The Hidden USB Folder
If you regularly plug USB flash drives into a Windows 10 computer, and then plug that same drive into a Mac, a Linux machine, or a smart TV, you have likely noticed a hidden folder named System Volume Information appearing on the root of the drive. Windows automatically creates this folder on every removable drive it encounters.
This folder is primarily used by Windows for System Restore points, Volume Shadow Copy, and the Windows Search indexing database. While these features are crucial for your main C: drive, they are almost never necessary for portable USB flash drives used simply for transferring files. In fact, if you plug a USB drive into a car stereo or a smart TV, this hidden folder can sometimes cause the device to hang as it tries to scan the Windows database files. You can stop Windows from automatically writing these tracking folders to your removable drives.
How to Stop the Creation of System Volume Information
You can disable this behavior by modifying a specific Group Policy setting.
- Press the
Windows Key + Rto open the Run dialog box. - Type
gpedit.mscand press Enter to open the Local Group Policy Editor. (Note: This is only available on Windows 10 Pro, Enterprise, or Education editions). - In the left-hand navigation pane, follow this exact path:
Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Search- With the Search folder selected, look at the list of policies in the right-hand pane.
- Find the policy named Do not allow locations on removable drives to be added to libraries.
- Double-click this policy to open its configuration window.
- Select the Enabled radio button.
- Click Apply, and then click OK.
By enabling this policy, you are telling Windows Search not to index removable drives, which prevents the OS from creating the System Volume Information folder on any newly inserted USB sticks. (Note: This will not delete the folder from drives that already have it; you will need to delete those manually).