If you connect a USB stick or other device to your Windows 11 computer, Windows 11 will automatically play or open the content.
It is not always desirable to automatically open or play content on a USB device. In Windows 11 you can therefore also manage whether the content on the USB device should be opened automatically or not.
By default, data on a USB device is opened directly by Windows 11 when it is connected to the PC. If you would like to adjust the automatic playback or opening of data on a USB or other device for security or other reasons, learn how to do this in this article.
Enable or disable USB auto-open in Windows 11
Right-click on the Start button. Click on Settings in the menu. Click on Bluetooth & Devices on the left.
Navigate down a bit until you reach “Autoplay”. Here you will find the default settings for removable drives and memory cards. Click on it to open.
To enable or disable automatic playback or opening of a USB device, change the power switch to the desired option.
You can also set two default autoplay settings. For example, when opening a removable drive (USB for example), you can select an action.
You can choose to open the storage settings when inserting the media, take no action, open Windows Explorer to display the contents, or ask what you want to do.
You can also set the same when opening an inserted memory card in your computer. You have the following actions to choose from here.
You can choose to open the Photos app, open Windows Media Player, take no action, open Windows Explorer, or ask what to do.
I hope this has helped you adjust the autoplay settings to your liking. Thank you for reading!
I followed the explanation to have a USB stick open automatically, but it still doesn't work.
I have Windows 11. are there other ways?
Hello, make sure the USB stick is found in Windows 11 and has a drive letter. Otherwise, try a different USB port and check whether the USB stick may be locked via a button on the stick itself.
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The USB stick can be found because I can open it via explorer, but it does not open automatically when inserted into the port. There is no button on the USB.
You have set “removable drive” to “ask”? Otherwise, try changing the action to “None” first. Restart your computer. Then set “removable drive” to “ask” and restart the computer. Possibly a certain security package such as antivirus, firewall, etc. is blocking the action? I don't have any more suggestions at the moment. Good luck!
I've already tried everything, but anyway, I put W. 7 on USB because sharing just doesn't work with W. 11 [and it was so easy in W. 7].
By the way, task scheduler doesn't work [well] either, but that's another story, so whether I'm that fond of W. 11, well, no.
So when I boot from USB it says: windows loading files and then the windows screen appears and that's it.
Windows does not start and the funny thing is, if I connect a USB with Linux, then it is no problem, it just appears.
Hello, search on Google for “usb stuck on windows loading files”. There are several tips. Please note that Windows 7 is no longer supported. Certainly a PC with Windows 11 has TPM/Secure Boot enabled in the UEFI. This does not work well with Windows 7. In fact, you have to disable Secure Boot, but then you will experience problems with Windows 11 again.
Do you use the PC for daily work, personally? Then DO NOT use Windows 7. This is asking for serious security problems.
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