How to Download Directly to a Flash Drive

Written by Darlene Antonelli, MA

Last Updated: September 8, 2025 Fact Checked

This wikiHow teaches you how to save a file from the internet directly to your USB flash drive. Whether you're running out of space on your built-in hard drive or just want to store a file in a more portable way, changing your download location is easy in all web browsers.

How to Download to Thumb Drive

Plug the flash drive into the computer.
Open a web browser.
Select the file you want to download.
Click the download button.
Select the flash drive in file manager.
Click Save.

Steps

Download Article

If the flash drive isn't already plugged in, you'll want to do that now so you don't accidentally save the downloaded file to your hard drive.
This should be the web browser you normally use.

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Check that your download options are set. You'll find this setting in different areas in different web browsers, but by default, you should be prompted for each download. If you've changed the download prompt before, you'll need to change it again. However, if you haven't changed this setting, you can skip this step.
- If you're using Chrome, click the three-dot menu icon then Settings > Advanced > Downloads > Ask where to save each file before downloading.
- If you're using Firefox, click the three-line menu icon, then click Options (or Preferences) > Always ask you where to save files.
- Using Edge, click the three-dot menu icon, then click Settings > View Advanced Settings > Ask me what to do with each download.
- Using Safari, click Safari in the menu at the top of your screen, then click Preferences > File Download Location > Ask for each download.^{[1]
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Using the web browser that you have open, go to the web page you want to download from.
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Click the download button. Your web browser should open a file manager window so you can choose where to save the file.
- If it does not open a window, you need to change your settings for your downloads options.
To prevent the download from saving to your computer, you'll want to change the save location to your flash drive in the file manager. If your flash drive does not appear, it may not be plugged in completely, it might not have enough room, it may not be in the right file format, or the USB port you're trying to use may not work.
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Click Save (Windows) or Choose (Mac). Once you've selected your flash drive as the save location, you can save the file and it will start downloading.
- Don't remove the USB flash drive until your browser indicates that the download is finished.