How to Eject a Flash Drive from a Mac

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This wikiHow teaches you how to safely remove a USB drive using a Mac.

Method 1
Method 1 of 2:

Eject Symbol Method

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  1. Step 1 Empty the trash.
    Files in the trash from the flash drive will prevent it being ejected.
  2. Step 2 Open the Finder.
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  3. Step 3 Under Devices, find your flash drive listed.
  4. Step 4 Click on the eject symbol.
  5. Step 5 Wait until the light on your flash drive stops flashing.
  6. Step 6 Remove it from the Mac.
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Method 2
Method 2 of 2:

Drag To Trash Method

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  1. Step 1 Empty the trash.
    Files in the trash from the flash drive will prevent it being ejected.
  2. Step 2 Open the Finder.
  3. Step 3 Under Devices, find your flash drive listed.
  4. Step 4 Drag it to the trash.
  5. Step 5 Wait until the light on your flash drive stops flashing.
  6. Step 6 Remove it from the Mac.
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Tips

  • If you have deleted any files off your flash drive, they are put in the recycle part of the trash. You can't eject the flash drive until you totally empty the trash first.
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Warnings

  • Don't try to remove the flash disk before emptying the trash. OSX can have some hiccups with this if you do, and you may have to restart.
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About This Article

wikiHow is a “wiki,” similar to Wikipedia, which means that many of our articles are co-written by multiple authors. To create this article, volunteer authors worked to edit and improve it over time. This article has been viewed 59,121 times.
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Co-authors: 8
Updated: April 14, 2022
Views: 59,121
Categories: External Storage Devices
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