Microsoft confirms you don’t need to ‘safely remove’ drives after Windows 10 (1809) update

Microsoft has confirmed that users can remove the drives they connect without having to go to the process of safely removing it.

Launched in October 2018, the Windows 10 update version 1809 allows users to quickly remove the drives they connect without having to go through the “safely remove driver” process. Microsoft divides it into two policies:

• Quick removal – manages storage operations in a manner that keeps the device ready to remove at any time.
• Better performance – manages storage operations in a manner that improves system performance. This allows Windows to cache write operations to the external device but you must use the ‘Safely Remove’

If you’ve updated to the version 1809 or higher, then you can change the policy after following these steps:

1. 1. Connect the device to the computer.
   2. Right-click Start, and then select File Explorer.
   3. In File Explorer, identify the letter or label that is associated with the device (for example, USB Drive (D:)).
   4. Right-click Start, and then select Disk Management.
   5. In the lower section of the Disk Management window, right-click the label of the device, and then click Properties.
   6. Select Policies, and then select the policy you want to use.
      

Source: Microsoft