled on your computer.

You can try fixing updating or reinstalling the driver for your Galaxy J7 Pro on your computer by going to Start-> Device Manager menu-> then select the driver from the list.

You can expand a category by to find the name of your smartphone then right-click on it and select the Update Driver option.

For further assistance in device driver management and advanced troubleshooting on your computer system, you can reach out to Microsoft Support or contact the support team of your computer’s manufacturer. They’ve got the necessary to walk you through the required procedures or even assist you remotely, if necessary.

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