HomeBuying Guide9 Best USB Flash Drives (2023): Pen Drives, Thumb Drives, Memory Sticks

9 Best USB Flash Drives (2023): Pen Drives, Thumb Drives, Memory Sticks

January 13, 2023

9 Best USB Flash Drives (2023): Pen Drives, Thumb Drives, Memory Sticks

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Best Overall

SanDisk Extreme Pro (128 GB)

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$40 at Amazon

A Compact Alternative

PNY Pro Elite (256 GB)

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$40 at Amazon

Best USB-C Drive (and the Fastest)

Kingston DataTraveler Max (1 TB)

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$117 at Amazon

Best for Phones

SanDisk iXpand Luxe (128 GB)

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$43 at Amazon
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Once ubiquitous, USB flash drives have declined in popularity with the advent of the cloud, but these portable devices have a lot to offer. Also known as thumb drives or memory sticks, flash drives provide storage to back up precious photos, play movies on the big screen, or copy files from one phone or laptop to another. They are affordable, small enough to fit on a keychain, and boast ever-increasing capacities and data transfer speeds.

After testing many, these are the best USB flash drives for various purposes and budgets. If you need more than 1 terabyte of storage, check out our guide to the Best Portable Storage Drives. And don't forget to back up your digital life.

Updated January 2023: We added a drive from PNY and updated prices throughout.

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  • Photograph: SanDisk

    Best Overall

    SanDisk Extreme Pro (128 GB)

    Striking the perfect balance between speed, reliability, and price, the SanDisk Extreme Pro is tough to beat. It has a sleek and durable aluminum case with a loop for attaching it to a key ring. Push the plastic slider to reveal or hide the USB-A plug, and it's completely operable with one hand. In our tests, the speeds matched what SanDisk advertises (420 megabytes per second read, 380 MB/s write), making it ideal for anyone regularly copying files between devices. You get a variety of storage capacity options (up to 1 terabyte) and a lifetime warranty.

    Connector: USB 3.2 Type-A

    $40 at Amazon
    $40 at B&H

  • Photograph: PNY

    A Compact Alternative

    PNY Pro Elite (256 GB)

    Slightly slower but also usually cheaper than our top pick, the PNY Pro Elite is a compact drive that performs well. The plastic cover slides shut to protect the USB-A plug, and there’s an opening for a lanyard or keyring. When tested with large files, the average read and write speeds consistently exceeded the stated 400 MB/s and 250 MB/s, though this drive gets a little warm sometimes. I tested the 256-GB drive, but there are 128-GB, 512-GB, and 1-terabyte models.

    Connector: USB 3.1 Type-A

    $40 at Amazon

  • Photograph: Kingston

    Best USB-C Drive (and the Fastest)

    Kingston DataTraveler Max (1 TB)

    This drive copied the entire camera folder from my Pixel phone to my laptop so quickly I feared it must have failed. But when I checked my laptop, everything was present and correct. It’s a very lightweight plastic drive with a ridged top that allows you to slide the USB-C plug in and out. A tiny loop at the top means you can attach it to a key ring. It’s a great choice if you want to back up or move files between smartphones, tablets, or laptops with USB-C ports. It’s by far the speediest drive I have tested (1,000 MB/s read, 900 MB/s write), so it’s especially perfect for transferring large files. We've linked to the 1-terabyte model, but there are 256- and 512-gigabyte options available too. 

    Connector: USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C

    $117 at Amazon
    $130 at B&H

  • Photograph: SanDisk

    Best for Phones

    SanDisk iXpand Luxe (128 GB)

    If you want a flash drive to back up and copy photos and other files from your smartphone, I like the iXpand Luxe. It has a Lightning plug for iPhones and iPads at one end and flips to reveal a USB-C plug at the other, so you can transfer files to or from Android devices and laptops. It has a metal casing with a loop for a keychain, and it is very slim. This design means that one plug is always exposed, and while SanDisk includes a separate plastic cover that slots on, I fear I'll inevitably lose it. Storage options top out at 256 gigabytes. 

    If you want to use this drive with an iPhone or iPad, you must install the iXpand app (not required for Android devices). It works well, but it’s not the fastest drive (90 MB/s read, 35 MB/s write). Backing up photos from my wife’s iPhone took a couple of hours the first time. Handily, you can configure the app to automatically back up photos when you insert the drive. Don't have a USB-C port on your laptop? Then the very similar iXpand Go ($40) is the way to go. It sports a Lightning port on one end and a USB-A plug on the other.

    Connector: USB Type-C 3.1 and Apple Lightning

    ★ Another Alternative: The Verbatim Dual ($21 for 64 GB) is a tiny drive with a USB-C connector at one end and a lanyard-connected cap you can remove to reveal a USB-A at the other (both USB 3.2 Gen 1). It’s not the fastest, but it is very small and cheap, and also comes in 16- or 32-gigabyte options.

    $43 at Amazon
    $43 at Adorama

  • Photograph: Verbatim

    Best Budget

    Verbatim Pinstripe (256 GB)

    Affordable and practical, the Pinstripe from Verbatim will not win any races (my tests of the 256-GB drive saw variable write speeds of up to 80 MB/s and read speeds a little faster), but I like the simple design. The USB-A slides into the lightweight plastic body for protection, so there’s no cap to lose, and the other end has a tiny loop for a keychain. Did I mention that it's cheap? You can get various sizes, all at attractive prices for the capacity. If you want to take files with you, and there is no hurry to transfer them, this is one of the cheapest ways. You can also get 16-, 32-, 64-, or 128-gigabyte options. Just watch out as the older model of Pinstripe is a slower drive.

    Connector: USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A

    $20 at Amazon

  • Photograph: Corsair

    Most Durable

    Corsair Flash Survivor Stealth (64 GB)

    Seeking a flash drive with a durable enclosure? The Survivor Stealth from Corsair is tough to beat. It has a ridged, cylindrical, anodized aluminum housing with ridged rubber covers at each side. One end has an opening for a keychain, and screws open to reveal the drive, which has a standard USB-A plug. When screwed shut properly, this drive is waterproof to a depth of 200 meters, and the enclosure is vibration- and shock-resistant. I dropped it in a glass of water and let the cat chase it around, and it still works fine. Its performance is fairly average (85 MB/s read, 70 MB/s write), so it takes a while to complete a big backup or transfer large files. Its storage capacities are also relatively small and go up to 128 gigs.

    Connector: USB 3.0 Type-A

    $35 at Amazon

  • Photograph: Samsung

    Minimalist Design

    Samsung Bar Plus (128 GB)

    An elegant one-piece design makes this USB flash drive eye-catching and practical. The metal casing comes in silver or gray, with a curved design that makes it easy to withdraw and a loop so you can slip it on to a keyring. Test read speeds were just shy of 400 MB/s, with write speeds just over 100 MB/s, but the smaller drives (32 GB and 64 GB) are significantly slower. The Bar Plus is also a durable option, with Samsung claiming it is waterproof, shock-proof, temperature-proof, magnet-proof, and X-ray-proof.

    Connector: USB 3.1 Type-A

    $18 at Amazon
Most Popular

  • Photograph: Lexar

    Most Secure

    Lexar Jumpdrive Fingerprint F35 (128 GB)

    You can get USB drives with all sorts of different security measures, but this Lexar model has a convenient fingerprint scanner. The body of the drive and scanner are metal with a loop for a keychain at the top and a black sliding plastic cover to protect the USB-A plug. You have to set the fingerprint scanner up on a Windows PC, and you can register up to 10 fingerprints. I registered my thumb, and it was scanned as soon as I slotted it into a computer, giving me access to the secure partition, which boasts 256-bit AES encryption. 

    There is also a public partition that can be accessed like a regular drive, so you can access some files without fingerprint protection if you need to. Read speeds are quite good, but write speeds are slow (150 MB/s read, 60 MB/s write). You can get it in 32-, 64-, 128-, or 256-gigabyte options.

    Connector: USB 3.0 Type-A

    $40 at Amazon

  • Photograph: Verbatim

    Best Tiny

    Verbatim Nano (32 GB)

    Many drives are not much bigger than the USB-A connector, but I find them a little too easy to lose. But, if you need a teeny tiny drive, they don’t come much smaller than this one. Verbatim’s 32 GB Nano did slightly better than the stated 80 MB/s read and 25 MB/s write speeds in my testing, but it’s still quite slow. I like the curved indent that makes it easier to extract (some of these tiny drives are hard to pull out). The blue finish lacks style, but it is easy to spot if you drop it, and it is very affordable. There are also 16- and 64-gigabyte models.

    Connector: USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A

    ★ Another Alternative: The Samsung FIT Plus ($33 for 256 GB) is a much nicer-looking drive with a metallic body and performance to match (up to 400 MB/s read for 128-GB or 256-GB drives). It is bigger but has a handy loop for a keychain.

    $10 at Amazon
  • Photograph: Getty Images

    Ejecting and Formatting Drives

    Best Practices

    It's a good idea to format your drive before you start using it. You'll usually be asked what format you want to use. Almost every device will recognize the FAT32 format, but it limits the individual file size to 4 GB. Go for exFAT if you have larger files. If you format a flash drive, it will completely wipe everything stored on it. Here’s how to do it manually:

    On a Windows computer: Open File Explorer and look for your drive under This PC. Right-click on it, and select Format.

    On a Mac: Type Disk Utility into the Search, or find it via Applications > Utilities. Select your drive from the list and click Erase at the top. Then you can rename and choose a format.

    On a Chromebook: Open Files and right-click on your drive to choose Format device.

    You're probably familiar with warnings about removing a drive without ejecting it first. But there’s a genuine risk your data will be corrupted, so here's how to do it properly:

    On a Windows computer: You can click the Safely Remove Hardware notification icon in the taskbar and choose the Eject option. If you prefer not to have to eject, type Device Manager into the search bar and click to open. Expand Disk Drives and right-click on your USB flash drive, choose Properties, Policies, and set to Quick Removal.

    On a Mac: You will see an eject icon listed next to the drive name in Finder, or you can simply drag the flash drive image on your desktop to the trash.

    On a Chromebook: Open Files and right-click on your drive, then select Eject device.

    On an Android device: You can open and expand the USB notification to find an Eject option.

    On an iPhone or iPad: There is no eject option. Ensure no data transfer is in progress before you pull it. It’s a good idea to close the Files app or whatever app you were using to transfer files.

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  • Photograph: Javier Zayas Photography/Getty Images

    How to Get the Most From Your Drive

    Storage Tips

    There are a few things to keep in mind when you’re shopping for USB flash drives, and we also have some tips for using them.

    Capacity: To decide on the capacity you need, check the size of the folders or files you want to copy first. Each USB drive in our guide has a stated capacity, but the usable storage available to you will be slightly less than that because the device’s firmware requires space.

    Speed: USB standards are advancing all the time, and we recommend USB 3.0 as a minimum, though higher is better. While USB standards have different theoretical maximum speeds, it’s crucial to check the read and write speeds the manufacturer states for each drive. If you're primarily transferring data, you'll want to look for a drive with high write speeds. If you're planning on launching software on a computer through the drive (like a video game), then you'll want a model with high read speeds. 

    Compatibility: Many flash drives will work with any device with the relevant port, but it’s worth checking compatibility to avoid disappointment. If you want to use a drive with an Android device, it will require USB on-the-go (OTG) support. Most Android devices do support USB OTG. You will get a notification when you insert a flash drive with options that should include File Transfer. You can try the USB OTG Checker app to confirm support if you’re unsure. Apple’s iPhones and iPads don’t support USB OTG, but you can install a companion app for drives, like SanDisk’s iXpand series.

    Connectors: Most flash drives have USB-A connectors, but you can also get drives with USB-C, MicroUSB, and Lightning connectors. If you plan on using a flash drive with your smartphone and computer, the easiest solution is to snag one with both the required types of connectors. You can also buy USB hubs with multiple ports or adapters, but pay close attention to the supported standard or it may limit your data transfer speeds. This Anker USB-A to USB-C adapter, for example, is USB 3.0.

    Security: Remember that USB drives can cause security issues, particularly for businesses, and you should never plug in random drives you find lying around. If you plan to keep sensitive data on your flash drive, then consider biometric or passcode protection and look into the level of encryption it offers. There are software services that offer encryption and allow you to password-protect your files on any USB flash drive.

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