Help > USB Safely Remove Options dialog

USB Safely Remove has well thought-out user interface which allows most users to comfortably work with the program immediatelly after its installation, without any additional actions. However everyone is unique and has his own choice and working style. Therefore, USB Safely Remove allows to change virtually every aspect of the program.

Highlighted options

To call the Options dialog click the gear button () in the device menu or in the main window.

Save and load settings

In the left bottom corner of the Options dialog there's the Options button that allows you to save or load all settings of the program. It's useful when you reinstall the program or Windows or just migrate to another computer. See this How to for details.

"General" tab

Contains frequently used settings or settings out of other categories
  • Run on Windows startupAllows to disable run of the program on Windows startup
  • Power off the device after device stopping Changes default behavior on all Windows versions since Vista which do not do not power off USB ports when you stop a flash drive or an external hard drive. Read more
  • Display surprise removal USB devices Allows the program to display ALL USB devices, even those that do not need to be stopped before device removal. When this option is enabled, the program shows only those devices which report to the system that they need to be stopped before disconnection.
    Why is this option needed?
    • Some devices report to the Operating System that they can be removed without stopping the device before removal. However, a device may actually need to be stopped before removal, because some important data which was transmitted to (or from) the device may be lost. An example of such a device is a USB programmer.
    • Some HID devices (mice, keyboards, trackballs) sometimes enter an incorrect state - they stop reacting to the user's actions. Physically disconnecting and reconnecting the device may help in this case. However, if the device is located in a hard-to-get-to place, it is a good idea to stop this device and then "Return device back" from the program.
    • Finally, some people simply feel more confident if they can see and control all USB devices connected to the computer.
  • Display all storage devices Some storage devices (usually SATA drives) are not displayed either in USB Safely Remove or in the native Windows safe removal tool. Enable this option and you will see all storage devices, even non hot-swappable items (such as your IDE drives). You can then hide any devices which do not need to be displayed from the stop menu and leave only the required ones.
  • Language The program speaks about 40 languages. If you cannot find your native language in the list, or you think the program has bad wording, feel free to notify us.

"Look and Feel" tab

Manages appearance of the program.
  • Replace native "Safely Remove Hardware Icon" Allows to display the native "Safely Remove Hardware" icon in the system tray. By default the program hides this icon.
  • Hide icon when there are no devices to be stopped Lets you hide the program icon, when there are no devices in the menu to be stopped.
    To access the program when its systray icon is hidden just click to its shortcut on the desktop or in the Start menu.
  • Display the number of visible devices on the tray icon When enabled the number of visible devices in the device menu is displayed in the system tray icon.
  • Icon size in the stopping menu You can choose which size of device icons you want to see in the device menu: Small, Large or Extra large.
  • Display storage device name Use this option to display or hide names of storage devices.
  • Display storage device volumes When it's enabled the storage device volumes are displayed each in own row, when it's disabled only drive letters are displayed
  • Simple menu Removes all the buttons and links from the device menu (except the Close). By combining this option with the previous options disabled you can make the menu look very ascetic.
    When this options is enabled the only way you can access the Options, the main window or other hidden functions is from the context menu of the system tray icon (right click to the program icon in the system tray):
  • Sort devices in the stopping menu Allows you to sort devices in the stopping menu by drive letter, device name and drive label.

"Skins" tab

Here you can change the skin of the device stop menu. There are several predefines skins available, by default the program uses Win 10 Dark skin. If you wish to create your own or alter a predefined skin read "How to use skins?"

"Behaviour" tab

Manages behavior of the program - program reaction on user's actions.
  • On attempt to stop a whole card reader: What to do if a user tries to stop a card reader instead of a memory card?
  • Browse device drives with:

    Allows to choose default file browser.

    When you click the "Browse" button () in the storage device item it browses the drive content in Windows File Explorer by default. If you are an active user of an alternative file manager like Total Commander or XYplorer, you can setup the program to use it for browsing drives.

    Just select the "An alternative manager" option and enter the required command-line argument for the file manager in the field below. Use %drive% as the value for the selected drive. The program will replace %drive% with the drive letter of the selected device.

    For example this line:

    C:\Program Files\totalcmd\TOTALCMD.EXE %drive%
    allows you to browse the selected drive letter in a newly launched copy of Total Commander.

    For your convenience we have implemented an integration with Total Commander, one of the most popular file managers. Just choose an item in the menu which is launched by pressing "?" button, and the program will generate a required parameter combination by itself to open a drive on the right or left panel of a running Total Commander. The only thing you must do is to specify a path to Total Commander executable.

  • Show menu on mouse hover above the system tray icon When it's enabled (default) the program popup its device menu when you hover (and wait) mouse over the program's systray icon. When you disable the option, the menu will only be displayed when you click the systray icon.

"Global Hotkeys" tab

Lets you setup a global hotkeys to show the menu and device stopping. Read more here

"Notifications" tab

Manages the behaviour of balloon tooltips, checking for updates, proxy settings.
  • Notify about connected devices on system exit When enabled the program will remind you on logoff or shutdown if you forget some devices in the computer. Find more details in this article: How to remind about forgotten devices
  • "Ballon tooltip" settings
    "Baloon tooltips" or balloons are program notifications about events such as: device connecting, device stopping, disconnecting or assigning the device another drive letter, and so on.
    • Show balloon tooltip Enables or disables displaying of the balloons
    • Display for Allows to seetup how long the balloon is displayed on the screen
    • Show tooltip for... This switch lets you specify if you wish to display notifications about events for visible on the menu devices only or for all devices including hidden ones.
  • Automatically check for updates Enable or disable notifications about new versions of the program

    Every five days the program checks with the "safelyremove.com" webserver to see if a newer version is released. If so, the program will notify you that an update is available.

    If you have a firewall software, it may automatically configure itself to work properly with the "safelyremove.com" update check. If so, all is well. However, if the update check does not work properly, you may have to manually configure your firewall software to open the required connection to the "safelyremove.com" webserver. Please use the following parameters:
    • Connection type: outcoming
    • Port: 80
    • Protocol: TCP (HTTP)
    • Remote server: safelyremove.com
    Note! When checking for updates, the program only connects to this host and port! If you notice the program trying to connect to any other host or port, it may be infected with a virus. If suspicious activity is present, please check all files in the program with your antivirus software.
  • Proxy server settings

    Enable these option and fill out proxy server params only if you are connected to the Internet via a proxy server. These settings will be used by the "check for updates" and the error reporting mechanisms.

    Once the changes to the settings are complete and ready to be saved, you can use the "test connection" button to check if the proxy settings are correct. If the connection to the safelyremove.com server with the specified proxy settings does not work properly, you will be informed of the error.

"Drive letters" tab

You can setup here how the program controls drive letters of external drives
  • Hide drive letters when there are no media inserted When enabled the program hides drives of empty card reader slots. Since Win10 the operating system by default doesn't show empty card reader slots in File Explorer. But all other file managers, e.g. Total Commander is displaying such drives so there's sense to use this option even on Win 10 if you use card readers.

    This option affects only card reader devices, that is devices detected as a card reader by the program automatically, or with an option "Yes, it's a card reader" manually set in the properties of the device. (see Device properties -> "General" tab -> "Device behavior" section)

    If an option was enabled and you are disabling it, the program returns to the system all "empty" drives. You can use it, for example, to temporarily return all drives into the system. Once you deinstall the program, it also returns all "empty" drives to the system

    Once you close the program it does not return drives of empty slots into the system. So if you insert a memory card into the slot that was empty (and its drive was hidden by the program), while the program is not working, the inserted memory card will be unavailabe in the system! Just run the program and it makes the memory card available in the system.
  • Prohibit assigning the following drive letters to hot-plug devices Prevents assigning specified drive letters to hot-plug devices. All letters you have specified in this field will not be assigned to hot-plug devices. It is useful if you want to reserve this letters e.g. for network drives.
  • Fixed drive letter list The list shows all drives that you have fixed to a specific letters. In order to unfix any drive letter just select it in the list and click "Unfix selected drive letter".
See also How to manage drive letters article.

"Global Autorun" Tab

Allows you to autorun programs on such events with devices as: before or after stop, on device insertion or after removal. Unlike Local Autorun, programs set in this tab will run for all hot-plug devices on the system. Read more here: How to use program autorun?

"Device Stop" Tab

  • Deactivate services on device stopping Some Windows services might prevent safe removal. This feature allows to temporarily stop such services before device stopping (and start after the operation). Use this feature if you find the some services prevent a device from being stopped and the "Forced Stop" feature doesn't help.
    • Add services button allows you to see all the service and add several ones to the list.
    • Use Remove button to remove the selected services from the list
    • Test button lets you to test run of service start and stop
  • Return USB device back method Despite its name this option in first place controls the method how the device is being stopped. When you choose "Device reactivation" the device is stopped with a method that allows to reactivate the USB port only which causes device return. With the second method "USB hub restart" the device is stopped with the standard Windows method that only allows to reactivate device by restarting of its USB hub. This way has a major downside, because it also restarts all neighbour devices. But in some very rare cases it'd be preferable that devices are being stopped and reactivated with USB hub restart.
    Don't change this option without a special need!

"Advanced" tab

Manages extended settings for the program. Currently, this tab contains one option:
  • Enable verbose logging If the program becomes unstable on your computer, or does not display the required devices, or you just displayed an error notification, we would appreciate it if you enable this option and then work with the program in whatever way is required so the bug you have discovered shows up. Once you have the verbose log of the problem, then send us a bug-report from the "Report a bug" option on the Main Menu. Read more at topic: How to send a note or a feature request. After you have sent us a report, we recommend disabling the verbose logging option. While this option makes the program write lots of useful bugfix information in the log you send to us, the log grows very quickly with verbose logging enabled.
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