How to Use a USB Drive with Your Cloud Desktop

A woman inserting a metal USB flash drive into the side port of a laptop

Short answer: Plug the USB drive in before you connect, then tick it under Local Resources → More → Drives in Remote Desktop Connection. It appears inside Windows under This PC as a redirected drive. USB devices that are not storage — scanners, dongles, most printers — are a different matter.

Applies to: Windows RDP client primarily · Infosaic cloud desktops

There are two quite different questions hiding behind “can I use my USB drive?”. One is about files on a memory stick or external disk, and the answer is a straightforward yes. The other is about devices — a scanner, a licence dongle, a label printer — and the answer there is more nuanced.

This article covers both, starting with the easy one.

How do I get my USB stick to show up in my cloud desktop?

A man connecting a portable external hard drive to a laptop

Plug the drive in first and check it opens normally on your own computer.
Disconnect from the cloud desktop if you are connected.
Open Remote Desktop Connection, click Show Options, go to Local Resources and click More.
Expand Drives. Tick your USB drive — or tick Drives that I plug in later so you never have to think about it again.
Click OK, then Save on the General tab, then connect.
Inside Windows, open File Explorer → This PC and look under Redirected drives and folders.

From there it is ordinary drag-and-drop. Copying happens over your internet connection, so a full memory stick takes real time — the progress dialog is telling you the truth.

What about scanners, dongles and other USB devices?

A woman collecting a page from a small office printer, an example of a device that is redirected differently

Storage is easy because Windows only has to forward files. A scanner or a hardware licence key is a device with its own driver, and forwarding that over a network connection is a much harder problem.

Printers have their own redirection and work well — see printing from your cloud desktop.
Scanners are usually best used on your own computer. Scan locally, save to a redirected drive or cloud storage, then open the file in the cloud desktop.
Licence dongles for specialist software generally do not redirect over a standard remote desktop connection. If your application needs one, tell us before you plan around it.
Webcams and headsets are audio and video, not storage — see sound and microphone.
Card readers and signature pads vary. Test before you commit to a workflow.

Safely remove the drive: eject it from your own computer, not from inside the cloud desktop. The drive belongs to your machine; the session is only borrowing a view of it. Close the session first if a copy is still running.

If the drive does not appear

You plugged it in after connecting and did not tick drives that I plug in later. Reconnect.
It is not visible on your own computer either. Fix that first — redirection can only forward a drive Windows already sees.
You are in a browser session. Browser access cannot see local drives at all. Use the file transfer panel instead.
You are on a Mac or tablet. Those clients share folders rather than raw drives. Copy the files into a shared folder first.
A work laptop policy blocks redirection. Cloud storage is the practical workaround.

Questions and answers

Can I use a USB flash drive with my cloud desktop?

Yes. Plug it in before connecting and tick it under Local Resources, More, Drives. It appears inside Windows as a redirected drive.

How do I make USB drives appear automatically in future?

Tick Drives that I plug in later in the same dialog, then save the connection. Any stick you plug in is then available.

Why is copying from my USB stick so slow?

The files travel over your internet connection rather than a USB cable, so the transfer runs at your upload speed.

Can I use a USB scanner in my cloud desktop?

Generally no. Scan on your own computer, save the file to a redirected drive or cloud storage, and open it in the cloud desktop.

Will a licence dongle work?

Usually not over a standard remote desktop connection. Ask before designing a workflow around one.

Can I use USB drives in browser access?

No. Browser sessions cannot see your local drives. Use the file transfer panel in the Ctrl+Alt+Shift menu instead.

Is it safe to unplug the drive during a session?

Wait until any copy has finished, then eject it from your own computer. The drive belongs to your machine, not to the session.

What about a Mac or an iPad?

Those clients share folders rather than raw drives. Copy the contents of the stick into a shared folder, then reach it from the session.

Still stuck?

Open a support request from your control panel — that is the fastest route, because it reaches the team who can already see your account and your desktop. You can also email [email protected].