External drives · Checking your drive
What does the Validate button in the Inspect window check?
Short answer: Validate re-checks that the fast drive is connected, prepared and usable, and shows Valid or Invalid with specific reasons. It only reads — nothing on the drive is changed.
Validate re-checks that your fast drive is connected, is the drive Storage Studio prepared, and is in a usable state, then shows the result in a card below the buttons: green Valid, or red Invalid with a list of specific reasons.
It's a read-only check — nothing on the drive is changed. If it reports a problem, the reasons tell you what to fix; the most common are a drive that isn't mounted (reconnect it) or one that isn't prepared (set it up with Choose Drive or the setup wizard).