How do I safely remove this ?

[Pinkie1547]

Please see screenshot. The USB device is plugged into my PC but is NOT in use so why do I keep seeing this every time I try to unplug the device ?

How do I remove the USB safely if I keep seeing this ?

[Bruce]

it may be something as simple as Windows has updated the thumbs.db file on the USB stick and now has it locked, preventing the device from being ejected.

if after 3 or so attempts, and letting it wait a minute to wind things up, and it still does it, you either shut the PC down, or just forcibly remove your stick - nothing else you can do, sometimes USB devices just have to be yanked out.

[Rustys]

Same answer given on other forums closed