My 2TB external drive started clicking and now Windows does not see it. It has family photos from 10 years. What should I do?

Please stop plugging it in. Clicking from a hard drive usually means a mechanical problem, like a failed read head. Each power on can scratch the platters and make the damage permanent.

What helps:
• Do not shake, open, freeze or repair it yourself. Software tools do not help with mechanical failure and can make it worse.
• Do not run chkdsk.
• Contact a professional data recovery lab. Many give a free evaluation, and they work in a clean room. Ask for a price quote before they start.

Software recovery makes sense only when the drive is detected and does not click, for example after a deletion or format.

For the future, keep two copies of photos on different devices, and one in the cloud.

Sent it to a recovery lab. They quoted a price and recovered most of the photos. Thanks for stopping me from trying a software tool.