Small USB drives are very impressive feats of engineering. Stare at one long enough, and you start wondering how in the world they can fit all that data into something so tiny. They are great for laptops, since you don’t have to worry about them getting accidentally taken out by passersby when you are working on the go. These tiny flash drives (especially the tiny ones provided with wireless USB mice), however, get problematic from time to time. Attribute it to possessive USB ports or some other thing, but because you have less to grab onto, they are more likely to get stuck, especially when plugged into desktop ports, which are sometimes hard to access.
In order to avoid any frustration or property damage incurred from desperate attempts at extraction, you can use a paper clip, ending the problem once and for all. It sounds a little bit MacGyverish, but it does work. Read below for how you go about wrapping your tiny flash drive with a paperclip.
Find a paperclip, any size will do. Just make sure that it is manageable enough to bend it at will. You are mostly going to work with the inner loop; the outer loop is mainly there for adjusting to the most comfortable way of your gripping it. Focus on your attention on the inner loop. Bend it up 90 degrees. You should have an L-shaped paperclip now, if you look at it from the side.
Now, take your USB drive and fit it in the space of the inner loop wire. Use needle nose pliers to get a tighter fit, if you can’t do it by hand. Once the flash drive is hedged in by the inner loop, loop the wire around the drive one more time to secure the paperclip even more. Tighten with needle nose pliers, if you feel it is necessary. Voila, what you now have in your hands is a flash drive that is easy to remove from hard to reach desktop ports and stubborn laptop ones. If you feel the need to or you have fingers that are chubbier than normal, you can also widen the outer loop to make it easier to hook a finger onto the paperclip to remove the drive.
We hope these tips help you and that you don’t find yourself frustrated with your small USBs at anytime at all. Enjoy!