How to Save, Copy, and Download Files to a Flash Drive

This wikiHow teaches you how to move, save, and download files onto a USB flash drive plugged into your Windows or Mac computer. We'll also cover some troubleshooting tips to help if your flash drive isn't working properly.

Saving Files to a Thumb Drive

Plug your USB drive into your computer.
Open your computer's file explorer.
Select the file you want on your computer.
Copy and paste (CTRL + C on Windows or Command + C on Mac) or right-click on the file and select "Copy."
Click on the USB drive in your file explorer.
Paste (CTRL + V on Windows or Command + V on Mac) the file onto the drive.

Section 1 of 6:

Identifying and Attaching Your Drive

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If you have a laptop, the USB ports are probably on the left or right side of the housing. Desktop users may find the USB ports on the back or the front of the desktop tower, though iMacs have the USB ports on the back of the monitor itself.^{[1]
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Determine your computer's USB port type. There are two main types of USB ports found on modern computers:
- USB 3.0: A thin, rectangular slot that's about 3/4 of an inch (a little under two centimeters) wide. You should see a chunk of plastic in the upper half of this slot. Most computers have these ports.
  - You may also see these referred to as USB-A or just USB ports.
- USB-C: A thin, oval slot that's about 1/2 of an inch (a little over a centimeter) wide. These are most commonly found on Mac computers and modern Windows computers.
  - If your computer has both types of ports, you're free to use whichever port you like, depending on your USB flash drive type.
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Figure out which type of flash drive you have. Look at the metal connector end of your flash drive:
- If the connector is rectangular and has a plastic piece occupying part of it, you have a USB 3.0 flash drive.
  - USB 3.0 drives can also be very thin without a plastic piece inside, but they will still be wider than a USB-C port.
- If the connector is small, oval, and has no plastic piece inside, you have a USB-C flash drive.
If the flash drive you want to use is USB 3.0 but your computer only has USB-C ports, you'll need to buy a USB-C adapter and plug it into a USB-C port on your computer.
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Plug your flash drive into your computer. Never force the drive into your computer. If the drive won't insert, try flipping it over.^{[2]
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Research source} This is most common with USB 3.0 drives, as USB-C drives can be inserted either way.
- If you're using a USB-C adapter, you'll plug your USB flash drive into the USB 3.0 slot in the adapter instead.

Section 2 of 6:

Copying Files on Windows

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Click the folder-shaped File Explorer window in the taskbar, or press ⊞ Win+E.^{[3]
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2
Copy your file. Go to the location of the file you want to copy, then click once on the file and press Ctrl+C.
- If you want to copy multiple files, hold down Ctrl while clicking each file you want to copy.
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Click your flash drive's name. It's in pane on the left-hand side of the File Explorer window, though you may first have to scroll down on the left side of the window.
- If you don't see your flash drive's name, click This PC in the left-hand pane, then double-click it in the "Devices and drives" section.
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Paste in the file(s). Click a blank space in the flash drive's window, then press Ctrl+V. You should see your copied file(s) appear in the File Explorer window.
- If you want to paste the file(s) inside a specific folder on your flash drive, double-click the folder before pasting in the files.
- Alternatively, you can drag and drop the file into your flash drive in File Explorer. Simply click on the file, then drag it over to the flash drive in the left-hand sidebar. Release the mouse button to copy your file to the drive.
Eject the flash drive before removing it. If you don't properly eject your flash drive, you may corrupt the data on it.^{[4]
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Go to source} To eject your flash drive, click the flash drive-shaped icon in the lower-right corner of the screen (you may first have to click
here), then click Eject Flash Drive.
Remove the USB drive. After ejecting the drive, you can pull it out of your computer by gently tugging on it.

Section 3 of 6:

Copying Files on Mac

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Click the blue face icon in the Dock.
2
Copy your file. Go to the location of the file you want to copy, then click once on the file and press ⌘ Command+C.
- If you want to copy multiple files, hold down ⌘ Cmd while clicking each file you want to copy.
Click your flash drive's name in the lower-left side of the Finder window. You'll find it under the "Locations" heading.
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Paste in your copied file(s). Press ⌘ Command+V to do so. You should see your copied file(s) appear in the Finder window.
- If you want to paste the file(s) inside a specific folder on your flash drive, double-click the folder before pasting in the files.
- Alternatively, you can drag and drop the file into your flash drive in Finder. Simply click on the file, then drag it over to the flash drive in the left-hand sidebar. Release the mouse button to copy your file to the drive.
If you don't properly eject your flash drive, you may corrupt its data. To eject your flash drive, open Finder, then click the "Eject" icon to the right of the flash drive's name in the bottom-left side of the window.
After ejecting the drive, you can pull it out of your computer by gently tugging on it.

Section 4 of 6:

Saving Files to a Flash Drive

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1
Plug in your flash drive, then open the program you want to use. Use your computer's Start
menu (Windows) or Spotlight menu (Mac) to search for the program if necessary.
- It's best not to save directly to your flash drive. While you can do it, it's not recommended. Flash drives sometimes don't connect well with your computer, and some programs handle temporary files in ways that don't mesh well with flash drives. This means that saving directly to your flash drive can increase the risk of your files becoming corrupted, resulting in lost data.
- The best way to save files to your flash drive is to save them on your computer, then copy them to your flash drive. That way, if the file does corrupt, you can delete the copy on your flash drive and still have an uncorrupted version saved on your computer.
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Create your file, if necessary. If you're using the program to create a new file on your flash drive, create it before proceeding.
- Skip this step if you just want to save a copy of the file to your flash drive.
3
Open the "Save As" window. If the document hasn't been saved before, you can just press Ctrl+S (Windows) or ⌘ Command+S (Mac) to bring up this window. Otherwise, do the following:^{[5]
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- Windows: Click File, then click Save As. If you're using Microsoft Office, double-click This PC after clicking Save As to open File Explorer.
- Mac: Click File, then click Save As... or Save a Copy… in the resulting drop-down menu.
If you want to add a different name to your file, type it into the "File name" (Windows) or the "Name" or “Save As” (Mac) text box.
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Select your flash drive. Click your flash drive's name in the lower-left side of the window. You may first have to scroll down on the left side.
- On a Mac, you may have to click the Where drop-down box, then select your flash drive from the menu or on the left side of the Finder window. In some apps (like Word), you can click the button that says either On My Mac or Online Locations to switch between locations on your local hard drive or your linked cloud storage services.
It's in the bottom-right corner of the window. This will cause your file to be saved to your flash drive.
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Eject the flash drive before removing it. If you don't eject the flash drive properly, your data may get corrupted. Here's how to eject it safely:
- Windows: Click the flash drive-shaped icon in the lower-right corner of the screen (you may first have to click
  here), then click Eject Flash Drive.^{[6]
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- Mac: Open Finder, then click the "Eject" icon to the right of the flash drive's name in the bottom-left side of the window.
After ejecting the drive, you can pull it out of your computer by gently tugging on it.

Section 5 of 6:

Downloading onto a Flash Drive

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If you want to download a file from the Internet onto your USB flash drive, open a web browser (e.g., Chrome).
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Make sure download confirmation is enabled. Most browsers will automatically download into your computer's default "Downloads" folder, but you can prompt your browser to ask you where to save your files by doing the following:
- Chrome: Click ⋮ in the top-right corner, click Settings, click Downloads in the left-hand sidebar, and toggle on the "Ask where to save each file before downloading" switch if it's grey.
- Edge: Click ⋯ in the top-right corner, click Settings, click Downloads in the left-hand sidebar, and toggle on the "Ask where to save each file before downloading" switch if it's grey.
- Safari: Click Safari in the top-left corner, click Settings, click the "File download location" drop-down, and select Ask for each download.
- Firefox: Click ☰ in the top-right corner, click Settings, scroll down to the "Files and Applications" section, and check the "Always ask you where to save files" box.
In your web browser, navigate to the page or service from which you want to download a file.
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Click the Download button or link. How this looks will vary depending on what you are downloading. Indicating that you want to download a file will open a pop-up window.
- If you're trying to save a picture, right-click the image and select Save image as (or a similar option).
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Select your USB flash drive. When prompted to select a save location, click your flash drive's name in the left-hand menu, then click Save. Doing so will cause the file to download directly onto your flash drive.
- On a Mac, you may click Choose instead of Save.
- If you want to save a file inside a specific folder on your flash drive, double-click the folder before clicking Save.
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Eject the flash drive before removing it. If you don't eject the flash drive properly, your data may get corrupted. Here's how to eject it safely:
- Windows: Click the flash drive-shaped icon in the lower-right corner of the screen (you may first have to click
  here), then click Eject Flash Drive.^{[7]
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  Go to source}
- Mac: Open Finder, then click the "Eject" icon to the right of the flash drive's name in the bottom-left side of the window.
After ejecting the drive, you can pull it out of your computer by gently tugging on it.

Section 6 of 6:

Troubleshooting

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1
Ensure the drive isn't full. USB drives tend to fill up quickly—especially older drives with limited storage. Try clearing out some files that you don't need if your drive is full.
- You can quickly clear a drive of files by dragging the files in question into your computer's Recycle Bin (Windows) or Trash (Mac).
Many USB drives cannot store files larger than 4 GB. If you need to transfer files larger than this, you'll have to format the USB drive with a different file system. See the next step for details.
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Format the USB drive. Formatting allows you to change the file system of the flash drive, which is handy if you need to store files larger than 4 gigabytes or set up the flash drive for use on your computer. Formatting will erase the flash drive's contents.^{[8]
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- If you want to store files larger than 4 gigabytes, select exFAT (Windows) or ExFAT (Mac).
- Flash drives formatted for Windows-only use aren't compatible with Mac computers, and vice versa. Formatting the flash drive for a compatible format will fix this issue.
- When a drive is formatted, all its contents are deleted. If you don't want to lose this data, back it up to your computer or another drive before continuing.
1. And if the steps above have been helpful, be sure to download this article as a PDF so you can print, read, or reference it any time.

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Question

Can I add more files to a flash drive that is already holding information, or do I have to format it first?

Community Answer

It depends. If your flash drive has enough space to support more information, then you do not need to format it first. You can just keep adding files to it until it runs out of space. If the information to be added does exceed the storage capacity, you will need to remove some files first, or format the drive to completely remove all existing files.

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Question

Can I save items more than once on a USB drive?

Community Answer

Yes, you can. USB drives are not like DVDs. You can keep adding files to a USB drive until you run out of space. You can also delete files from your USB drive that you no longer need.

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Question

What if I can't find the USB drive to save to?

Community Answer

Open the Start Menu, click Computer in the right hand pane, and the drive should show up in the Computer Explorer window that opens. It could have various names, but it will be something other than drive C: and the DVD drive. If it doesn't show up, it may have formatting or other issues and the computer isn't reading it.

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