Step One: Insert the USB drive or SD card into the adapter, then plug that into the Galaxy Tab’s port. Once the Tab recognizes the drive or card, an indicator will pop up in the Notification Tray.



Note: Android tablets can read USB flash drives or external SSD drives, but they cannot read traditional (spinning) hard drives. IF you’ve tried to plug in your external HDD and Android didn’t recognize it, this is why.



Step Two: Open the app drawer and find the My Files app.

Step Three: If the app opens into the Root folder, scroll the folder list on the left side of the screen until you find the Storages folder. Tap to expand it, then tap to expand the usb folder inside, then expand the sda folder inside that.

The sda folder is where the files on your USB or SD card live, not a new folder on the drive.



The app may open into the correct folder upon launch. If you’re already in the My Files app when you plug in the adapter the correct folder will open automatically.

Step Four: To copy or move files or folders to the Tab, tap the box to the left of the file name to select it. This will bring up editing options in the upper right corner.

The two pages icon is for Copy, the scissors are for Cut, and the trashbin is for Delete. In the dropdown menu on the far right you’ll find Rename and Details.



Tap on the Copy or Cut icon after you’re finished selecting. The icons in the upper right corner will change to a clipboard icon. This is the Paste command.



Step Five: Navigate to the folder on the Galaxy Tab (under Root) where you want to copy or move the file/folder. Tap on it to open, then tap the Paste icon. Your file is now in the new folder.



Note: A quirk of many Android file apps is that, unlike a computer, the clipboard forgets what it’s holding if you do some other command before pasting. Example: if you select another file or create a folder. If this happens just navigate back to the Storages folder and start over. For this reason, I usually Copy instead of Cut, then delete the files I don’t need on the drive later.

Step Six: To copy or move files from the Tab to the USB Drive or SD card, repeat the steps above but in reverse.

Step Seven: Once you’re done, click the USB icon in the Notification area. It will now say “Click here to remove drive”. Tap that and the folders will disappear from the My Files manager. You can now unplug the drive from the Tab’s’ port.