Safely remove a USB drive or SD card from your Mac

Why it happens

Your Mac doesn't always write files to a drive the moment you save them. Ejecting tells it to finish writing and let go of the drive. Pulling the drive out early can damage the files on it and shows a Disk Not Ejected Properly message.

How to fix it

1. Save and close any files you have open from the drive.

2. Open a Finder window and find the drive under Locations in the sidebar.

   Finder›Sidebar›Locations

3. Click the Eject button next to the drive's name. You can also select the drive and press Command-E, or drag its desktop icon to the Trash, which turns into an Eject button.

4. Wait until the drive disappears from the sidebar and the desktop, then unplug it.

Still not fixed?

1. If your Mac says the disk is in use, quit the apps that might be using it and click Eject again. If it still won't eject, log out and back in, or shut down the Mac before unplugging.

2. If the drive isn't in the sidebar, choose Finder, then Settings, click Sidebar and tick External disks.

   Finder›Settings…›Sidebar›External disks

3. If you unplugged a drive without ejecting and its files act strangely, plug it back in and run First Aid on it in Disk Utility.

4. If a drive keeps disconnecting by itself or First Aid finds errors it can't fix, copy your files off and replace it. Contact the drive's maker, or a repair shop or Apple Support if the Mac's port seems to be at fault.