Navigating through multiple clicks to safely remove your external devices can be tedious, especially for those frequently swapping USBs, external drives, or other peripherals. “Safely Remove Hardware” is a critical feature in Windows that safeguards your data from being corrupted or lost during the unplugging process. It ensures that no data is currently being transferred to or from the device, providing the green light for safe removal. Particularly, for users who have activated the Write-caching policy, the importance of using “Safely Remove Hardware” cannot be stressed enough. But what if you could streamline this process with a simple shortcut, bypassing the regular route? In this risewindows guide, we’ll walk you through the steps to create a handy “Safely Remove Hardware” shortcut on your Windows 11/10, optimizing your workflow and ensuring your data remains intact.
How to Generate a “Safely Remove Hardware” Shortcut on Windows 11/10?
Follow the below-mentioned steps to make a Safely Remove Hardware shortcut on Windows 11/10:-
Step 1. Right-click or press and hold (for touchscreen devices) on an empty area on your desktop and click/tap on New, and then select the Shortcut option.
Step 2. Next, paste the following code in the “Create Shortcut” dialog box that opens:-
%windir%\System32\rundll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL hotplug.dll
Step 3. After that, click on the Next button.
Step 4. Then, type Safely Remove Hardware for the name and click/tap on the Finish button.
Step 5. Now, a shortcut with Safely Remove Hardware is created on the desktop.
Step 6. Next, perform a right-click or press and hold on the new Safely Remove Hardware shortcut, and click/tap on the Properties.
Step 7. After that, click or tap on the Shortcut tab from the Properties dialog box.
Step 8. Then, click/tap on the None next to the Shortcut key field.
Step 9. Now, press S from the keyboard to assign Ctrl + Alt + S hotkey to Safely Remove Hardware Shortcut.
Note: You can press any other key in place of S to assign a separate hotkey.
Step 10. Next, click/tap Apply, then press the OK button.
Note: You can launch the Safely Remove Hardware window by pressing the Ctrl + Alt + S hotkey or the hotkey you assigned in step 9 above.
Step 11. If you want to change the icon for the Safely Remove Hardware shortcut icon in Step 9, click on the Change Icon button.
Step 12. After that, browse and select shell32.dll to see all the available icons in Windows 11/10 OS.
Step 13. Then, select any icon from the list and click on the OK button.
Step 14. Now, click/tap Apply and then OK.
Step 15. Now, Safely Remove Hardware shortcut icon will be changed.
Note: Right-click on it and select the Pin to taskbar option to access this shortcut quickly.
Step 16. After that, double-click on the newly created shortcut to launch the Safely Remove Hardware window.
Step 17. Then, select the USB pen drive entry in the Hardware devices section and click the Stop button.
Step 18. In the next window, again select the USB drive letter-number entry and click the OK button to remove it safely.
Step 19. You should see a message on the bottom right side corner of the Windows Taskbar, “Safe to Remove Hardware.”
Now you can remove your USB pen drive safely.
The above steps will help you remove your USB hardware safely if, in your Windows 11/10 PC, the “Safely remove hardware” icon, disappeared.
Conclusion
The “Safely Remove Hardware” feature in Windows 11/10 is indispensable for protecting your external storage devices and the data they hold. Regularly unplugging such devices without this precaution may eventually lead to data corruption or loss. With the steps mentioned above, creating a direct shortcut for this feature not only simplifies the process but also enhances the efficiency of your workflow. Now, with a mere double-click or a keyboard shortcut, you can ensure the safety of your data before unplugging any device.
