How to Remove a Flash Drive (USB) from a Windows 10 Computer

Use the desktop taskbar

Save any open documents on the flash drive. The easiest way to do this is to press the Ctrl+ key combination Son each open window.

Find the "Eject" button with a rectangular flash drive icon with a check mark next to it. The action is in the row of options in the lower right corner of the screen, but you may need to click the up arrow to the left of these options first to find it.

Click the "Eject" icon. A drop-down menu will pop up.

Click Eject . It's at the bottom of the drop-down menu. The option usually says something like Eject SDHC (E:) with the drive letter after the word "Eject".

Wait for the "Safe to Remove Hardware" message to appear. After this message appears at the bottom right of the screen, you can remove the USB.

Gently remove the USB from the computer. The drive will slide out. The next time you plug the flash drive into your computer, the data on it will still be the same as the last time you took it out of the computer.

Use the program This PC

Save any open documents on the flash drive. The easiest way to do this is to press the Ctrl+ key combination Son each open window.

Open the Start menu. Click the Windows icon in the lower left corner of the screen, or press the key ⊞ Winon your computer keyboard. When the Start menu opens, the mouse pointer will automatically be in the "Search" bar.

Type this pc. The "This PC" program will be found on the computer.

Click "This PC" with the computer desktop icon. The program is at the top of the Start menu's search window. This PC will open.

Find the name of your flash drive. The USB will appear under the "Devices and drives" heading in the middle of the page; Normally, the flash drive will be on the right side of the page.

You will often see "(E:)" or "(F:)" after the flash drive name.

Right-click the flash drive name. A drop-down menu will appear.

Click Eject near the middle of the drop-down menu. The flash drive name will then disappear from the This PC window.

Wait for the "Safe to Remove Hardware" message to appear. After this message appears at the bottom right of the screen, you can remove the USB.

Gently remove the USB from the computer. The drive will slide out. The next time you plug the flash drive into your computer, the data on it will still be the same as the last time you took it out of the computer.

Turn on Quick Removal

You need to make sure that the flash drive is attached to the computer. Quick Removal is a Windows service that will format a flash drive into a device that can be disconnected without going through the "Eject" process, meaning once you're done you just need to remove the USB. To turn on Quick Removal, your USB must be plugged into your computer.

You cannot set up Quick Removal for SD memory cards.

Right click the Start button. This is the Windows icon in the lower left corner of the screen. A menu will pop up.

You can also press the key ⊞ Winand press Xto open this menu.

Click Device Manager . The option is at the top of the pop-up menu.

Click the mark >to the left of "Disk Drives". The Disk Drives section is at the top of the Device Manager window. After clicking the arrow on the left of the option, a list of drives on your computer will appear including your connected USB.

Right-click the flash drive name. Flash drive names can vary, but will usually have the word "USB" inside the title.

Click Properties . The option is at the bottom of the right-click drop-down menu.

Click Policies . This tab is at the top of the "Properties" window.

Click the Quick removal option near the top of the window.

Click OK . Quick Removal will be enabled for the specific flash drive. Once done, you can remove the USB from the computer without going through the "Eject" process.

Marvin Fry

Update 21 June 2024