How to Unmount a Drive

A simple guide to unmounting removable drives & images in Windows, macOS, and Linux

Written by Jack Lloyd

Last Updated: October 25, 2022

On Windows

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On a Mac

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On Linux

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Q&A

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Tips

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Warnings

This wikiHow teaches you how to unmount a drive that is connected to your computer. Unmounting a drive is the same thing as ejecting a drive. You cannot unmount your computer's main hard drive (e.g., the hard drive where your operating system is installed).

Things You Should Know

If you're using Windows, right-click the drive in File Explorer and click "Eject" on the Manage tab.
On a Mac, just select the drive in Finder and click the Eject button.
To unmount in Linux, use "sudo umount" followed by the mount point.

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

On Windows

1
Open the Start menu. Click the Start (
or
) button in the lower-left corner of your screen.
- Alternatively, press the ⊞ Win key.
2
Open File Explorer. Click the File Explorer
icon. Older Windows 10 versions will have the name shown next to the icon as pictured above.
- Windows 7 and Vista: select Computer from the right column.
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3
Ensure you're on This PC, Computer, or My Computer. The option will be listed in the left pane.
- The names differ among Windows versions.
4
Click on the drive you wish to unmount. A list of all currently active drives will be available under the "Devices and drives" heading towards the middle of the page.
- This drive must be either a removable drive (e.g., a flash drive or SD card) or a secondary internal drive.
5
Click the Manage tab. It's in the ribbon at the top of the File Explorer window.
- In case your Windows version is missing the ribbon, simply right-click the drive instead.
6
Click the ⏏ Eject button.
- You'll find this option in the "Media" section of the ribbon.
7
Remove the drive from your computer. After clicking this button, you'll see the drive's icon disappear from the File Explorer window, and a notification letting you know that it's safe to remove the drive will appear.
- Gently disconnect the drive from your computer to complete the unmounting process.

Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

On a Mac

1
Open the Finder. This app, which resembles a blue and gray face, is usually found in the Dock at the bottom-left.
2
Locate your drive's name. It will be on the left-hand side of the Finder window below the "Devices" heading.
- This must be a removable drive (e.g., a flash drive, external hard drive, or a virtual mounted drive).
3
Click ⏏. It's to the right of your drive's name. Doing so will "eject" the drive, which removes it from your Mac's available drives.
4
Remove the drive from your computer. Once the drive has been safely unmounted, you can remove the physical drive from your Mac computer.

Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

On Linux

1
Open a terminal and type 'df -h' to list all drives. Locate your drive, remember the path that it is Mounted on.
2
Unmount the drive by typing the command 'sudo umount' followed directory that it is mounted on. You must have superuser privileges to do this.

Community Q&A

Question

How do I fix an unmounted hard drive disk utility on my MacBook Pro when it doesn't show up anymore?

Community Answer

Look for errors in the hardware (look for problems in the physical drive or drive connector). It usually does that when there is a physical error so try connecting the drive to a different computer to see if there are any problems.
Question

How do I dismount a drive that doesn't have an "eject" button? On This PC, nothing happens if I click on the popup in the taskbar.

Community Answer

You can right click on the partition and press eject. Or rght click on 'My Computer', and select manage>Storage>Disk Management>.