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How to plug in a USB cable the right way every time

usb 1
Melia Robinson/Tech Insider

You go to plug your trusty thumbdrive into the computer but it doesn't fit, so you flip it.

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But that doesn't work either. You flip it again, and by some miracle, now the drive slides into the port with ease.

If you're like me, you've been here a thousand times before. Thankfully, there's a simple trick for knowing how to plug in a USB cable or thumbdrive the right way every time.

On every USB, short for Universal Serial Bus, there's a metal seam on the bottom. That side almost always faces down when inserting the cable or drive.

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Melia Robinson/Tech Insider

We weren't the first to discover this cool trick. David Pogue of Yahoo Tech blessed the world with this 30-second tutorial.

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He also noticed that most USB jacks have a small, forked logo emblazoned on one side of the plastic, which faces up. It's not always there, so consider that your Plan B.

Of course, placement of the port may vary depending on the device. Some computers place the USB circuit board upside down, so the opposite rules apply. And if the slot lies vertically, like on the back of a desktop monitor, you'll want to insert the USB so the seam faces left.

Once you know which configuration your computer has, you can use the seam to guarantee success every time.

And if your USB continues to trip you up, get with the times and upgrade to the reversible USB-C.

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