Hi. And thanks in advance for simply being here! You're much appreciated.

In Windows, I know it's important to click the icon before removing a flash drive. Is there an equivalent in Linux, or does it depend on the distro? I'm so Pavlov-trained that I cringe at just pulling the drive out without securing it first. What does that Windows process do, anyway? Finalize it? Close open files or something?

Thanks for your help!

In KDE a pop-up opens: USB drive can safely removed.

In Linux you must unmount writeable disks before removing them. Many desktops have a graphical app for doing this. In a terminal you use the umount command. After that, it is safe to remove them.

Linux does not usually write to disks as soon as a program gives a write command. Instead, it writes into a buffer and transfers the contents of this to disk when the cpu is otherwise idle. That is why simply pulling out a pendrive can cause it to be corrupted. In addition, the system thinks the disk is still mounted on its mount point, which could cause problems if you try to write to that directory. Unmounting the disk causes a synchronization operation that writes all buffers to disk, followed by the mount point being cleared.

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It depends on your desktop environment/window manager, but having said that, most of them would have an equivalent. So the answer would be yes.

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umount and eject if you prefer the command-line.

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Hazel! Thank you so much for responding to my question. You not only told me exactly what I needed to know, but explained why. That second part is what put such a gigantic grin on my face. (That, and your signature.) I, too, am a little old lady and learning is still a thrill. Loved what I found in your website, as well. Thank you.
Lauren

Thanks to everyone who responded! I really appreciate the help.