# MS Outlook hijacks removable media.  Why? And can I stop it?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-outlook-hijacks-removable-media-why-and-can-i-stop-it/443536>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [April 1, 2008, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-outlook-hijacks-removable-media-why-and-can-i-stop-it/443536 "2008-04-01T15:49:38Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\
**Post date:** [April 1, 2008, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-outlook-hijacks-removable-media-why-and-can-i-stop-it/443536/1 "2008-04-01T15:49:38Z")

</div>

I never seem to be able to remove removable media unless I close Outlook.

Outlook has no open emails with attachments or anything. I can’t see any reason why Outlook should stop a removable device from being removed.

Any ideas?

(To clarify - I am talking about safe removal - I get the device cannot be removed error)
