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Cannot safely eject external drive. Error: This device is currently in use. Close any programs or windows that might be using the device, and then try again

Anonymous
2018-12-09T12:57:09+00:00

This is the second time I have not been able to safely eject an external drive. The first one now will not load up and asks me to format it. I have not done that because it has documents on it that I need to recover. It was a different brand and I think it was a Passport external drive.

This is a Seagate Expansion Portable Drive, 2 TB and has most of my photos and documents on it. The computer shut down before I could eject and I wonder if that is the problem. It keeps telling me " Problem Ejecting USB Attached SCSI (UAS) Mass Storage Device. This device is currently in use. Close any programs or windows that might be using the device, and then try again."

I have closed anything that is running and there is nothing that I can see that is using this device. I am at a loss as to what to do now. I am not someone that works on computers, but just enough to know a little about good use of the computer. I can follow instructions if they are precisely written. I am on a Dell laptop and using Windows 10.

I don't want to just pull the cord out because I think it will then be unusable like the Passport external drive.

Thank you for any help you can give me.

Marsha Savage

***Modify title from: Cannot safely eject my Seagate Expansion Portable Drive***

Windows for home | Windows 10 | Devices and drivers

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

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  1. Anonymous
    2018-12-10T06:05:05+00:00

    Hi RishabhPatel9,

    Thank you for writing to Microsoft Community Forums.

    I understand how frustrating the situation can be. This behavior can occur if there are open handles with any files in the USB Mass Storage Device are in use by another program. To resolve this issue, we need to determine which program is currently running on the device and then close it.

    I suggest you to follow the steps mentioned below and check if it works:

    Method 1: End the task from Task manager .

    1. Press Ctrl+Shift+Esc at the same time on the keyboard.
    2. Under the Process tab, locate the application that is using the USB device.(For ex: Windows Explorer)
    3. Examine the list of processes, if you find any process belonging to the drive or device, simply end all such processes. Check if you can remove the drive now.

    Method 2: Sign out and sign in back.

    1. Press "Ctrl + Alt + Del" at the same time on the keyboard.
    2. Select Sign out. (Note: Make sure you save all the opened files on the computer)
    3. Sign in back to the computer and check if you can eject the drive now.

    You can also run the built in troubleshooter for ‘Automatically diagnose and fix Windows USB problems’.

    Method 3: Eject the USB from Disk Management.

    1. Press Windows and R key together on your Keyboard.
    2. Type diskmgmt.msc and hit enter.
    3. Locate the External drive you want to remove and right click on it, then select Eject. (Note: Sometimes it is located as Offline for External drive, the next time you put the drive back to the computer for use, you need to go back to the Disk Management and turn it to ‘Online’ state.

    If that doesn’t work, I would also suggest you to refer the article from the manufacturer of Seagate on **Windows will not allow me to safely remove my drive.**If you would like me to provide additional advice, simply respond to this thread. I will get notified and I’ll reply to you as soon as I can and let us know if the above steps worked out for you.

    Hope it helps.

    Roohi Taj S​

    Microsoft Community – Moderator

    80+ people found this answer helpful.
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