Directions - Google Drive - Transfer Files to Removable Drive

The most common removable Drive is called a Jump Drive or a Thumb Drive because it is a small thumb sized device that plugs into a USB port. You can transfer files onto it and then open them on another device provided the second device has the software to open and edit the files you transferred.

Step 1

Get a Thumb drive. Unless you have a lot of data a 16 MB sized drive should work. Check with your library as they often have several that have been left in lost and found.

Step 2

Plug the thumb drive into the USB port on your laptop. This may cause the system to process for a few moments and may open the folder mentioned in the next step.

Step 3

Open the thumb drive folder by double clicking the icon that appears on your desktop or by going to the file folder at the bottom in the taskbar and opening the PC files to find the drive.

Step 4

Reduce the window so you can still see the destination folder.

Step 5

Navigate to and then select the file(s) or folder(s) you would like on the thumb drive. The items in your Google Drive should be synchronized with the files in your G:Drive on your laptop.

Step 6

Select the icons for the files you want transferred and hold down on the mouse button as you drag them over into the destination file. You may notice the icon for the files you are dragging changes to display a + symbol when you are over a location where you can drop the file(s). Alternatively you can right click a file or folder and select 'Download'. If it is a large amount of data it will compress it into a Zip file. When processing is done you will be asked where to save the files and should select your USB drive which is usually drive D:.

Step 7

When you are over the destination file, release the mouse to drop in the files. There should be a little processing time.

Step 8

Select the option to eject the thumb drive before pulling it out of the USB port. This ensures all file transfering is complete and the thumb drive is not processing anything so it is safe to remove. Access the option to eject the Thumb drive in the lower right corner of the Taskbar.

Step 9

Plug the thumb drive into any other device and run the files from the thumb drive or transfer them onto the next device by dragging them onto the new device.

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