- 1). Close all open windows and programs. If you leave any programs running, Windows may be unable to remove storage devices.
- 2). Click on the circular system tray button in the lower-right corner of your desktop to expand all of the system tray icons.
- 3). Right-click on the icon with the green arrow and choose the "Safely Remove Hardware" option. A new window will appear with a list of the storage devices currently connected to your computer.
- 4). Highlight the item that you want to remove. In most cases, it will be labeled as "USB Mass Storage Device."
- 5). Press the "Stop" button at the bottom of the window.
- 6). Highlight "USB Mass Storage Device" in the pop-up window again and click "OK."
- 7). Wait until you receive confirmation that the storage device has been safely removed. After that, you can unplug your USB flash drive or external hard drive.
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