Flash drives are a way to carry around extra storage space without logging around a big external HDD or SSD and can come in handy in moving files from and to your android device. Now, there are a lot of reasons as to why one might need a flash drive. Personally, I use it to save files when my phone storage is full which somewhat acts as an external MicroSD card. Your need for an Android flash drive might be different from mine but before you go buying a flash drive to use on your Android device for whatever reason, some boxes need to be checked first.
- First, you need to make sure your smartphone supports OTG which means On The Go. Some smartphones have support for it and some other Don’t. If yours doesn’t support it then you will be unable to make use of any flash drives. If you’re unsure whether your smartphone has support for it or not, simply head straight to the Google play store, search for “OTG”. You’ll see the app called OTG? In the list, Download it and run a check on your device to see if your smartphone supports it or not. If it does then we can continue.
- Once you’ve confirmed that your device had OTG support, you’ll then need to get an OTG cable which comes in a box with some smartphones and can also be bought for as low as $5. After getting an OTG cable, we’ll now need to get a compatible flash drive. Now, Getting a flash drive can be tricky as not all are made for Android smartphones. First, the flash drive has to formatted as FAT32 and if you’re going for SSDs then you have to check the power draw and make sure your device gives it enough juice for it to work.
Alternatively, you can get an all-in-one flash drive and OTG connector which allows you to copy files directly to it and copy it to another device with a USB and micro USB male port. Now that we’ve gotten all that out of the way, let’s go ahead and connect your flash drive to your Android device.
How To Connect Android Flash Drive To Your Phone
- First, Plug your OTG Cable microUSB port to your smartphone. Now plug the flash drive into the other end of the OTG cable.
- Your Android device should automatically detect the device and ask you for permission to access the storage. Accept and you can now move files to and from the flash drive.
- To eject the flash drive, simply wipe down the notification shade and Click on the USB mass storage notification. After doing this, then you can unplug your flash drive.
If you have an all-in-one flash drive and OTG Cable then you don’t need the OTG cable or a flash drive as the device serves as one. They also come in various storage options from as low as 16GB up to 256GB or even more. Simply plug in the device to your device, grant permission and you can exchange files between the two devices. Follow the same step above when you’re done and unplug it.
