A friend asked you to pass him some videos on a USB stick but – not being particularly knowledgeable in the technological field – you are having some difficulties in carrying out the aforementioned operation. You then started looking for information on how to transfer videos to a USB stick and you ended up here, on this tutorial of mine. If that’s the case, know that you are in the right place. In fact, I will shortly explain everything you need to do to copy your videos to a pendrive avoiding any compatibility problem.
Before getting to the heart of the matter, however, I believe it is my duty to give you some information on how to configure the key: first of all, make sure you get a sufficiently large one. Furthermore, I advise you to format the key with a file system supported by multiple devices and operating systems, such as FAT32 , which however has a limit of 4GB per file, or exFAT which guarantees a slightly lower compatibility but does not have the aforementioned limit and therefore allows to store even very large videos.
Once this is done, you just have to find out how to copy your videos to a pendrive by following the instructions below. I assure you that this is a real breeze. Happy reading and good luck for everything!
Index
- How to transfer videos to USB stick from computer
- Windows
- macOS
- How to transfer DVD video to USB stick
- How to transfer videos from mobile to USB stick
- How to transfer videos from Android to USB stick
- How to transfer videos from iPhone to USB stick
How to transfer videos to USB stick from computer
To be able to transfer one or more videos to a USB drive from a PC, you must first insert the key in your possession into a free USB port on your computer. If your computer is only equipped with USB-C ports , you can get a special adapter / hub with which to “shrink” the connector of the key, or buy directly a USB drive equipped with both connectors.
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In any case, once the key is connected to the computer, wait for the operating system to recognize it and correctly install the required drivers. Once this procedure is complete, proceed with the transfer or copy of the file, following the steps that best suit your operating system (as explained below).
Clearly, before copying the files on the pendrive, make sure that they are in a video file format compatible with the device on which you intend to play them; otherwise you can change video format using the programs I recommended in the tutorial just linked.
Windows
If you use Windows , open File Explorer by clicking on the yellow folder symbol residing in the taskbar, or by pressing the key combination Win + E on the keyboard (the Win key is the one that represents the Windows flag).
Once this is done, go to the folder where the video is located, right-click on the file of your interest and select the Resident Cut item in the context menu that appears, if you intend to transfer the video by deleting it from the disk, or on Copy , if you intend to copy it to the pen without deleting it from your computer. This is true if you have Windows 10 or earlier.
On Windows 11 , the context menu is slightly different: to cut the file, you can cut the file by clicking on the scissors symbol , or copy it by pressing the overlapping squares icon ; if you wish, you can still access the extended context menu (the one that contains the Cut and Copy items, so to speak), by right-clicking on the movie of your interest and selecting the item Show other options from the menu that opens.
Please note that, if you have to copy multiple videos residing in the same folder, you can select them all by pressing the key combination Ctrl + A on the keyboard, or choose only some of them, by clicking on the respective icons while holding down the Ctrl key on the keyboard; to access the context menu, just right click on one of the items included in the selection.
In any case, once the item to be moved has been cut or copied, click on the This PC icon visible in the File Explorer sidebar and double-click on the name of the USB key, located in the right part of the window; at this point, to paste the previously selected element or elements, press the Paste button located at the top (depicting a folder with a rectangle ) or right- click on an empty spot on the screen and select the Paste item from the context menu that appears. Depending on the size of the files and the transfer speed of the stick, copying / moving could take up to several minutes.
I point out that, if you intend to copy the movie without deleting it from the disk, you can go an even faster way: after connecting the key to the computer, go to the folder that contains the movie to be moved, right-click on its icon and select the items Show more options (on Windows 11 only)> Send to> [USB key name] from the menu that opens.
When copying is complete, remember to eject the USB key from the computer, by right clicking on the USB devices icon located near the clock (if you do not see it, first click on the arrow symbol upwards ) and then on the word Eject [key name] , located in the menu that appears.
macOS
The procedure to follow on Mac is very similar to that already seen for Windows, with the difference that, instead of File Explorer, you have to use the Finder . So, open the latter by clicking on the smiling face icon attached to the Dock bar (or by pressing the combination of keys cmd + n on the keyboard), go to the folder that contains the movie to be copied, right-click on its icon and select the Copy item from the menu that appears.
If you need to transfer multiple items in the same folder, you can select them all by pressing the combination of keys cmd + a on the keyboard, or choose just some of them by clicking on the respective icons while holding down the cmd key . Once you have made your choice, you can access the Finder context menu by right clicking on one of the items in the selection.
At this point, click on the name of the USB stick visible in the sidebar of the Finder (under the item Locations ) or, alternatively, double-click on the icon of the device that, in the meantime, has appeared on the desktop; finally, right- click on an empty spot in the Finder window and select Paste item or Paste X items from the context menu that appears, in order to start the transfer (which could take several minutes).
If you want to move the files to the stick and not just copy them, then delete them from their original location on the Mac, hold down option on the keyboard after right clicking in the stick window and select Move Item or Move X Items from the menu that opens.
How to transfer DVD video to USB stick
If it is your intention to transfer DVD video to USB stick , you cannot proceed with the “direct” copy of the files on the disc, as you would not get a usable result easily. Actually you could copy the VOB files and then play them with any player suitable for the purpose, but it is, as mentioned, a somewhat inconvenient procedure.
What I recommend you do is extract the video from the DVD and copy it to your computer as an “independent” file, with the help of one of the numerous programs suitable for the purpose, such as HandBrake , MakeMKV or even VLC , all available for both Windows and macOS (and Linux, in some cases).
If you don’t know how to use such programs and want some help understanding how they work, check out my tutorials on how to copy a DVD to computer and how to copy a protected DVD , full of information about them.
Once the DVD content has been extracted – or rather, ripped – simply copy the file containing the movie onto the USB key, following one of the procedures illustrated in the previous sections of this chapter.
How to transfer videos from mobile to USB stick
Do you want to streamline your mobile phone memory and transfer “heavy” videos to an external USB stick? You can do this in different ways, depending on the device you are using: everything is explained below.
How to transfer videos from Android to USB stick
In spite of what one might think, it is possible to connect USB sticks and disks to Android smartphones and tablets with the same operating system, both for accessing data and copying files (in both directions), thanks to USB technology OTG , supported by the vast majority of devices currently on the market.
However, you may need to purchase an OTG adapter that can turn the standard USB stick connector into a USB-C or microUSB type connector , depending on the available charging port on your device.
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That said, the simplest method to transfer a movie from Android to USB stick is to use a file manager , which can integrate into the system sharing menu and allow you to copy your movies from there on the fly. In this regard, I recommend Solid Explorer , a light and functional file manager, available both on the Play Store and on alternative markets for smartphones and tablets without Google services.
After downloading the application , therefore, open it and tap on the Skip item , to bypass the initial welcome tutorial; now, tap on the Options item , put the check mark next to the box relating to the acceptance of the license agreement and choose whether to allow the personalization of the ads and the analysis of the anonymous data of the app or not, by intervening on the dedicated boxes.
When you are finished, tap the Save and continue item, tap the Grant button and move the lever called Allow access to manage all files (or similar) to ON , in order to grant Solid permission to access the memory of the device. Once this is done, press the Android Back button (or perform the appropriate gesture) and check that, on the screen, the contents of the Android internal memory appear, a sign that the permissions have been granted directly.
Now, connect the USB key to the phone (using the appropriate adapter, if necessary), wait for the message Open the Solid Explorer app to manage [key name] appears on the screen and tap the OK , Grant , Use this folder buttons and Allow , so that the file manager can also act on external memory. If you were to see a message regarding access denied to external storage, exit the app and wait for the authorization request window to appear, which should appear automatically.
We are almost there: now close Solid Explorer (if necessary), open the photo gallery of the device and make a long tap on the preview of the movie to be copied; once this is done, touch the Sharing button (representing a square with an arrow or three dots joined by a line ) and select Solid Explorer – Save in … or just Save in … from the panel that appears on the screen, in order to open the file manager save screen.
Finally, tap the ☰ button located at the top left, tap the name of the key resident in the menu that opens and, to copy the file immediately, tap the Select [key name] button , which appears at the bottom; then if you want to create a dedicated folder in which to add the videos, press the ⫶ button located at the top, select the New folder item from the menu that appears and, after creating it, tap on it and then on the Select button [folder name] .
At the end of the transfer, you will receive a notification indicating the conclusion of the process; to eject the USB stick, call up the Android notification area (or the MIUI Control Center , if you have it activated), expand the notification relating to the USB Drive and tap on the Eject item , located inside it.
How to transfer videos from iPhone to USB stick
Although, starting from iOS 13 / iPadOS , Apple has introduced support for reading USB sticks by the File application , it is not possible – at least not at the time of writing this guide – to copy photos and videos directly to the drive. external. However, this does not mean that it is not possible to do it, on the contrary: you can follow two alternative routes, depending on the tools at your disposal.
The first, as well as the simplest, is to copy the videos of your interest to your computer in the form of “independent” files, using the Windows File Explorer or the macOS Image Acquisition tool , and then transfer the files obtained to the USB key , following one of the procedures that I pointed out to you in the initial chapter of this guide. If you don’t know how to use the capture tools mentioned earlier, read my tutorial on how to transfer videos from iPhone to computer , in which you will find everything explained in great detail.
And if you don’t have a computer available, you can use a special key with a Lightning connector , designed specifically to act as a backup drive for iPhone and iPad. To avoid compatibility problems, choose devices with MFi (or made for iPhone ) certification.
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After choosing and obtaining the key you prefer, download the companion app on the iPhone (usually available at no cost on the App Store), open it and follow the instructions that appear on the screen, to move the files you want to the USB memory. Unfortunately I can’t be more precise about the exact steps to follow, as each app is different from the others; however, the instructions provided are almost always intuitive and easy to understand, even for non-experts on the subject.
On the iPad , things are different, as many models of the Apple tablet now have a USB-C port to which you can connect keys and adapters in this format and freely copy files to external drives via the default File app.