Safely Eject an External Drive on Mac

External drives are useful for anyone who doesn’t want to store large numbers of folders on their Mac or doesn’t have the space to do so. One of the most common ways to remove an external drive is to remove the USB, which is understandable – this is the most convenient option.

However, regularly removing your drive this way can cause problems in the future. Therefore, you better avoid it.

So how do you safely eject an external disk drive on Mac? We will present you three different options.

Why You Shouldn’t Pull the Cable to Remove a Drive

If you’re guilty of removing a USB after it’s finished, you’re not alone. Doing so puts files on your external drive at risk.

One of the most common problems resulting from the unsafe removal of an external drive is usually data corruption. Also, if you tend to do this while a file transfer is in progress, you are putting both the drive and files at risk.

If your drive’s data is corrupt, there may not be any way to later recover the files that are there. So, beyond paying for a new device, you could lose months or even years.

Now you know why it’s better to be safe than sorry when removing an external drive. Below you will find three steps on how to perform this action safely.

Remove Drive from Your Desktop

After you install your external drive on your computer, you’ll usually see an icon for it on your desktop when plugged in. Beyond using it to access what’s on the device, you can also remove the driver from there.

Here are the steps you need to take to safely eject your external drive from your desktop.

Stage 1: Close or minimize all windows until you reach your Mac’s desktop.

Step 2: Click Ctrl and trackpad at the same time on your external drive’s icon.

Stage 3: Select “Eject” [drive name]”.

Step 4: Wait for the process to complete. When the logo disappears from your screen, you can pull the cable out.

Extract the Drive Using Finder

Another way to safely eject your drive is with the Finder. This method is especially useful if you have a lot of open windows and you don’t want to minimize or close them. Ejecting your drive via this app is also helpful if for some reason you can’t see the logo on your desktop.

To remove your drive using Finder, you must perform each of the steps listed below.

Stage 1: Open the Finder app or click the logo if it’s already open.

Step 2: On the left side of the app, look where you’ll see the Locations subheading.

Stage 3: Your external drive should be listed under Locations. If so, click with your trackpad while holding down the Ctrl key.

Step 4: Select “Eject” [drive name]”.

Step 5: Unplug the cable when your drive disappears from the screen.

Eject the Drive Using Your Keyboard

A handy and often underutilized shortcut to safely eject your external drive is your keyboard. You can do this on your desktop or in the Finder and the process is pretty simple.

If you prefer to eject your external drive using your Mac keyboard, follow the steps below this text.

Stage 1: In the Finder or on your desktop, click once on your external drive’s icon.

Step 2: Press cmd and E keys at the same time.

Stage 3: When your external drive is lost, feel free to remove the device from the USB drive.

Correct Extraction Keeps Your Files Safe

According to popular belief, the easiest way to remove an external drive is to unplug it. This may seem appropriate. However, doing this repeatedly will make it harder to recover files, or you may need to purchase a new external drive.

The process is far from complicated, although it may take a little longer to safely remove an external drive. And on a Mac, you have many options when it comes to performing this action.

All three of the methods listed in this article take a few seconds at most. Try each one and see which one you think works best for you.