How to Eject an External Hard Drive

Co-authored by Garnik Ovsepyan

Last Updated: May 5, 2022 Tested

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

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Doing so will bring up the Finder window.
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It appears under the "Devices" section on the left side of the Finder window.

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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]
  X
  Expert Source
  
  Garnik Ovsepyan
  Computer Specialist
  
  Expert Interview. 1 July 2021.} When the trash icon turns into an eject button, release your hold and it will be ejected.
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.

Method 2

Method 2 of 2:

PC

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It's at the bottom-right corner of the desktop screen. ^{[2]
X
Expert Source

Garnik Ovsepyan
Computer Specialist

Expert Interview. 1 July 2021.}
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Doing so will reveal a popup menu.
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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.
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4
Click Eject [Device Name] . Doing so will safely eject the device from your computer, allowing you to remove it from the USB cable.
- On Windows, if you see your device listed in the File Explorer, you can right-click on it and hit "Eject" to eject it. ^{[3]
  X
  Expert Source
  
  Garnik Ovsepyan
  Computer Specialist
  
  Expert Interview. 1 July 2021.}
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.

Expert Q&A

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Question

What happens if I don't eject my external hard drive?

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

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.

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[1]

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Garnik Ovsepyan
Computer Specialist

[2]

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How to Eject an External Hard Drive

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Mac

PC

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