How to Copy Music to Portable Storage

You can use a USB removable storage device to quickly copy music from one computer to another. It’s a convenient way to share music with friends, listen to music on a USB-powered audio device, or simply create a backup. If the USB drive is not working properly, you need to reformat it.

Table of Contents

Windows 10 and 8

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Plug the USB into the USB port on the computer. Try using the direct port on the computer. Avoid using an expansion port as it will reduce data transmission speed.

Windows will notify when a USB drive is connected to the computer and the AutoPlay window will appear. You can close the AutoPlay window.
If this is your first time plugging a USB into your computer, Windows may install some drivers. The process may take several minutes.

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Open the “This PC” window. On Windows 10, click the Windows button and select File Explorer. Windows 8 users can right-click the Windows button and select “File Explorer”, or type ⊞ Win + E .

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Find the USB drive. The USB drive will show up in the “Devices and drives” section of the window.

If you don’t see the USB drive, see the Troubleshooting section at the end of this article.

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Remember the letter that corresponds to the USB drive. You’ll find this in brackets next to the drive, for example “(E:)” or “(F:)”. Remembering the drive letter will help simplify file transfers.

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Check the free space on the drive. The amount of free space on your drive determines how many music files you can store in it. You can check the memory just below the drive.

The average size of an MP3 file is around 3-5 MB, but it depends on the file length and quality. See the chart at the end of this article for an estimate of the number of songs that can be stored.
You can quickly erase everything on your USB by right-clicking and selecting “Format”. Start the formatting process and everything on the drive will be wiped clean.

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Find the music file you want to copy to the USB drive. Music files can be stored in many locations on the computer:

Many programs are stored in the “Music” folder.
If you download music from the web, the file is usually stored in the “Downloads” folder.
In Windows Media Player, right-click a file in the library and select “Open file location” to open the folder containing the file.
On iTunes, right-click a song in your library and select “Show in Windows Explorer” to open the folder containing the song.
You can conduct a search for “mp3” on Windows to find all MP3 files on your computer. Open the Start menu and type “mp3” to start searching.

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Select all the files and folders you want to copy. You can send multiple files and folders to the USB at the same time. Click and drag the selection dialog, or hold down the Ctrl key and click each file you want to select. You can press Ctral + A to select everything on the current folder.

Check the size of the selected files by right clicking and selecting “Properties”. Make sure that the selected portion size is less than the free space on the USB drive.
You’ll find it easier to move all your music files to one location on your computer and organize them into a folder. You can copy entire folders and files simultaneously.

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Right click on the selection. A new menu will appear.

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You select “Send to” and select the USB drive. At this step, if you remember the symbol or letter corresponding to the USB drive, it is very convenient. You usually see the USB drive at the bottom of the destination list.

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Wait for the file to be copied. The file you just selected will be copied to the USB. Copy time depends on the number of files with USB speed and computer.

The original file is not deleted. The machine will make copies of each file on the USB.
If you receive a message that the USB is full, you have selected more files than the USB free space. Try repeating the copying process with a smaller number of files.

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Click the “Safely Remove Hardware” button on the system tray. This button has a USB plug icon with a check mark. If you don’t see this option, expand the hidden icons in the system tray. When you click here, a list of USBs connected to the computer will appear.

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Click on the USB to safely remove the device. This is the operation that disconnects the USB from the system, allowing you to safely remove the USB without damaging the data.

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Unplug the USB from the computer. Your music files are now safely stored in the USB.

Windows 7 and earlier

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Plug the USB you want to use into the machine. Use the direct USB port on the computer. Connecting via an extended USB port may result in reduced data transfer speeds or connectivity issues.

The AutoPlay window will appear if you have not disabled it before. You can select “Open fpder to view files” or continue opening the file without using the AutoPlay window.
Windows may install some drivers if you have never connected a USB before.

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Open the “Computer” window. You can search in the Start menu or press the ⊞ Win + E key. Also, you can see the shortcut on the desktop. On Windows XP, this option is called “My Computer”.

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Find the USB drive. You observe the “Devices with Removable Storage” item in the window. USB drives can be named by the manufacturer or model name, or simply “Removable Disk”.

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Remember the name and letter of the USB. This makes sending files much easier. The drive letter is displayed inside parentheses after the drive name.

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Check the free space of the drive. The horizontal bar below the drive will show the free space. Knowing the free space, you can estimate the number of files that can be stored in the drive.

See the chart at the end of the article to estimate the number of files that can be stored on the device.

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Find the music file you want to copy. Use Windows Explorer to find the music file you want to copy. Music is usually stored in various locations depending on the media player settings.

Windows uses the “Music” folder as the default storage location for many programs.
Music downloaded from the Internet is usually stored in the Downloads folder.
If you’re using Windows Media Player, you can right-click a song in your library and select “Open file location” to see the folder where that file is located.
If using iTunes, right-click the song and select “Show in Windows Explorer.”

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Select the files and folders you want to copy. You can copy everything in the window by clicking select. You can drag the selection dialog, press Ctrl + A to select the entire file, or hold Ctrl and click on each file to select.

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Check the selected file size. Right click on the selection and select “Properties”. This option allows you to see the total size of the selected files to compare with the available USB space.

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Right click and select “Send to”, then select the USB drive. You will easily identify the USB drive by its name and letter.

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Wait for the music to be copied. The time depends on the number of files you copy, USB speed and computer. Do not remove the USB from the machine while copying.

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Click “Safely Remove Hardware” on the system tray. This is the row of icons in the bottom right corner of the screen, next to the clock. If the icon is not visible, click on the arrow to display the entire icon.

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Select the USB drive in the “Safely Remove Hardware” menu. This is the operation to disconnect the USB from the computer, allowing you to safely remove the USB without damaging the files.

Mac

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Plug the USB into a USB port on your Mac. Avoid using the USB extension port as it can reduce data transfer speed. You should see the USB drive appear on the screen.

If the USB does not appear, read the Troubleshooting section below.

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Open iTunes or Finder. If you use iTunes, you can quickly copy music to USB through this program. If you don’t use iTunes, the process is similar, but you have to manually find the music file in the Finder.

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Select the file in your iTunes library that you want to copy. You can copy entire songs or albums, but not playlists. You can hold down the ⌘ Command key to select multiple files or press the ⇧ Shift key to select an array of files.

If using Finder, open the folder containing the music you want to copy, select the files and folders you want to copy.

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Drag the selected content to the USB icon on the screen. The file will be transferred to the USB. The original file is not deleted. ^{[1] X Research Source}

If you want to move files from the Finder, hold down the ⌥ Option key while dragging them to the USB drive. The original file is still saved on the computer, the data on the USB is a copy. You don’t need to do this if you use iTunes.

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Wait for data transmission. This process can take quite a while if you copy a lot of music files.

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Drag the USB to the Trash. After the data transfer is completed, drag the USB to the Trash to safely disconnect it.

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Unplug the USB from the Mac. After dragging the USB icon to the Trash, you can remove the USB from the machine without fear of data corruption.

Fix problem

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Try another USB port. Many times the USB port is damaged so the USB drive won’t work, try plugging the device into another port on the computer. ^{[2] X Research Source}

Avoid using the USB expansion port as it can reduce the data transfer speed.

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Try USB on another computer. If the USB appears when you plug it into another computer, the problem is with your computer and the way you connect the device to the computer. You should try updating or reinstalling the USB driver, or maybe the USB is damaged.

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Find the USB in Disk Management (Windows) or Disk Utility (Mac). Although the USB is not present, it is possible that it is still connected to your system. If you see the USB appear in Disk Management or Disk Utility, you can format and use the device.

Windows – Press ⊞ Win + R key and type diskmgmt.msc . Find the USB drive in the device list at the top of the window, or in the volume view at the bottom of the window.
Mac – Open the Utilities folder in Applications, then run Disk Utility. Find the USB in the list of drives on the left side of the window.

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Reformat the drive when it appears in Disk Management or Disk Utility. If the drive appears in the disk utility, it is most likely not in a format compatible with the operating system. Formatting the drive with the exFAT file system allows you to use USSb on both Windows and Mac. All data stored on the USB will be erased during the formatting process.

Windows – Right-click the drive in Disk Management and select “Format”. Choose the “exFAT” file system as it is compatible with most computers and devices.
Mac – Select USB and click the “Erase” tab (Erase). Select “ExFAT” in the Format menu and click the “Format” button.

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Make sure you’re not trying to copy too much. If you receive a message that there is not enough free space, you have copied too much. Make sure the USB has enough memory to store the file you selected. Note that the actual memory is usually less than the advertised memory. The following is a list of the maximum number of songs you can store on each device with the corresponding capacity.

*Average number of songs*
Format and Quality	1 GB	2 GB	4 GB	8 GB	16 GB	32 GB
128 kbit/s 3:30 min MP3	319	639	1278	2556	5113	10226
256 kbit/s 3:30 min MP3	159	319	639	1278	2556	5113
320 kbit/s 3:30 min MP3	127	255	511	1022	2045	4090
3:30 minutes WAV	28	66	113	227	455	910

Steps

Windows 10 and 8

Windows 7 and earlier

Mac

Fix problem

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