Set up myUSBdrive in about half an hour

You're only busy for a few minutes of it. Most of the time is your computer downloading and writing the SD card, so you can set it going and make a cup of tea.

Prefer to watch it done first? Watch the setup walkthrough.

Download, 5 to 15 min
Imager
Card writes and checks, about 15 min
Plug in
Starts up
Licence, password, drive
0 min102030
You're doing somethingWaiting

Three things that trip people up

  1. Leave your USB drive unpluggeduntil step 10. Some Pis try to start from it and the first start-up fails.
  2. Wait for "Write complete!"before taking the SD card out, even when Imager looks finished.
  3. Scroll inside the licence box,not the page. The tick boxes unlock when the licence text reaches the end.

Before you start

  • A Raspberry Pi 3, 4 or 5, with its power supply
  • A 16GB or larger SD card rated A1 or A2 (test it first on Windows)
  • A card reader for your computer
  • A network cable to your router
  • Raspberry Pi Imager, free from raspberrypi.com/software
  • The myUSBdrive file from the download page
  • Your USB drive, which you plug in at step 10

Part 1: Write the SD card

On your computer, about 20 minutes
1

Select your Raspberry Pi model

Open Raspberry Pi Imager and click Choose Device. Select your Pi model from the list. Pi 3, Pi 4, and Pi 5 are all supported.

Raspberry Pi Imager - Select device Click a picture to enlarge it
2

Choose the myUSBdrive image

Click Choose OS. Scroll to the bottom of the list and select Use custom, then browse to the myUSBdrive zip file you downloaded.

Clicking Use custom opens a window for choosing a file. Browse to your Downloads folder, or wherever you saved the download, select the myUSBdrive ZIP file and click Open. There is no need to unzip it first.

Raspberry Pi Imager - Choose OS, Use custom Click a picture to enlarge it
3

Select your SD card

Click Choose Storage and select your SD card from the list. Raspberry Pi Imager will only show removable drives, so your computer's own drives are not at risk.

Raspberry Pi Imager - Select storage Click a picture to enlarge it
4

Start writing

Click Next. Raspberry Pi Imager will warn you that all data on the SD card will be erased. This is permanent. Click I Understand, Erase and Write to continue.

Writing the SD card is slow. It can take many minutes while Raspberry Pi Imager writes the card and then checks it. Leave it running and do not remove the SD card until you see Write complete!
Raspberry Pi Imager - Write confirmation Raspberry Pi Imager - Erase warning Click a picture to enlarge it
5

Done. Your SD card is ready

When you see Write complete!, your SD card is ready. Click Finish and remove the SD card from your computer.

Raspberry Pi Imager - Write complete Click a picture to enlarge it

Part 2: First-time setup

On the Pi, about 5 minutes
6

Connect your Raspberry Pi and switch it on

Do these in order, and plug the power in last:

  1. Push the microSD card into the slot on the underside of the Pi, contacts facing the board, until it sits flush.
  2. Plug a network cable into the Pi's network port, with the other end in your router or a network switch.
  3. Finally, plug in the power supply. The Pi has no power button, so it starts straight away.
Do not plug in your USB drive yet. Some Raspberry Pis try to start from a USB drive instead of the SD card, and the first start-up then fails. Keep the drive unplugged until setup is finished. Step 10 tells you when.
Once it is running you should see a green activity light flashing on the network connector and a red power light on the board. No lights at all means the power supply is not connected properly.
Raspberry Pi 4 showing where the microSD card, network cable and USB-C power supply plug in Click a picture to enlarge it
7

Open myUSBdrive in your browser

Give the Pi a couple of minutes to start up the first time. Then, on a computer or phone connected to the same network, type myusb.local into the browser's address bar and press Enter. The setup screens below will appear.

Using an Android phone or tablet? Android can't open .local addresses. Use the Pi's IP address instead, like http://192.168.1.50. Can't open myusb.local? shows four ways to find it.
A browser with myusb.local typed into the address bar Click a picture to enlarge it
8

Read the full licence agreement

The first page you'll see is the End User Licence Agreement. Please read it in full.

Scroll to the bottom of the licence text. The tick boxes and the button stay greyed out until you reach the end. Scroll inside the licence box itself, not the whole page.

Tick both boxes to confirm you accept the licence and understand that you are responsible for your own hardware and data, then click I Accept — Continue to Setup.

myUSBdrive - Licence agreement myUSBdrive - Licence accepted Click a picture to enlarge it
9

Set your password

Choose a strong password for your myUSBdrive. This protects access to your files both on the local network and, if you add remote access, from the internet. Keep it somewhere safe.

Your username is pi. You'll need this when connecting network drives from Windows or Mac.
myUSBdrive - Set your password Click a picture to enlarge it
10

You're in

After setting your password you'll land on the myUSBdrive dashboard. Now plug in your USB drive and click Detect Drives. Your files are then available on your home network. If myUSBdrive detects a newer version of the software, an update prompt will appear at the bottom of the screen (see Part 3 below).

myUSBdrive - Dashboard with upgrade notification Click a picture to enlarge it

Part 3: Installing updates

Whenever a new version comes out

myUSBdrive checks for updates automatically. When a new version is available you'll see a notification bar at the bottom of the dashboard. Updates are applied through the browser, with no SSH or command line required.

11

Install the update

Click Install update in the notification bar. You'll be asked to confirm before anything is changed.

myUSBdrive - Confirm update Click a picture to enlarge it
12

Update in progress

myUSBdrive downloads and verifies the update package, then installs it. The Pi will restart automatically when it's done. This typically takes about two minutes.

myUSBdrive - Verifying update Click a picture to enlarge it
13

Sign in again

After the Pi restarts, refresh the page and sign in with your password. The version number in the bottom right confirms the update was successful.

myUSBdrive - Sign in after update Click a picture to enlarge it

Ready to get started?

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