How to extend the life of USB flash drives to last longer

Protect your USB flash drive against physical damage

This is the most obvious: if you fall on the ground, hit them or suffer any other type of external physical damage, it is likely that your USB flash drive will stop working early. To minimize this risk it is advisable to store them in a cardboard box that does not hit easily, as well as away from sources of high or low temperatures and magnetic emissions.

On the other hand, there are some types of pendrive that claim to be "off-road" because they have a outer shell more resistante of normal. For example, if you usually carry your USB flash drive always with you in your bag or backpack, it is worth paying an extra for this extra protection. From experience, in this regard we recommend the Corsair Survivor, a pendrive with metal housing that also has o-rings to be waterproof (it is submersible).

Disconnect them when you don't use them

There are many people who always have the USB pendrive connected to the device even if they are not using it, and in the end this gradually decreases the life of the device because the operating system is making periodic consultations to check its status. In short, connect it when you are going to use it and don't forget to disconnect it When you stop doing it.

Eject the USB device from the operating system

Although nothing happens in modern equipment, it is always better to eject the device from the operating system before disconnecting it. You never know if you are accessing it for some reason, something that could cause failures and errors, and this is the best way to make sure.

To do this, simply click on the USB icon in the start bar, next to the clock, and click on Eject. On Mac, right click on the device and "Eject", equally.

Do not edit files directly on the pendrive

Write operations are the biggest cause of wear on USB storage drives. Unlike hard drives, flash drives have a limited number of writes, so if you need to edit files that are saved on your flash drive it is better that you copy the file to the PC, edit it there, and then copy it back to the pendrive to edit it directly in this one.