Windows Guide · USB & Storage Safety

Safely Remove a Device in Windows 10 & Windows 11: Complete Eject Guide

A practical guide to ejecting USB flash drives, external HDDs, SSDs, SD cards, phones, cameras, and other removable devices without corrupting files or damaging a write operation.

⏱ 8-minute read 💾 USB drives & external disks 🖥 Windows 10 & 11 ✅ Built-in tools only
Overview

Why Safe Removal Matters in Windows 10 and Windows 11

Safely Remove Hardware tells Windows to finish all pending read and write operations, close the device handle, and prepare the removable device for physical unplugging. This matters most for USB flash drives, external hard drives, external SSDs, and memory cards.

Unplugging a drive while Windows, an app, antivirus software, backup software, or File Explorer is still writing to it can cause file corruption, incomplete copies, damaged archives, or a file system error that later requires repair.

Safe rule: if the device stores files and you copied, moved, deleted, edited, downloaded, recorded, backed up, or synchronized anything on it, eject it before unplugging it.
💾 Best for USB drives, external HDDs, SSDs, SD cards
⚠️ Risk File corruption during active writes
🧰 Tools Taskbar, File Explorer, Settings, classic dialog
Device Types

Which Devices Should Be Safely Removed in Windows?

Use safe removal for storage devices and devices that expose removable storage to Windows. The exact name may appear as USB Mass Storage Device, Generic Flash Disk, External USB 3.0, or a manufacturer-specific model name.

🔌
USB flash drives
Always eject after copying, deleting, editing, or downloading files to the drive.
🧱
External HDDs and SSDs
Eject before unplugging, especially if backup, indexing, or sync software may be active.
📷
SD cards and cameras
Use safe removal before taking out a card or disconnecting a camera with mounted storage.
📱
Phones and media players
Eject when they appear as storage devices or when files are being transferred by cable.
ℹ️
Note Keyboards, mice, webcams, USB headsets, Bluetooth adapters, and most printers usually do not need the Safely Remove Hardware command because they do not expose a writable file system.
Method 1

How to Safely Remove Hardware from the Windows Taskbar

The taskbar notification area is the standard method for ejecting removable storage. It works in both Windows 10 and Windows 11.

  1. Finish copying, moving, deleting, or editing files on the removable drive.
  2. Close apps that may be using files from the drive, including document editors, media players, archive tools, and backup software.
  3. Click the Safely Remove Hardware and Eject Media icon in the notification area near the clock.
  4. If the icon is hidden, click the small arrow for hidden icons and then click the safe removal icon.
  5. Choose the correct device, for example Eject USB Drive or the drive model name.
  6. Wait for the message that it is safe to remove the hardware, then unplug the device.
⚠️
Important If several USB drives are connected, check the drive letter and device name before clicking Eject. Removing the wrong drive can interrupt another file operation.
Method 2

How to Eject a USB Drive from File Explorer

If the taskbar icon is missing or hard to access, use File Explorer. This is often the fastest safe method when the drive has a visible drive letter.

  1. Open File Explorer.
  2. Select This PC in the left pane.
  3. Find the removable drive under Devices and drives.
  4. Right-click the drive and select Eject.
  5. Wait until the drive disappears or Windows confirms that it can be safely removed.
  6. Unplug the device from the USB port, card reader, dock, or hub.
Tip: If you are not sure which drive is which, compare the drive letter, size, volume label, and free space before ejecting it.
Method 3

How to Remove a Connected Device from Windows Settings

Windows Settings can remove some connected devices from the system. This is useful for Bluetooth devices, paired peripherals, and some USB devices, but for storage drives the taskbar or File Explorer eject option is usually better.

Windows 11

Settings›Bluetooth & devices›Devices
  1. Open Settings with Win + I.
  2. Go to Bluetooth & devices, then open Devices.
  3. Find the device, open the three-dot menu, and choose Remove device if available.

Windows 10

Settings›Devices›Bluetooth & other devices
  1. Open Settings with Win + I.
  2. Open Devices, then select Bluetooth & other devices.
  3. Select the device and click Remove device if the option is shown.
💡
Best use Use Settings to unpair or remove a device from Windows. Use Eject when your goal is to safely unplug a storage drive without data loss.
Method 4

Open the Classic Safely Remove Hardware Dialog

Windows still includes the classic safe removal window. It is useful when the taskbar icon is missing, broken, or hidden by notification area settings.

  1. Press Win + R to open Run.
  2. Paste the command below and press Enter.
  3. Select the device you want to remove.
  4. Click Stop, confirm the device, and wait for Windows to say it is safe to remove it.
Run commandRunDll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL hotplug.dll

You can also create a desktop shortcut with the same command if you often eject external drives from a workstation, laptop dock, or USB hub.

Troubleshooting

Fix “This Device Is Currently in Use” When Ejecting a USB Drive

The message This device is currently in use means Windows cannot safely detach the device because a file, folder, app, service, or system process still has an open handle on it.

Try these fixes first

  1. Close all File Explorer windows that show the removable drive.
  2. Close documents, photos, videos, archives, installers, or portable apps opened from the drive.
  3. Pause backup, sync, antivirus scan, download manager, or media library software.
  4. Wait 10–30 seconds after a file copy finishes, then try Eject again.
  5. Open Task Manager and close apps that may be using the drive.
  6. If the drive still will not eject, sign out or shut down Windows before unplugging it.

Use Resource Monitor to find the locking process

Resource Monitor can help you find which process is using a file on the removable drive.

  1. Press Win + R, type resmon, and press Enter.
  2. Open the CPU tab.
  3. Expand Associated Handles.
  4. Search for the drive letter, for example E:\.
  5. Close the application shown in the result, then try ejecting again.
⛔
Avoid Do not unplug an external hard drive or SSD while its activity LED is blinking heavily or while Windows is copying, formatting, encrypting, scanning, or repairing the drive.
Drive Policy

Quick Removal vs Better Performance: Which Policy Should You Use?

Windows can use different removal policies for removable storage. The policy affects write caching and how careful you need to be when disconnecting the device.

Quick removal

This policy reduces write caching for the device. It is safer for casual unplugging, but you should still use Eject after copying files or when the drive was recently active.

Better performance

This policy may improve performance by enabling write caching. Safe removal becomes more important because data may remain cached before it is written to the drive.

Check or change the removal policy

  1. Right-click Start and open Disk Management.
  2. Find the removable drive in the lower disk list.
  3. Right-click the disk label on the left side, not the partition bar, and choose Properties.
  4. Open the Policies tab.
  5. Select Quick removal or Better performance, then click OK.
⚠️
Recommendation For ordinary USB flash drives, Quick removal is usually the most convenient option. For external SSDs used for large projects, backups, or media editing, use the policy you need but always eject before unplugging.
Practical Rules

When You Do Not Need Safely Remove Hardware

Not every USB device needs to be ejected. Safe removal is mainly about storage and active file writes. For non-storage peripherals, unplugging is normally safe when the device is not being updated or actively configured.

Device Safe removal needed? Best practice
USB flash drive Yes Use Eject before unplugging, especially after file operations.
External HDD or SSD Yes Always eject or shut down Windows before disconnecting.
SD card reader Yes Eject before removing the card from the reader.
Keyboard, mouse, headset Usually no Unplug normally unless firmware update software is running.
Phone connected by USB Sometimes Eject if it appears as storage or if file transfer mode is active.

✅ Key Takeaway

For removable storage, the safest habit is simple: finish the file operation, close programs that use the drive, click Eject, wait for confirmation, and only then unplug the device.

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions About Safely Removing Devices in Windows

Q Is it really necessary to safely remove a USB drive in Windows 11? ▼
It is strongly recommended after any file operation. Windows may use quick removal for many USB drives, but ejecting still helps prevent corruption when applications, antivirus scans, indexing, or delayed writes are active.
Q What happens if I unplug a drive without ejecting it? ▼
Often nothing obvious happens, especially if the drive is idle. The risk appears when Windows or an app is still writing data. In that case, files may become incomplete, the file system may need repair, or the copied data may be unusable.
Q Why does Windows say the device is in use when everything is closed? ▼
A background process may still be using it. Common causes include File Explorer preview, antivirus scanning, backup software, cloud sync, media indexing, portable apps, or a command window opened inside a folder on the drive.
Q Can I remove an external drive after shutting down Windows? ▼
Yes. A full shutdown closes file handles and stops normal disk activity, so disconnecting an external drive after the PC is powered off is safe.
Q Why is there no Eject option for my USB device? ▼
The device may not be a storage device, may not expose removable storage, or may be managed by a driver that does not provide an eject command. Keyboards, mice, webcams, and many adapters usually do not show an eject option.
Q Is “Remove device” in Settings the same as “Eject”? ▼
Not always. Remove device is mainly for removing or unpairing a device from Windows. Eject is the correct action for safely disconnecting removable storage.