It’s a warning that many people have already been ignoring for years, but now Microsoft has finally admitted that you don’t need to ‘safely remove’ USB drives.
The tech giant has updated Windows 10’s default setting for USB and Thunderbolt-enabled external devices.
Microsoft said: “This policy manages storage operations in a manner that keeps the device ready to remove at any time.
“You can remove the device without using the Safely Remove Hardware process.”
Microsoft could launch disc-less Xbox One S console in May, rumours suggest
Essentially, this means that you can feel free to yank out that USB, without having to click ‘safely remove’.
Many Windows users have taken to Twitter to discuss the news.
One user said: “Good. Never bothered to do so even in the beginning & so in my own shoddy way, learned years ago that it’s not as imp as windows claims.”
Another joked: “After many years of politely suggesting, Microsoft finally accepts that nobody safely removes USB devices.”
The one downside to the update is that this default 'Quick Removal' may 'degrade system performance', according to Microsoft.
Microsoft launches HoloLens 2 mixed reality headset with eye-watering price tag
Thankfully, if this is a worry for you, you can easily revert to the previous 'Better Performance' option:
1. Connect USB to the computer
2. Right-click Start, and then select File Explorer.
3. In File Explorer, identify the letter or label that is associated with the device (for example, USB Drive (D:)).
4. Right-click Start, and then select Disk Management.
5. In the lower section of the Disk Management window, right-click the label of the device, and then click Properties.
6. Select Policies, and then select the policy you want to use.
