A flash drive, also called a USB drive, is a type of digital storage. Flash Drives can range from small amounts of storage like 2 gigabytes, to large amounts of storage like 1 terabyte. They are small, about the size of a thumb (which led to the nickname "thumb drive"). It is amazing to fathom that so much storage can be carried around in such a tiny item!
The steps for using a flash drive are quite simple.
1. Locate your USB drive on your computer/laptop.
It should look similar to this. The slots may be on the front, side, or back of your computer. The left picture below shows two types of USB slots. The hole on the top is a USB 2.0 slot. The blue hoe on the bottom is a USB 3.0 slot. The USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 are versions of flash drives. USB 3.0 is the newest and transfers faster than USB 2.0. Most flash drives will work with either, but if you know that your flash drive is a USB 3.0, use the blue slot for the USB 3.0 and your files will transfer faster.
2. Insert your flash drive into a USB port.
Never force the flash drive into the USB slot. Make sure that the flash drive is in the correct position to line up with the USB slot, then try again.
3. Access the flash drive on your computer.
It will take a moment for your computer to recognize the flash drive. You might see a notification pop-up on your desktop that a new device has been discovered. An icon may also appear on your task bar, as seen in the picture below. Once the flash is recognized by the computer, you can access the files on the drive. You can find the flash drive under This PC on a PC or under This Mac on a Mac. From here, you can move files, copy files, and even delete files. If you open windows discovery, you should also see your flash drive listed in the left-side tree.
4. Rename your flash drive.
This is a fun feature because you can be serious, such as just your name, or you can have some fun with the name of the drive. You are limited to 11 characters (including spaces), so be creative! Right click on your mouse while your flash drive is selected. You should see a list appear. Click on Properties. Change the name to whatever you desire.
Click Apply and you are all set.
5. Eject your flash drive before removing it from the USB slot.
This is a good habit because simply pulling the flash drive from the USB port may result in errors. Then you have a great chance of losing your files. Find the icon on your taskbar for the flash drive. Or you can go back to This PC or This Mac. Highlight the icon, or the flash drive, and right click on your mouse. You should see an option to Eject. Press the eject and wait a moment. A notice should appear that it is now safe to remove your hardware (the flash drive). Remove the flash drive from the computer and you are done!
All images in this Flash Drives/USB Drives Guide were screen-captured or photographed by me.
