Introduction to How to Eject External Hard Drive
If you are searching for how to eject external hard drive windows 10? Then read this article to explore methods about how to safely eject external hard drive windows 10.
When you work on your PC, often, you must have used an external hard drive like Pen Drive or Flash drive. But, you did not bother to remove the hard disk properly, and in this process, the HDD got damaged. This incident is quite common and one of the main factors behind data loss.
Let us first learn about the use of an external drive.
Importance of external HDD
If you are a computer worker, then you must be familiar with the working of external hard drives. The external HDD or disks are quite a useful resource in the world of electronic data.
It acts as a storage station to contain your local data backup. Expanding your machine’s internal memory with an external device makes it possible.
It is used as a resource to share data with others. You can even use it to create backup servers. This external HDD comes in the form of USB Pen Drives, USB Flash Drives, SD Cards, DVD, CD, etc.
Why is it important to eject the external hard drive?
You cannot make out whether your computer is still accessing or writing files to the external storage devices we use. Removing a card out of its reader or removing an external drive out of the USB port could cause both or either corrupted files or unreadable media. Taking care of safely removing the external hard drive can decrease these chances.
When working on a Windows-based computer or a Mac, you can safely remove your external storage devices using built-in utilities designed for disconnecting hardware. But, how to eject external hard drive windows 10?
Manual Methods to safely eject external hard drive windows 10
Let us learn about how to eject external hard drive windows 10 in 3 ways.
Method 1: Take help from Desktop
- Make sure to first save any open documents you have on the flash drive. The easiest way to do this in an open window is to hold down Ctrl and press S.
- Locate the “Eject” icon. For that, look for the rectangular, flash drive-shaped icon with a checkmark next to it. It lives in the row of options that are in the bottom-right corner of the screen, though you may first need to click the upward-facing arrow next to the battery option.
- When you click the “Eject” icon, it will invoke a drop-down menu.
- Again, Click Eject, see this option at the bottom of the drop-down menu. You can explore it as it traditionally says something like Eject SDHC (F:) with your flash drive’s name written after the “Eject” prompt.
- Pause for the “Safe to Remove Hardware” prompt. Later this notification appears on the bottom-right side of your computer’s screen, your flash drive is ready for removal.
- Softly, tug the flash drive away from your computer. Now, each time you plug your flash drive into your computer, all of your files should be as you left them.
If you did not find this method useful and want to know how to safely eject external hard drive windows 10, then read on.
Method 2: Solve with This PC Program
- Ensure to save any open documents you have on the flash drive. You can do this in an open window by holding down Ctrl and press S.
- Open the Start menu. For doing so, you can make use of the Windows icon in the bottom-left corner of the screen, or you can press the Windows key on your computer’s keyboard. Opening the Start menu will automatically show your mouse cursor in the “Search” bar.
- Type in this pc will search your computer for the “This PC” program.
- Tick the “This PC” icon. You can find it as a computer monitor-shaped image at the top of the Start menu’s search window. Doing so will show This PC.
- Track your flash drive’s name. It gets displayed below the “Devices and drives” heading that’s in the middle of the page; typically, your flash drive will be available on the right side of this page.
You’ll usually view “(E:)” or “(F:)” after the flash drive’s name.
- Do a Right-click on your flash drive’s name, A drop-down menu will appear.
- Select Eject, locate it near the middle of the drop-down menu. Later, when you have done this, the flash drive’s name should disappear from This PC window.
- Stay till the “Safe to Remove Hardware” prompt shows. Later you get notification displays on the bottom-right side of your computer’s screen, your flash drive is ready for removal.
- Slide Out gently the flash drive away from your computer.
This method did not get you satisfactory results, and still, the thought about how to eject external hard drive windows 10 persists, then read on.
Method 3: Work with Quick Removal
- Firstly, make sure your flash drive is attached to your computer. Fast ejection is a Windows service that arranges your flash drive for a no-eject removal, meaning you can unplug the flash drive when you’re done with it. To switch on Quick Removal, your flash drive must currently be plugged in.
Make a note that you can’t set up Quick Removal for an SD card.
- Next, do Right-click the Start button. Locate it as the Windows logo in the bottom-left corner of the screen. Doing that will invoke a pop-up menu.
You can even hold down Windows and tap the X key to bring up the pop-up menu.
- After that, Click Device Manager, find it toward the top of the pop-up menu.
- Next, Click the > to the left of “Disk Drives”. Look towards the top of the Device Manager window to find the Disk Drive. After you click the arrow to the left of it, reveals the list of your computer’s disk drives, which happens to include your currently attached flash drive.
- The flash drive’s name will vary, but you will usually see “USB” in its title, then Right-click your flash drive’s name.
- Click Properties as you find this option is at the bottom of the right-click drop-down menu.
- Snap Policies at the top of the “Properties” window.
- Select the Quick removal option near the top of this window.
- Finally, Click OK. It will enable Quick Removal for this specific flash drive. When you have used the flash drive, you can physically remove it from your computer without going through the “Eject” process.
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Conclusion
This blog is to help users with how to eject external hard drive windows 10. We have shared here manual methods to safely remove the hard disk.
But if you lost HDD files due to a mishap, then get assured results with the use of Removable Media Data Recovery v1.0.