How to Eject USB from Mac

It’s important to know how to safely eject a USB from a Mac in order to avoid corrupting the data you’ve saved to the drive.

Rachel Needell profile image
By
April 04, 2022

Although we can often be in a hurry, it’s vital to know how to safely remove a USB from a Mac to preserve your saved data on the external drive. Luckily, there are a few different ways to eject a USB drive from your Mac. We’ll go over three quick and easy ways to disconnect a USB below.

Related: How to Make the Most of the Mac Dock

Eject USB on Mac with Finder

To safely remove a USB flash drive from a MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, or iMac from Finder:

  1. Open Finder.
  2. Scroll down to Locations in the side navigation.
  3. Click the Eject button right next to the drive name.

How to Eject USB from Mac Using Key Commands

To eject a USB on Mac with key commands:

  1. Make sure the USB window is open, or you have selected the drive you want to eject.
  2. press the Command + E keys at the same time and the USB will automatically eject.

Safely Eject USB on a Mac by Right-Clicking

If, for any reason, the eject button on Finder is not working, you can also eject a USB drive with a right-click (or control-click).

  1. Right-click or control-click on the drive you want to eject.
  2. Select Eject.

These are probably the three simplest and quickest ways to safely eject a USB flash drive from a Mac computer. While going through these steps can sometimes feel like a hassle, it's worth it to protect your files from being lost or corrupted. For more tips and tricks on how to use your Mac, sign up for our Tip of the Day!

Rachel profile pic
written by

Rachel Needell

Rachel Needell is a Feature Writer at iPhone Life, and a poet and author. With 10-plus years of experience working with Apple devices, she specializes in all-things iPad and is a Notes App expert, having worked on both the 2023 iPad Guide and the Notes App Guide. You can usually find her writing in the Daily Tip newsletter as one of our senior Tip writers. Rachel received her Master’s degree in English Literature in 2021 and her most recent work appears in the Winter ’21 edition of New Note Poetry. When she’s not obsessing about Apple products, you can find her voraciously reading fantasy books with her cat in Asheville, North Carolina.
Learn about Rachel

Related topics

How-To Mac Device Management macOS 11.3 macOS 11.4 macOS 11.5 macOS Big Sur 11.2 macOS Catalina 10.15 macOS High Sierra 10.13 macOS Mojave 10.14 macOS Monterey macOS Sierra 10.12

Related Articles