How to open a USB Drive with a Keyboard shortcut?

A USB drive is a compact, portable device that connects to the USB port on your computer. It is also known as a flash drive or memory stick. Flash drives help get done so many tasks such as storage, data backup, and file transfer between devices are frequently done with USB drives. They are widely preferred because of their size and storage capacity. A little device may hold a lot of data without any problem. It is not only lightweight and portable but also simple to operate. Connect it to your computer, complete the tasks and easily eject it. Create a keyboard shortcut to quickly access them if you frequently connect your USB flash drive to the same computer.

Many Windows users like to do tasks quickly by using keyboard shortcuts. Making a keyboard shortcut to open the USB device quickly is another option. There are many freeware programs all over the internet that may help you make a shortcut key for your USB flash drive. However, if you prefer doing so without the help of any third party application, keep reading this risewindows article. You can use these instructions on Windows 7 and Windows 8 computers as well as Windows 10 to create a keyboard shortcut.

You must first give your USB flash drive a distinctive drive letter so that Windows won’t assign a different drive letter each time you connect the drive to the system before you can set a keyboard shortcut.

Please make a backup of your USB drive data before moving on with the instructions, as doing so will result in the loss of that data.

How to Assign a Unique Drive Letter on Windows 10, 8, and 7 PC?

Use the following steps to assign a unique drive letter to your USB drive:-

Step 1: Before connecting your USB flash drive to your computer, make sure all open applications and files are closed.

Step 2:  Go to the Disk Management tool.

Press the Windows logo + R keys simultaneously to activate the Run dialogue box and the Disk Management program. Enter the diskmgmt.msc command after typing it in the Run box on the keyboard.

Step 3: Right-click on your USB drive in the Disk Management window that has just opened and choose Change Drive Letter and Paths from the menu that appears. It will now display the Change Drive Letter and Paths dialogue.

Step 4: Select a free drive letter by clicking on the Change button. To assign the chosen letter to your USB device, click on the OK button now.

Step 5: When the dialogue box that says, “Some programs that depend on drive letters may not run correctly,” shows up on your screen, click on the Yes button. Do you wish to proceed?

Step 6: A second dialogue box stating that “You must format the disc in the drive before you can use it” will now display.

Step 7: Click on Format disk to continue.

Step 8: After the “Format USB Drive” window appears, click on the Start button.

Step 9: In the following window, click on OK.

Step 10: Click on OK to finish formatting.

Following the previous instructions, you have given your USB flash drive a special drive letter. Create a shortcut key for your USB flash drive right now.

How to assign a shortcut key for a USB flash drive?

Step 1: Go to the File Explorer or Windows Explorer (This PC, Computer, or My Computer).

Step 2: Create a shortcut to the USB drive on the desktop by selecting Create shortcut from the context menu when you right-click on the device.

Step 3: Click on Yes in the prompt Window.

When you are done with all the above steps, your USB flash drive will now have a desktop shortcut icon.

Step 4: Right-click on your USB drive’s shortcut icon on the desktop and select Properties from the menu that appears.

Step 5: Select the Shortcut tab in the USB Drive Properties dialogue box.

Step 6: Enter a keyboard shortcut in the Shortcut key box and then press the Apply button.

To launch the USB flash drive, for instance, press the Q key, and Windows will automatically assign Ctrl + Alt + Q.

Step 7: Click on Apply.

Step 8. Click on OK.

You can now use the assigned keyboard shortcut to start the USB drive.

You may create keyboard shortcuts for all of the drives on your internal hard drive using a similar technique. You just have to repeat the above mentioned steps.

That is it.

You guys are amazing; keep reading, learning and growing.