Want to use a flash drive as a downloads folder in Windows, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Microsoft Edge? This post provides comprehensive guides along with additional information you might find useful.
USB drives, also known as flash drives or thumb drives, have become indispensable tools for portable data storage. Downloading files to a USB drive is a simple and efficient way to back up, transfer, and carry important data. How to download to a flash drive?
In this post, MiniTool Software will show you how to do this in Windows, Google Chrome, Firefox, and Edge.
How to Download to a Flash Drive in Windows
By default, the Downloads folder is located in the C drive on a Windows computer. But you can manually change the location of the Downloads folder to another drive.
We will introduce various situations by focusing on different scenarios:
- How to change the location of the Downloads folder to a flash drive in Windows.
- How to change the download location to a flash drive in Google Chrome.
- How to change the download location to a flash drive in Mozilla Firefox.
- How to change the download location to a flash drive in Microsoft Edge.
How to Change the Location of the Downloads Folder to a Flash Drive in Windows 10/11
Perhaps, you want to know how to download photos to a flash drive on a Windows computer. To change the location of the Downloads folder to a flash drive in Windows 10/11, you can follow these steps:
Note: Changing the location of the Downloads folder in Windows will affect all programs.
Step 1. Make sure the flash drive you want to use as a download folder is connected to your PC.
Step 2. Press Windows + E to open File Explorer.
Step 3. Right-click the Downloads location in the left pane and select Properties.
Step 4. Navigate to the Location tab, click Move, select the target flash drive for downloads, and click Select Folder.
Step 5. Click OK to apply changes.
How to Change the Download Location to a Flash Drive in Google Chrome?
You might want to download pictures to a flash drive using Chrome. To select a flash drive as the download location in Chrome, you can use these steps:
Step 1. Open Google Chrome.
Step 2. Click the 3-dot menu at the top right corner, and then select Settings.
Step 3. Click the Downloads option from the left panel, then click the Change button next to Location from the right panel.
Step 4. On the pop-up interface, select the flash drive as the download location. Then click the Select Folder button to make the selection.
You can now see the flash drive is the download drive below Location.
How to Make Chrome Ask You Every Time Where to Download a File
If you want Chrome to ask you where to download a file, you can follow these steps:
Step 1. Open Google Chrome.
Step 2. Click the 3-dot menu at the top right corner, and then select Settings.
Step 3. Click the Downloads option from the left panel, then turn on the button next to Ask where to save each file before downloading.
How to Find the Earlier Downloaded Files in Chrome
If you want to find the files downloaded via Chrome, you can:
Step 1. Open Google Chrome.
Step 2. Click the 3-dot menu at the top-right corner and then select Downloads. This will open the Downloads page. Alternatively, you can press the Ctrl + J keyboard shortcut in Chrome to directly to open the Downloads page.
Step 3. Now, you can find all downloaded files that are downloaded using Chrome. In this page, you can click the Show in folder link to open the Chrome downloads folder and view all downloaded files in it.
How to Change the Download Location to a Flash Drive in Mozilla Firefox?
How to Change the Default Download Folder Location to a Flash Drive in Firefox
To select a flash drive as the download location in Firefox, you can use these steps:
Step 1. Connect the flash drive to your computer and open Firefox.
Step 2. Click the 3-dot menu at the top right, and then select Options.
Step 3. Under General > Downloads, click the Browse button, then select the flash drive where the files will be downloaded and click Select Folder.
You can now see the flash drive is the download folder in the Save files box.
How to Make Firefox Ask You Every Time Where to Download a File
If you want Firefox to ask you every time about the download folder location, you can follow these steps:
Step 1. Click the 3-dot menu at the top right, and then select Options.
Step 2. Under General > Downloads, select the Always ask you where to save files option.
How to Find the Downloaded Files in Firefox
After clicking the Download button in Firefox, you’ll be prompted to choose whether to open or save the file. Opt for Save to download the file. If you’ve opted for the default download location, the file will be stored in the selected folder. Alternatively, if you prefer selecting a download location each time, you can choose the desired folder.
To access all files downloaded in the current browser session, click the arrow icon at the top. Additionally, you can quickly navigate to the folder containing the downloaded file by clicking the folder icon next to the file name. To open a previously downloaded file, press Ctrl + J. This action displays the Downloads tab in the Library pop-up list, where files are grouped by their download date. Click the file name to open it or click the folder icon to browse to the download location.
How to Change the Download Location to a Flash Drive in Microsoft Edge?
In Edge, you can change the download folder to a flash drive.
How to Change Default Download Folder Location in Edge
To select a flash drive as the download folder in Edge, you can use these steps:
Step 1: Connect the flash drive to your PC.
Step 2. Click the 3-dot menu at the top right, select Settings, and then click View Advanced Settings.
Step 3. Click the Change button under Downloads, then select the flash drive as the download folder and click Select Folder.
You can now see the flash drive is set as the download folder below Save download files to.
How to Make Edge Ask You Every Time Where to Download a File
If you want Microsoft Edge to ask you every time where to download a file, you can use these steps:
Step 1. Open Edge.
Step 2. Click the 3-dot menu at the top right and then go to Settings > View Advanced Settings.
Step 3. Turn on the Ask me what to do with each download toggle under Downloads.
How to Find the Files Downloaded in Edge
After the file is downloaded, a notification appears at the bottom of the browser window. From there, you can either open the file directly or access the folder containing it.
To open a previously downloaded file, use the shortcut Ctrl + J or click on the Hub button (three horizontal bars) at the top right. This action displays the Downloads list. Files in the list are organized by the date of their download. Click on the file name to open it. Alternatively, you can swiftly open the Downloads folder by clicking the Open folder link located above the file list.
How to Recover Deleted Downloaded Files in Windows?
If you delete the downloaded files by mistake, you can use MiniTool Power Data Recovery to get them back.
This data restore tool is designed and developed by MiniTool Software. It can recover photos, videos, audio files, documents, archives, and more in Windows. With MiniTool Power Data Recovery Free, you can scan the drive where the deleted files were previously saved. After scanning, you can check if this software can find the needed files and recover 1GB of files for free.
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Bottom Line
How to download to a flash drive? After reading this post, you should know how to do this in different situations. We hope this is the information you are looking for. Besides, if you encounter issues when using MiniTool Power Data Recovery, you can let us know via [email protected].
About The Author
Position: Columnist
Stella has been working in MiniTool Software as an English Editor for more than 7 years. Her articles mainly cover the fields of data recovery including storage media data recovery and phone data recovery, YouTube videos download, partition management, and video conversions.