Mac mini M4 running Sequoia cannot eject USB drives

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Level 1

14 points

Mac mini M4 running Sequoia cannot eject USB drives

Cannot eject USB drives from my MacMini M4 running Sequoia 15.7.1. Every attempt yields error message that disk "wasn't ejected because one or more programs may be using it". But NO other programs are running....just Finder itself. Ran Disk Utility First Aid on my mac's internal drive and the usb drives and no errors are found. DU shows USB drive as "Ejectable....Yes". USB drive mount fine, just cannot eject. Logging off & logging back in does not fix, and shutting down my mac every time I need to eject a disk is a big PITA.

Any suggestions to allow me to eject USB drives without risking data corruptions?

Posted on Nov 16, 2025 9:57 AM

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Answer 1

den.thed

Level 10

90,688 points

Nov 16, 2025 10:39 AM in response to JMTB12

"Other" can include process like Spotlight, Time Machine, Drive Manufacture Utilities, AV-ware, etc, etc....

If Safe Mode allows for ejecting and then the problem returns after restarting normally...?

Download and run the free version of EtreCheckPro, from > https://etrecheck.com/en/index.html

Then post back here with your Report, as per > How to use the Add Text Feature When Post… - Apple Community

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Answer 2

Nov 16, 2025 10:03 AM in response to JMTB12

Start by updating your OS to 15.7.2.

Then see if the problem still happens in safe mode.

Safe mode will often correct weird software behavior by forcing the OS to clear caches, do disk repair and other self-maintenance and housekeeping and temporarily disables third-party mods.

How to use safe mode on your Mac - Apple Support

Does the same thing happen while in Safe mode?

You can exit safe mode by restarting your Mac normally, then reevaluate the problem.

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