Search Our Support Knowledge Base

Find product articles and support information.

Consequences of an Unsafe USB Flash and External Drive Removal


Failure to safely eject the drive before disconnecting it can result in:

  • Damage to the file system.
  • Data corruption.
  • A read-only condition.

All devices can be affected by not safely ejecting.

The drive icon should disappear from the Safely Remove Hardware section after clicking eject. The drive is then safe to be unplugged.

If the device continues to work after clicking Safely Eject:

  1. Wait a few seconds for the drive to disappear.
  2. Click the Safely Eject button again.

Windows will present this error message if the drive is still in use when trying to eject.

Image

Need more help?
Answer ID 16330: Problem Ejecting an External Drive on Windows

Details
Answer ID 16458
Published 08/20/2018 02:20 AM
Updated 11/30/2023 10:55 AM

Please rate the helpfulness of this answer