You bought a fast external SSD because spinning drives felt slow. Now that SSD refuses to eject, and you’re wondering if speed was worth the hassle.

External SSDs have become standard for anyone who moves large files: video editors, photographers, developers, anyone tired of watching progress bars crawl. But the same features that make SSDs fast can make them stubborn about ejecting.

SSDs write differently

Traditional hard drives write data sequentially, one piece after another, in a predictable pattern. SSDs work differently. They write data across multiple flash cells simultaneously, handle wear leveling to extend their lifespan, and manage garbage collection to reclaim deleted space.

All of this happens in the background. Your SSD might look idle, but internally it’s reorganizing, optimizing, and maintaining itself. macOS doesn’t always know when these operations are happening, which can create conflicts when you try to eject.

The TRIM command, which tells an SSD to clean up deleted blocks, runs periodically in the background. If TRIM is active when you try to eject, the drive might resist until it finishes.

Speed creates expectations

When you copy files to an SSD, it feels instant. That 2GB file transferred in three seconds, the progress bar vanished, you’re done. Except maybe you’re not.

macOS uses write caching aggressively with fast drives. The system acknowledges a write as complete before the data actually lands on the drive. This makes everything feel responsive, but it means there’s often a gap between “transfer complete” and “actually complete.”

On a fast SSD, this gap is short. But it exists. If you try to eject immediately after a transfer finishes visually, you might catch the drive still flushing its cache. The system won’t let you eject until that flush completes.

Wait ten seconds after any large transfer before ejecting. It feels unnecessary with a drive this fast, but it avoids the error message.

USB-C and Thunderbolt quirks

Most external SSDs connect via USB-C or Thunderbolt. These connections are fast but also more complex than the USB-A ports of old.

Some SSDs show up as multiple volumes or have hidden partitions for firmware or bootability features. Each volume is a potential ejection block. If you only eject the visible partition, the hidden one might still be mounted.

Power management on USB-C is more aggressive too. The port might partially power down the SSD while it’s still mounted, or the SSD might enter a low-power state that makes macOS think it’s gone. When it wakes back up, you get ejection problems or “disk not ejected properly” warnings.

If your SSD has a physical enclosure with activity lights, watch them. A blinking light when you’re not actively using the drive usually means background activity: garbage collection, TRIM, or something macOS-related like Spotlight indexing.

Spotlight loves SSDs

Spotlight indexes fast drives aggressively. An SSD can be read quickly, so Spotlight goes to town, cataloging every file for search. This is great for finding things later, but it means Spotlight spends more active time accessing your SSD than it would a slower drive.

The speed that makes your SSD pleasant to use also makes it an attractive target for background processes. They can read it without slowing down your system, so they do.

To stop Spotlight from blocking your SSD:

sudo mdutil -i off /Volumes/YourSSDName

Or add the drive to Spotlight’s Privacy list in System Settings. You lose the ability to search the drive’s contents, but you gain hassle-free ejection.

The SSD-specific solution

If your SSD won’t eject and you’ve closed all obvious apps, the blocker is almost certainly a background process. Check with:

lsof /Volumes/YourSSDName

Common culprits for SSDs specifically:

mds and related processes: Spotlight indexing the fast drive
fsck_apfs or fsck_exfat: The system checking the drive’s filesystem
diskmanagementd: macOS managing the drive’s partitions
apsd: Apple Push services checking for something

For video editors and photographers, creative apps sometimes maintain project caches or proxy files on external drives. Even after closing the app, background processes related to media indexing might still be active.

Preventing SSD ejection problems

Format your SSD as APFS if you only use it with Macs. APFS handles power loss and unexpected disconnection better than other formats. It won’t prevent ejection problems, but it reduces the risk of data loss if you have to force eject.

Avoid storing sync folders (iCloud, Dropbox, Google Drive) on external SSDs. Sync services constantly check files for changes, which keeps handles open.

If you use the SSD for Time Machine, expect it to stay connected. Time Machine maintains constant contact with backup drives. You can disable Time Machine temporarily when you need to eject, but it’s not a workflow that encourages frequent disconnection.

Give the drive a moment after large operations. SSDs are fast, but the gap between “looks done” and “actually done” still exists.

When speed meets friction

External SSDs solved the speed problem. A portable drive that can keep up with internal storage changed how people work with media and large files.

But the ejection problem didn’t go away. If anything, fast drives make it more frustrating because you expect everything about them to be fast, including disconnecting them.

Ejecta identifies what’s holding your SSD hostage, whether it’s Spotlight, a creative app, or a system process you’ve never heard of. One click to see the problem, one click to solve it. The drive should be as easy to disconnect as it is to use.