How to Eject an External Hard Drive

This wikiHow teaches you how to eject an external hard drive from your computer, allowing you to safely unplug it from the USB port.

Method 1
Method 1 of 2:

Mac

  1. Image titled Eject an External Hard Drive Step 1
    1
    Press ⌥ Option+⌘ Cmd+Space. Doing so will bring up the Finder window.
  2. Image titled Eject an External Hard Drive Step 2
    2
    Click on your External Hard Drive. It appears under the "Devices" section on the left side of the Finder window.
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  3. Image titled Eject an External Hard Drive Step 3
    3
    Click ⏏ next to your device. Doing so will safely eject the device from your computer, allowing you to remove it from the USB cable.
    • If you see your device icon on the desktop, you can drag it over the trash can icon to eject it.[1] When the trash icon turns into an eject button, release your hold and it will be ejected.
  4. 4
    Remove the device from the USB port. If you encounter any errors when ejecting the device, make sure that apps that are reading files on your computer are closed and that no files are being transferred between your device and your computer.
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Method 2
Method 2 of 2:

PC

  1. Image titled Eject an External Hard Drive Step 5
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    From the desktop, locate the notification tray. It's at the bottom-right corner of the desktop screen.[2]
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    2
    Click ⌃. Doing so will reveal a popup menu.
  3. Image titled Eject an External Hard Drive Step 7
    3
    Click Safely Remove Hardware and Eject Media. It's a tiny icon with a usb plug and a green check box.
    • Depending on your menu configuration, this icon is sometimes found directly on the notification tray itself rather than within the popup menu.
  4. Image titled Eject an External Hard Drive Step 8
    4
    Click Eject [Device Name]. Doing so will safely eject the device from your computer, allowing you to remove it from the USB cable.
  5. 5
    Remove the device from the USB port. If you encounter any errors when ejecting the device, make sure that apps that are reading files on your computer are closed and that no files are being transferred between your device and your computer.
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Expert Q&A

  • Question
    What happens if I don't eject my external hard drive?
    Garnik Ovsepyan
    Garnik Ovsepyan
    Computer Specialist
    Garnik Ovsepyan is a Computer Specialist and the Owner of HeliX PC based in Burbank, California. With over 25 years of experience, Garnik specializes in custom computer builds, computer repairs, virus removal, computer tune-ups, hardware and software troubleshooting and installations, diagnostics, and data backup and recovery.
    Garnik Ovsepyan
    Garnik Ovsepyan
    Computer Specialist
    Expert Answer
    There's a 10-15% chance that you could ruin the file system on your hard drive and lose your data.
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Warnings

  • Unplugging a device when an app is using the device risks data corruption, meaning that you will have to reformat the device and lose all the data on it before you can use it again.
    ⧼thumbs_response⧽
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References

  1. ↑ Garnik Ovsepyan. Computer Specialist. Expert Interview. 1 July 2021.
  2. ↑ Garnik Ovsepyan. Computer Specialist. Expert Interview. 1 July 2021.
  3. ↑ Garnik Ovsepyan. Computer Specialist. Expert Interview. 1 July 2021.

About This Article

Garnik Ovsepyan
Co-authored by:
Garnik Ovsepyan
Computer Specialist
This article was co-authored by Garnik Ovsepyan. Garnik Ovsepyan is a Computer Specialist and the Owner of HeliX PC based in Burbank, California. With over 25 years of experience, Garnik specializes in custom computer builds, computer repairs, virus removal, computer tune-ups, hardware and software troubleshooting and installations, diagnostics, and data backup and recovery. This article has been viewed 50,057 times.
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Co-authors: 7
Updated: May 5, 2022
Views: 50,057
Categories: Hard Drives | External Storage Devices
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