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Who has never hesitated when removing a USB stick or any other USB device from a computer? 8217; a single swipe of its support simply because of laziness or else indicate to your computer with a few mouse clicks that you are going to remove it or it. We have all asked ourselves this question once: is prior ejection necessary? The answer is yes; we explain why.
A simple gesture to avoid loss and damage
When you connect a USB device to its computer, a myriad of data transfers invisible to the naked eye take place quietly. Carelessly removing this accessory, without first ejecting it, risks interrupting these information flows, resulting in potential corruption or even irremediable loss of data in transfer. This negligence would be akin to abruptly closing a book in the middle of a sentence, condemning you to confusion the next time you open it.
< p>Modern operating systems, such as Windows and macOS (the Sequoia version of which will arrive this fall), have conceptualized a technique called “write caching.” By this method, the data is first temporarily stored in RAM before being transferred to the target device. Therefore, ejecting the accessory guarantees the full routing of this information before disconnection. This simple gesture thus prevents any risk of corrupted data or truncated files, which could occur if the latter had not been able to be completely transferred from the memory cache.
Carelessly unplugging a device, without first ejecting it, can even cause physical damage. Certain devices may suffer irreversible damage if they are disconnected unexpectedly while still operating.
Although this precaution does not apply to devices without storage capabilities, such as mice or keyboards, it is still essential for USB keys, external hard drives and SD cards. Please note: the risk of damage or loss is still limited if the device is not writing.< /p>
If you are a Windows fan, eject your device using the “ Safely Remove Hardware Hidden icons ”. If you are on macOS, open Finder and on the left under the “ Locations ” section, find your device and click on the #8217;“ Eject ” icon to the right of your device name. A very simple habit to adopt that can save you a lot of inconvenience.
- Eject a USB storage device virtually before doing it physically is necessary, whether on Mac or PC.
- If not done correctly when it is in writing, this can cause a loss of data during transfer.
- Without this manipulation, certain peripherals may even be damaged.
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