Instructions 

How to connect a flash drive to an iPad: a few simple tips

Many happy owners of brand new shiny iPads, having brought their purchase home, are horrified to discover that this device does not have an output for connecting the usual and so familiar USB flash drive. “How can this be?” - immediately flashes through the head. After all, Today we use USB flash drives almost every day, they have managed to replace inconvenient and large disks, allowing us to frequently write and erase information. So, how to connect a flash drive to an iPad? Owners of this modern device quite often ask this question - there are countless answers. but we decided to find the most effective of them and present them in this short review article.

Is there a flash drive for iPad?

At the moment, as we know, such a device has not yet been invented. Although if a flash drive for iPad appeared, it would be very popular, since every year the number of owners of small, convenient tablets increases. But for now we can only hope for its appearance and use various “available” materials to make our iPad work (connecting a flash drive can be done using adapters).

Connecting a flash drive to the iPad to transfer files

Many people buy tablets to avoid getting bored on long trips. After all, how convenient it is to take out a small gadget on the road and watch movies on it, listen to music or play games. But for the same movies to appear on the tablet (if you need to transfer them using a USB flash drive. This is where the problems begin. Especially for those who do not know how to connect a flash drive to an iPad without the appropriate output. The solution is quite simple. You need to purchase a special adapter called Camera Apple IPAD Connection Kit.

If you take a closer look at this adapter, you will see that on one side it can be connected to an iPad, and on the other there is a slot for USB. And, it would seem, everything becomes simple and clear, but even here you should know a few important rules.

How to connect a flash drive to an iPad using the Camera Apple IPAD Connection Kit adapter?

  1. First of all, you need yours. This can only be done using a computer. Insert the flash drive into the appropriate slot in your computer (laptop, netbook), go to “My Computer,” right-click on the flash drive and select “Format.” Be sure to check the box next to the phrase “To FAT format”. Wait for the formatting process to complete. Now the flash drive can be used to connect to the tablet.
  2. It should be remembered that a flash drive formatted in this way can only read two and MPEG AVI), but to download movies and photos to the tablet you don’t need anything more. Moreover, without formatting it will not work with the device.
  3. You must also create a folder on the flash drive called DCIM. Otherwise, your device will not “see” it.
  4. The final stage will be downloading movies or music in a readable format onto a flash drive, which will later be played on the tablet. You can connect a flash drive, as already mentioned, through the Camera Apple IPAD Connection Kit adapter.

Also remember that it is best to use small flash drives (up to 8 Gb) to connect to the tablet. Of course, larger devices will also be suitable for this purpose, but the iPad's battery may not be enough to read them.

How to connect a USB flash drive to iPad: method No. 2

Another useful adapter in this case can be the Lightning to USB Camera Adapter, which helps connect a digital camera to your device.

The steps for creating files here will be the same as described above, because, of course, you can connect not only a camera, but also a flash drive to such an adapter. The main thing is that the device “thinks” that the cord from the digital video camera was connected to it, which is why you need to create the DCIM folder.

By the way, you can connect a keyboard to your iPad in the same way. You just need to ignore the device’s message that “The connected device was not recognized” and just press the “Ok” button. Most likely the keyboard will work.

If you still don’t know how to connect a flash drive to an iPad, you should read our short article, in which we tried to briefly and clearly outline all the necessary steps.