How to safely eject SD drive

[Paul Sherrell]

There is no icon in the hidden icons area in Windows 10 that allows one to safely eject an SD drive. I have an SD drive inserted in my computer and have uploaded the files I want to upload and now I want to remove the SD card without corrupting or destroying the files on it. How does one do this safely?

 

[tomheaverlo]

Have you tried right-clicking the drive letter itself in File Explorer to see if there's an Eject option there?

 

[Trouble]

Can you see the drive in File Explorer?
IF you right click it can you choose eject from the context menu

Sorry Tom, didn't see your post in time.

 

[Paul Sherrell]

I can see the drive in Explorer, but there is no eject button and the expanding options don't include an eject option either.

 

[Trouble]

Sounds like the Operating System is not aware of the proper handling of the drive.
Open device manager, expand disk drives, right click the problem drive and choose properties, select the "Policies" tab and
Make sure that "Quick removal (default) is selected.
IF it is then you shouldn't need the "Safely remove hardware" function.

Disables write caching on the device and in Windows, but you can disconnect the device safely without using the Safely Remove Hardware notification icon.

 

[Saltgrass]

You need to be careful. The SD card itself does not normally need a safe eject. When you do eject you are ejecting the card reader device which may lead to problems reading cards in that device.

 

[Eric Rush]

You need to be careful. The SD card itself does not normally need a safe eject. When you do eject you are ejecting the card reader device which may lead to problems reading cards in that device.

How do I restore the card reader device? I think I may have ejected it, based on this thread. Photos opens when I insert a camera card, but it thinks no device is attached.

 

[Saltgrass]

Eric, the time I ran into the problem I went to the Device manager and checked the USB Hubs for any with the property option shown. Resetting the Hub may help but if it doesn't you might try showing the Hidden Devices from the view menu and look for that device and if it is greyed out, uninstall it there.

Paul may bump into the same situation...

 

[Denbigh Gabbitas]

I have run into this problem from time to time, a storage device of various types - SD card, external disk,.... I now routinely go to Devices and Printers (enter Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Devices and Printers into explorer) and simply remove the device. You are not touching device drivers and Windows will just pick it up next time you plug in. It is pretty easy that way.

 

[David Hurwitz]

You should be able to eject external devices from the arrow in the taskbar on the right side of the screen. If you don't see the arrow, it disappears in tablet mode on touch screen convertibles. Go to laptop mode, click on the arrow and you will see an icon for external devices. You do not need to eject an SD card, but it has been recommended to close out file manager for that card before ejecting to avoid corruption.

 

[enterprisepartnerships]

Denby Gabbitas and Saltgras are both on the right lines.

We have all been trained to eject a device before removal, but if we are so good, we end up with a device which has, in effect, been dismounted, so is no longer available.

Rebooting the device clears the problem, but as Saltgras observes, the SD card will not become corrupt as long as you allow a brief time for any image to be written back to it.

So .. its a feature ... no doubt a fix will appear. Until then, live dangerously !

 

[Nigel J Lloyd]

You should be able to eject external devices from the arrow in the taskbar on the right side of the screen. If you don't see the arrow, it disappears in tablet mode on touch screen convertibles. Go to laptop mode, click on the arrow and you will see an icon for external devices. You do not need to eject an SD card, but it has been recommended to close out file manager for that card before ejecting to avoid corruption.

That worked for me, Thanx David

 

[Doug Koch]

If as in my case, there is no arrow on the desktop taskbar, the only option is to power off both your device and computer before unplugging the connection