External hard drive (USB powered) turns on and off when Xbox Series X is turned off

Is your console an Xbox 360 or Xbox One ?

Double check if the external hard drive is actually being detected, sometimes the USB connection might be loose. If the external hard drive is not detected, turn off the console

and then double check the USB connector is firmly plugged in, then turn console back on and see if external hard drive appears.

Also another thing to check... some brands of external hard drive have a power light when turned on. Check if the power light is on.

Does the external hard drive ever turn off when the Xbox is off?

The console has a setting to turn external storage off when the console is turned off. It's in the power settings. However, for some reason, some externals do not turn off when the console is turned off, even when the "When Xbox is off, turn off storage" setting is enabled.

The second thing that will cause most externals to go to sleep is inactivity. Usually there is a setting in the drive's own firmware that says "go to sleep after 30 minutes of inactivity" or whatever.

Here's what I would recommend: -

1. If it's not already enabled, enable the "When Xbox is off, turn off storage" setting in the console's power settings, then test to see if the drive turns off when the Xbox is turned off.

2. If option 1 is no help and the drive never turns off, disable that setting, then see if the external turns off after a period of inactivity once the Xbox has been turned off.

If you unplug the drive when the console is off, obviously, if you have the console set to automatically update your games/apps, it won't be able to update anything on the external while the Xbox is off as it's not connected. That is the primary downside of what you're currently doing.

Ask him to turn off the console by holding the Xbox button until the console turns off, remove the power cord for 1 minute, and remove the external hard drive from the console. Then turn on the console without the external hard drive connected and see if it can now run games and apps.

Hi,

External hard drives are not fast enough for Xbox Series X|S titles. Unfortunately you can't play these games off slow USB external hard drives. They need either be installed internally or to an optional Xbox Series X|S Expansion card.

Hey, thanks for reaching out! Well, firstly, I have plenty of room on all of my drives, soooooooooooooo that is not a factor. I have my Xbox One X set to stand by as my power setting. And I do have my external drives set to turn off when my Xbox is turned
off. The "When Xbox is off, turn off the storage" is chosen in my settings. And I have my default drive as my external WD 4TB. With all that said, my Xbox is not choosing where a file is already sitting. And my
Xbox sees all of my drives all of the time.

I will try the "When Xbox is off, turn off the storage" as unchecked. Maybe that will make a difference . . . but if my default drive is an external drive . . . . and games are downloading there, new and updates . . . . . and "When Xbox is off, turn off
the storage" is checked . . . why would anything still be put there if "When Xbox is off, turn off the storage" it's off . .. . . ? I do understand the instructions, but as to what that means as far as "when xbox is this, external drives will do this" setting
it's hard to differentiate. Because you have the xbox that can be completely shut down vs. stand by, and how does those settings inform the "When Xbox is off, turn off the storage" setting. You tell me.

Thanks

B