External Drive Not Accessible Direct

Thank you for any advice. Optional – add screenshot of Disk Management (blur any other disk serials) and error message.

I have an external USB drive (WD My Passport, 2TB) that suddenly stopped working. When I plug it in, the PC makes the "device connected" sound, but the drive does not show up in File Explorer (Windows 11). It does appear in Disk Management as "Disk 2 – Unknown – Not Initialized" (or "No Media"). Trying to access it via diskpart or assigning a drive letter gives an error: "The request could not be performed because of an I/O device error" (or "The drive is not accessible. Access is denied" ). external drive not accessible

The drive has irreplaceable data, so I cannot format or initialize it. Thank you for any advice

External drive not accessible – shows in Disk Management but not File Explorer / "Drive not accessible" error When I plug it in, the PC makes