This is an age-old million dollar question. Do you really need to ‘safely remove‘ usb drive in windows? Tech experts keep suggesting you to do so to prevent data corruption or loss. But you have removed it so many times without clicking on ‘safely remove’ to self declare that it’s not really needed. But what does the maker of Windows has to say about it? Microsoft finally has a response. In short No, You do not really need to safely eject your usb drive but there is a catch. Microsoft had a reason to keep the option active for so long and will continue to do so. Lets look at their response in detail.
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To be clear the ‘safely remove’ usb drive option will continue to be a part of the system tray for the foreseeable future. Microsoft has confirmed that though it stays it’s not something you need to worry about. Windows 10 now comes with feature called ‘Quick removal’ that allows you to remove a usb drive when ever needed. Obviously removing a drive when it being used or files being copied will lead to data loss or corruption. Quick removal will now be the default setting in all builds of windows henceforth.
Although the update has been in effect since the October of 2018, only now has Microsoft started instructing IT professionals of this change and widespread implementation. We need to also remember that Microsoft did have protection mechanisms in place as far back as Windows 7.
Conclusion
So assuming you have the latest build of windows and the drive is not in use, remember that you are free to pull out the USB device when and as you wish! make sure to tell everyone you know as this question has remained for ages and its time to close it once and for all.
If at any point you do have a doubt that an application is using the drive in the background you can always go to the trusty ‘safely remove’ option. However for smartphones we still do recommend clicking on eject drive while using OTG usb drives. Smartphones don’t yet have such mechanisms and can result in a bad USB drive.