How to Safely Remove an SD Card From a MacBook
There are three ways to safely remove an SD card from a MacBook. They all accomplish the same task, which is to unmount the drive before you physically remove it. This is called ejecting, although it’s different from physically ejecting the card. You need to eject the card through macOS before you can physically remove or eject it from your card reader. The simplest way to safely remove an SD card from a MacBook is directly from the desktop:
How to Remove an SD Card From a MacBook Using the Trash
Another easy way to unmount an SD card from your MacBook is to use the Trash icon on your dock. While this method uses the Trash icon, it doesn’t actually destroy any of your files. The SD card is unmounted instead, and you can remove it safely. Here’s how to remove an SD card from a MacBook using Trash.
How to Remove an SD Card From a MacBook Using Finder
You can also eject an SD card through Finder. This method can take a little more effort compared to the others, but it’s handy if you already have Finder open or SD cards don’t appear on your desktop when they’re mounted. Here’s how to eject an SD card from a MacBook through Finder:
Why Do You Need to Eject an SD Card Before Removing From a MacBook?
When you eject the SD card using one of the methods described above, it ensures your MacBook isn’t trying to read or write to the SD card when you physically remove it. You can physically remove an SD card from your MacBook without ejecting it, but you run the risk of corrupting the files on the SD card. Even if it’s been a while since you used any files on the card, macOS may have data waiting in a buffer that it still needs to write to the card. Removing the card before that process finishes will result in losing that data and can also corrupt files on the card.
