Just bought a WD Elements 2Tb desktop drive, for use in windows 10, there are no user instructions in the box just a quick install guide for connecting it to the PC, there is no mention of how to use the power button, the WD elements powers up with the PC, and powers down when using safely remove hardware icon, but does not power up using the power button when the PC is in use, anyone know what the power button is for.
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The power button on the back of the WD Elements drive simply reduce the electricity supply on the drive if you want to manually put the hard drive in Stand by mode. Moreover, if you need to access the drive and it is already connected to your computer which is already running then you can simply wake up the drive by pressing the power button again and it will be connected to your already up and running computer so that you can access the drive without disconnecting or reconnecting the drive physically from the computer.
Thanks for the reply, my power button doesn’t appear to do anything, it won’t power up pressing the button while the computer is running, and doesn’t shut down pressing the button, sometimes it powers up when the computer is powered up, it only powers up while the computer is running if the power or usb cable is unplugged then reconnected.
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Hi! I just got my first external drive from WD, a 4tb Elements Desktop on Win 10 and I have the same issue as @micken - any new information? I for one noticed something:
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computer on, HDD running, led is on - eject from windows - HDD enters stand-by, blinking led (i’d expect it to turn off completely, why is it still blinking?)
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computer on, HDD running (but idle), led is on - press power button and hold pressed for 4-5 seconds - HDD restarts and disconnects/reconnects to windows
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computer on, HDD ejected (from case 1), power button does nothing, pressed once, multiple times or held pressed longer. I really would’ve expected it to wake up and reconnect to windows.
So basically, the only way the power button does something while the computer is running is by holding it pressed while it’s connected (which is NOT advisable by any means, duh, always safe remove) - and even then it achieves nothing but a restart. Once it’s asleep you can’t wake it up unless you yank and re-plug cables, which i hoped i’d stop doing when i saw that power icon on the button!
So, can anyone provide some insight into what that button actually is and how it’s supposed to work?
Thank you very much for your time!
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Ok, so i went here: Software and Firmware Downloads | WD Support and downloaded/installed the WD Universal Firmware Updater and WD SES and upon restarting my computer the drive’s led was off, and the power button woke up the drive! At least there’s that 
Still nothing while the computer is running though, so i’m not sure if it would’ve done that anyway - but who knows, maybe it helps someone. Cheers.
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I contacted Wd support about the power button not working, here is their reply,
Thank you for contacting Western Digital Customer Service and Support. My name is Bill.
I understand that you would like to know about the power button on your WD Elements Desktop device.
This power button was designed to be used exclusively in conjunction with WD Smartware Pro for Windows software.
This software however is End-of-life and no longer distributed or supported. You can turn the drive off by removing the power cable after safely ejecting the drive from your computer.
How to Safely Remove the USB device from Windows or macOS
Windows & macOS: Safely Remove an External Drive
My apologies for this inconvenience.
If you have any further questions, please reply to this email and we will be happy to assist you further.
Obviously the Wd elements needs redesigning with no power button to stop this confusion.
regards micken
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oh god… WD wd… i was puzzling myself about the “does nothing” power button! Crazy… so, it’s there for a specific task, of a specific software that is not given to the clients? No info on manual? Nothing?
It’s like the Advanced Format drives, that we now NOTHING ABOUT (is there a USB conversion? If we remove the drive it will work on other enclosures or directly connected to a SATA HOST?) ■■■■you WD!
If you feel that your power button is acting up, the most important thing you need to do in order to ensure that you don’t lose access to your device is to turn ON USB debugging and Scheduled Power ON and visit official site
