Macrium Reflect Not Seeing NVMe Drive (Full Guide & Fixes)
Can't see your NVMe drive in Macrium Reflect? Try these proven fixes. Plus, discover the best free alternative software to successfully clone your SSD to an NVMe.
Last Updated December 9, 2025
The issue: Macrium Reflect not detecting NVMe SSD
Hey everyone, I’m trying to clone my system drive on a Dell XPS 15 (9510) with an NVMe SSD, but Macrium Reflect is not seeing the NVMe drive at all in the rescue environment. Windows sees it fine, BIOS sees it, but Macrium just refuses to detect it. I built the rescue media using WinPE. Do I need to load extra drivers or change something in BIOS? Anyone run into this before?"
- Question from Macrium forum
The Macrium Reflect NVMe issue can be caused by several reasons:
🎯 Missing or Outdated NVMe/Storage Controller Drivers
🎯 RAID or Intel VMD Mode Enabled in BIOS
🎯 Using WinPE Instead of WinRE for Rescue Media
🎯 NVMe Drive Is Uninitialized or Has a Corrupt Partition Table
For users who just want cloning that works without extra troubleshooting, try this free alternative to Macrium Reflect.
How to fix Macrium Reflect not seeing NVMe drive
If you use Macrium Reflect to clone SSD to NVMe but end with Macrium Reflect not seeing NVMe drive, you can try the following solutions to fix it.
Fix 1: Update NVMe/Storage Controller Drivers
1. Press Windows + X and select Device Manager.
2. Expand Disk drives and Storage controllers.
3. Right-click your NVMe SSD or controller and select Update driver.
4. Choose Search automatically for drivers. If Windows finds an update, follow the on-screen instructions to install it.
💡Tip: You can also download the latest chipset/NVMe driver directly from your motherboard or SSD manufacturer.
5. After updating, restart your computer and check if Macrium Reflect sees your NVMe drive now.
Fix 2: Switch Storage Mode to AHCI
1. Restart your PC and tap the BIOS key (Del, F2, F10, etc.) repeatedly during boot.
2. Look under tabs like Advanced, Integrated Peripherals, or Storage Configuration. Then locate a setting labeled SATA Mode, SATA Configuration, or Storage Controller Mode.
3. If the mode is set to IDE or RAID, change it to AHCI.
4. Press F10 to save changes and reboot.
Fix 3: Rebuild Rescue Media Using WinRE Instead of WinPE
1. Open Macrium Reflect and click Rescue from the top-left corner.
2. If the program detects there is a USB drive inserted, it will select the Removable USB Flash Drive option automatically. Click Advanced in the bottom.
3. In the Advanced Options window, go to the Choose Base WIM tab, choose Windows RE and click OK.
4. Check the following options and click Build.
- Check for devices missing drivers on boot
- Enable Multi Boot (MBR/UEFI)
5. After building, restart your PC and boot from the USB to check if the NVMe drive appears now.
Fix 4: Initialize or Format the NVMe SSD in Windows
1. Press Windows + X and select Disk Management.
2. Look for your NVMe SSD, right-click on it, and select Initialize Disk.
3. Choose either GPT (for UEFI systems and drives over 2TB) or MBR (for legacy BIOS or older systems) and click OK.
⚠️Note: Initializing will erase all data if the drive was previously used. Backup files in advance if necessary.
4. Once initialized, the drive will show as Unallocated. Right-click the unallocated space and choose New Simple Volume.
5. Follow the wizard to create a new partition on the NVMe SSD and click Finish. Then open Macrium Reflect to check if the NVMe SSD is shown now.
Bonus: Best free alternative tool to clone SSD to NVMe
When you just want a straightforward, Windows-based clone from an old SSD (or SATA drive) to a new NVMe SSD, AOMEI Cloner Free is often the easiest and most reliable option.
- Multiple clone modes: You can clone an entire disk (Disk Clone) or individual partitions (Partition Clone).
- “Intelligent Clone” for efficiency: It can copy only used sectors rather than the entire drive, useful for cloning to a smaller drive and speeding up the process.
- 4K partition alignment: It aligns SSD sectors properly, helping maintain performance and extend lifespan.
- Full support for NVMe/PCIe/M.2 SSDs: AOMEI Cloner supports cloning to and from NVMe SSDs in Windows 7, 8, 10, 11. It works regardless of brand (Samsung, WD, Crucial, etc.).
100% SecureDownload AOMEI Cloner now to try it out! Then follow the instructions below to clone SATA SSD to NVMe SSD:
Step 1. Install and launch AOMEI Cloner. Next, go to Clone and select Disk Clone.
💡Tip: The Free edition only supports cloning non-system disks. If you want to clone a disk containing OS, please upgrade to AOMEI Cloner Professional.
Step 2. Choose your old SATA SSD as the source drive and select your new NVMe SSD as the target.
Step 3. Check the SSD Alignment option for peak NVMe performance. Then initiate the process by clicking Start Clone.
Verdict
When you encounter the issue of Macrium Reflect not seeing NVMe drive, it almost always comes down to driver gaps, storage-mode conflicts, or outdated rescue media. You can follow the solutions offered in this article to fix it.
If you want a simpler and more reliable way to clone HDDs or SSDs, AOMEI Cloner is worth trying. It is powerful disk cloning software that enables you to clone HDD to SSD, clone NVMe SSD to NVMe SSD, etc. Why not give it a shot?