Marshall Bock

I have four flash drives in a variety of different capacities. My favorite is a little 4GB Sony with this clever sheath that hides the USB plug and clicks open when in use. It’s super sweet, as flash drives go. And I lost it last week.

But I got it back! And here’s how you can, too.

Every drive I have, I place a text file in the root folder named IF_LOST.txt, and it contains this message:

If you’ve found this flash drive, that means I’ve lost it. I’m forgetful like that.

Please contact me:

[Email Address]
[Phone Number]

Thanks for being cool about this.

Marshall

Obviously, you can cater the message to your liking, but I thought this self-deprecating, appreciative plea for help struck a good chord. I never put any personal information on my drives, so I didn’t feel too nervous about listing both my email address and phone number.

The very next day, I got an email letting me know that my favorite little drive had been found. And ultimately, I’m pretty sure this little .txt is entirely responsible for its safe return.

Hope this little life hack helps someone recover a drive in the future. Enjoy!