Windows 10, running as VirtualBox guest, does not see USB flash drive

I'm running Windows 10 as a VM under VirtualBox in Ubuntu 20.04. I've put a USB flash drive in a USB socket and Ubuntu sees it Ok. Windows 10 VM doesn't see the drive, even though I've enabled USB 'passthrough' in VirtualBox: in other words, VirtualBox sees the drive but the Windows 10 VM doesn't. Also, Ubuntu 20.04 sees the phone the using Nautilus (the equivalent of File Explorer). Native Windows 10 sees the drive. I've looked at Device Manager and against the USB Mass Storage Device (in USB Serial Bus Controllers) there's a yellow triangle with an exclamation mark against it. I've tried right clicking the entry and uninstalling it, rebooting Windows and installing it again but I get nowhere. Any ideas?

2 Answers

The Windows VM has to be Powered Off (Not Shutdown or Saved). The USB 2.0 & USB 3.0 & USB 2.0 radio buttons then appear in VirtualBox's menu Settings->USB. I selected USB 3.0 and then my USB stick & Android Phone were then 'seen' by Windows' File Explorer after enabling each one in the menu entry for Devices->USB.

You are probably using the default USB version 1.1 instead of version 2.0 or 3.0.

To enable USB support guest machine, you must first install The Extension Pack on the Host machine:

• Shutdown the VM

• Download on host theVirtualBox Extension Pack

• When download is completed, double click to launch the installerOracle_VM_VirtualBox_Extension_Pack-6.x.x.x.vbox-extpack

• Follow the on-screen instructions to install the Extension Pack

• Start VirtualBox

• Select the VM and then Settings

• Choose USB at the left pane

• At the right pane, check USB 2.0 (or USB 3.0)

• Click OK

• Attach the USB device.

For more information with screenshots seeHow to Setup USB on VirtualBox Guest.