USB key not detected on Android

You formatted (erased) your PixiSafe key on a computer, and since then:

• your Android phone shows the notification “Problem with: USB drive…” when you plug the key in;
• or the key no longer appears in the PixiSafe app;
• even though it works normally on the computer.

Rest assured: your key is not broken. It's simply a formatting setting, and everything is fixed in a few minutes.

When a computer formats (erases) a USB key, it reorganises it entirely, a bit like redoing the shelves of a library. The catch: Macs and some Windows tools arrange the key in a modern way that Android phones don't understand.

As a result, the key works perfectly on the computer, but the phone rejects it. The fix is simply to redo the formatting with the “universal” layout, understood by all devices. That's what we'll do together below.

• If the key is still readable on your computer: open it and look for the file pixisafe_license.json at the root of the key. If it's there, copy it to your Desktop: you'll copy it back to the key after reformatting.
• If the file has already disappeared (erased by the first format): write to us at contact@pixisafe.fr, and we'll send your licence file back to you.

While you're at it, copy to the computer any photos and videos still on the key, if you want to keep them.

This is the simplest method: nothing to install, no risk of picking the wrong drive — Android handles everything.

1. 1
   Plug the key into your Android phone.
2. 2
   Tap the notification “Problem with: USB drive…”. If you don't see it, swipe down from the top of the screen to open the notification panel.
3. 3
   Tap “Set up” (or “Format”, depending on your phone model).
4. 4
   If a choice is offered, select “Portable storage” (not “Internal storage”).
5. 5
   Confirm the format and wait for the completion message.
6. 6
   Done! Open the PixiSafe app: the key is recognised and ready for backup.

If no notification appears, unplug and replug the key. Still nothing? Follow the PC procedure below to prepare the key, then try again.

1. 1
   Plug the key into the Mac.
2. 2
   Open Disk Utility: click the magnifying glass at the top right of the screen (Spotlight), type “Disk Utility” and press Enter. (You'll also find it in Applications → Utilities.)
3. 3
   At the top left of the window, click View → Show All Devices. This step is essential to make the scheme option appear at step 6.
4. 4
   In the left column, under “External”, select the whole-disk row (the device name, at the very top — not the volume slightly indented below). Check the size shown (128 or 256 GB) to be sure it's your key and not another drive.
5. 5
   Click Erase at the top of the window.
6. 6
   Copy these three settings exactly (no need to understand what they mean): Name: PIXISAFE (or any name you like); Format: “MS-DOS (FAT)” — sometimes shown “MS-DOS (FAT32)”; Scheme: “Master Boot Record”. If the “Scheme” line doesn't appear, go back to steps 3 and 4: you selected the volume instead of the whole disk.
7. 7
   Click Erase, wait, then “Done”.
8. 8
   Copy your pixisafe_license.json file back onto the key (see above), eject it, then plug it into the phone: it's recognised.

Windows' built-in tools can't redo the right formatting for a key of this size. From a PC, the simplest and safest way is therefore to let the phone do the formatting (recommended solution above): simply plug the key into your Android phone and follow the steps.

If the phone shows no notification and doesn't see the key at all, prepare it first from Windows:

1. 1
   Right-click the Start menu, then choose “Disk Management”.
2. 2
   Find your key in the bottom list by its size (128 or 256 GB) and the “Removable” label. Be careful not to touch the other drives: they contain your data and Windows' data.
3. 3
   Right-click each rectangle (volume) on the key's row, then “Delete Volume…”. Repeat until the row shows only “Unallocated”.
4. 4
   Right-click the disk name, to the left of the row (for example “Disk 1”), then, if the option is offered, choose “Convert to MBR Disk” (copy the wording as is, without worrying about what it means).
5. 5
   Unplug the key and plug it into the Android phone: it will then offer to format it — follow the recommended solution above.

• Copy the file pixisafe_license.json back to the root of the key if you set it aside (otherwise, contact support).
• Open the PixiSafe app and start a new backup: formatting emptied the key, so your photos and videos need to be backed up to it again.
• To avoid the problem in future: if you ever need to erase the key, do it from the phone, or on Mac by following the procedure above exactly.

Unsure about a step, or a licence file to recover? Our customer support replies quickly, 7 days a week. Write to us at contact@pixisafe.fr or check the getting started guide.