Windows 10 1809 Changed the Default Removal Policy for External Drives

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The default removal policy for external storage media was changed by Microsoft in Windows 10 version 1809 from "Better performance" to "Quick removal" which, for some users, may translate into faster removal times with degraded performance.

As explained in the support document detailing the change, "Quick removal" and "Better performance" are the only two removal policies used by Windows to manage "external storage devices such as USB thumb drives or Thunderbolt-enabled external drives."

While the former is now the default policy used for all external storage devices connected to a Windows computer, users can switch between them and configure them separately for each external device.

In addition, once a removal policy is set, it will remain active after the device is ejected and then connected to the same computer port.

Microsoft's support document also details the differences between the two removal policies:

  • Quick removal. This policy manages storage operations in a manner that keeps the device ready to remove at any time. You can remove the device without using the Safely Remove Hardware process. However, to do this, Windows cannot cache disk write operations. This may degrade system performance.
  • Better performance. This policy manages storage operations in a manner that improves system performance. When this policy is in effect, Windows can cache write operations to the external device. However, you must use the Safely Remove Hardware process to remove the external drive. The Safely Remove Hardware process protects the integrity of data on the device by making sure that all cached operations finish.
Users who want to change the default removal policy for one of their devices will have to follow the following procedure:
  • Connect the device to the computer.
  • Right-click Start, and then select File Explorer.
  • In File Explorer, identify the letter or label that is associated with the device (for example, USB Drive (D:)).
  • Right-click Start, and then select Disk Management.
  • In the lower section of the Disk Management window, right-click the label of the device, and then click Properties.
  • Select Policies, and then select the policy you want to use.
Changing the default removal policy




While using any of the two removal policies should not lead to unexpected behavior, Microsoft still recommends users to enable the "Enable write caching on the device" option and to always use "Safely Remove Hardware" when removing the external storage device to avoid accidentally losing data.

Using "Safely Remove Hardware" is not needed when using the default "Quick removal" policy because, as described beforehand, it will always keep your USB or Thunderbolt-enabled external drives ready to be removed at any time.

In related news, Microsoft also released the KB4490481 Cumulative Update for Windows 10 version 1809 which comes with a huge list of updates, changes, and fixes for open issues, as well as the KB4493510 "Servicing stack update for Windows 10 Version 1809: April 2, 2019."


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