How to Copy Files from a Chromebook to a USB Pen Drive

Although it seems obvious, being able to get files from a Chromebook to a USB drive to be able to use them on another computer is not done in the way that we can consider as “usual” on a PC, and since these devices are designed to store the files in the cloud are not really intended to work with files on the local disk. Therefore, in this article we are going to show you what to do if you want to copy files from your Chromebook to a USB disk or pen drive.

Google’s original proposal for its Chromebook computers was to push “cloud computing”; The idea was that the storage of your files would not depend on the hardware and yet, as Chromebooks are used more like a conventional “normal” laptop, local storage has become increasingly important despite the fact that the operating system is still designed to work only online.

Copy Files from a Chromebook to a USB Pen Drive

How to copy files from a Chromebook to a USB drive

The first thing you should do, obviously, is connect your storage medium to a free USB port on the Chromebook. No matter what you connect, whether it is an external hard drive, a pen drive or even an SD card with an adapter, the procedure is the same.

Conectar dispositivo USB a Chromebook

Once connected, a message like the one you can see in the image above will appear, from where you can go directly to “Open Files App” to access the Chrome OS file explorer. If for whatever reason this message does not appear, you can always go to the Launcher and enter Files manually .

On the left side of the App Files you should see your “Google Drive“, as well as the USB storage drives you have connected. If clicking on your USB drive does not open or gives an error, you may have to format it because it could be in a format that Chrome OS does not recognize. To do this, simply click with the right mouse button on the USB drive, select Format Device and follow the simple wizard to do so. Of course keep in mind that formatting your USB drive will delete any content inside it, so be careful with this.

Formatear USB Chromebooks

Once everything is correct, you will simply have to navigate to where the files that you want to copy are to your external storage unit. You must select the corresponding files by left clicking on them with the mouse (press SHIFT to select several) and once done, click with the right mouse button on any of them; A conceptual menu will open where you will find the option “Copy”.

Copiar archivos Chromebook

Once this is done, on the left side of the App Files go to where you have the USB drive connected, and once selected on the right side you must click on a blank space with the right mouse button and select “Paste” ( paste). A progress bar will appear (if there are few files it may not even appear) and the files will be copied to your USB drive.

Pegar archivos

Of course, if you don’t want to do this copy & paste, you can also just select the files you want and drag them to the USB drive.

Arrastrar

Finally, once you’re done, remember to safely eject the USB drive by clicking on the “Eject” button on the left side, right where the drive’s name is. Chrome OS doesn’t work like Windows in this regard, so this step is necessary to avoid problems.

Expulsar unidad USB en Chromebook

Actually, as you have seen the process to get files from your Chromebook to a USB drive is not complicated at all, you just have to bear in mind that as these devices work almost as if they were smartphones, you will need to use a specific App for it instead of doing it. natural way as it happens on Windows PCs.