Causes
- A charge-only cable plugged into the adapter — the PowerExpand is fully wired for USB 3.2 Gen 2, but it can only pass through what the cable in its female end supports. Cables bundled with phone chargers are frequently charge-only (no data wires at all), so the device charges but never appears on the computer.
- A USB 2.0-rated cable caps the speed — even with a data-capable cable, a USB 2.0 cable tops out at 480 Mbps and a 5 Gbps cable at 5 Gbps. The adapter's advertised 10 Gbps only appears when the whole chain — adapter, cable, and ports — is USB 3.2 Gen 2 rated.
- The extension's high-speed pairs broke internally — the 10cm braided extension is the stress point: repeated bending at the 90° joint or near the connector can snap the thin TX/RX data pairs while the thicker power wires survive. The symptom is charging that works perfectly with data that never appears — or a silent fallback to USB 2.0 speeds.
- The phone is set to "Charging only" mode — when you connect an Android phone through the adapter, the phone decides the USB mode, not the adapter. If the USB notification was dismissed or set to Charging only, no data passes even though every cable and connector is wired correctly.
- Dirty or oxidized data pins — the small inner data pins are the first to lose contact when the connector is dusty or the port is grimy, while the larger outer power pins keep working — producing the classic "charges but no data" symptom.
- A hung Windows USB stack — unplugging a device mid-transfer, or a driver glitch, can leave Windows showing "Device descriptor request failed" or the drive never mounting, even with a healthy adapter.
How to Fix
- Verify the chain with known-good gear — use a cable you know transfers data (your SSD's cable is a good bet) plugged into the adapter's female end, and connect the adapter directly to the computer's USB-C port with no hub in between. If data works, your original cable was charge-only.
- Swap in a USB 3.2 Gen 2 rated cable — check the rating printed on the cable (look for "10Gbps" or "USB 3.2"). Phone-charger cables are the usual culprit; a 10 Gbps cable is required to reach the adapter's full speed.
- Set the phone to File transfer — on Android, plug in and swipe down, tap the USB notification, and choose File Transfer / MTP (enable USB debugging too if you use adb). A phone left on Charging only shows exactly this symptom with a perfectly good adapter.
- Clean both connectors — blow out the device port and the adapter's female socket with compressed air, and wipe the pins with isopropyl alcohol on a cotton swab. Re-seat everything fully afterward.
- Restart the computer or reinstall the USB driver — on Windows, open Device Manager → Universal Serial Bus controllers, right-click the USB controllers, choose Uninstall device, then scan for hardware changes — or simply reboot. This clears a hung USB stack that blocks enumeration.
- Do the flex test to find an internal break — plug the adapter into a computer with a known-good 10 Gbps cable, start a file copy, and gently flex the braided extension near the 90° joint. If the transfer stutters or drops when flexed, the data pairs are broken inside the cable — no cleaning or driver will fix that.
- Replace it under warranty — Anker's 18-month warranty covers the PowerExpand adapter. Contact support.anker.com with your order number and mention the flex-test result; they'll send a replacement free.