How to Transfer a Flash Drive to an iPod

By Heather Harris

Use your iPod instead of a flash drive.
i flash drive. image by Yuri Bizgaimer from Fotolia.com

The iPod may be most commonly thought of as a personal music playing device, but it is possible to use it for much more than that. With a few clicks of your mouse, you can stop carrying around a separate flash drive and transfer its files to your iPod instead. On non-touchscreen iPods, the process of unlocking this capability is a simple and painless one that can be quickly accomplished, even by those who are not particularly computer-savvy.

Install and run the latest version of iTunes. If you have not already downloaded it, do so by visiting Apple's website and following the prompts. A direct link to the free download page is available in the resources section of this article.

Connect your iPod to your computer and wait for iTunes to recognize the device. When the icon bearing your iPod's name appears in the left-hand column of the iTunes program window, click on it to open the iPod menu.

Click the "Summary" tab in the iPod menu, then click to check the box next to "Enable disk use." If this box is already checked, leave it checked.

Connect your flash drive to your computer.

From your Windows Start menu, open the "My Computer" menu, referred to as simply the "Computer" menu in newer versions of Windows, and find the folders associated with your iPod and your flash drive.

Cut or Copy the files from your flash drive's folder by right-clicking the file and selecting "Cut" or "Copy" from the menu that appears. Cutting removes the file from that folder altogether, while copying leaves the file and creates a copy. Paste the cut or copied files into the iPod folder by right-clicking inside the folder and selecting "Paste."

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