How To Connect an External USB Drive to a Hyper-V VM

How To Connect an External USB Drive to a Hyper-V VM

To connect an external USB drive to a Hyper-V virtual machine (VM), you generally need to use a process called USB passthrough, since Hyper-V does not natively support attaching USB devices directly to VMs in the same way other hypervisors do^[1][2]. Here is the most common approach to making a USB drive accessible to your Hyper-V VM:

Using Physical Disk Passthrough (most reliable for external drives):

1. Connect the USB drive to your Hyper-V host computer (not directly to the VM)^[3][4][5].
2. On the Hyper-V host, open Disk Management:
   • Right-click the Windows Start button and choose "Disk Management."
   • Find your external USB drive in the list, right-click it, and select "Offline." This step is essential—Hyper-V and the host OS cannot use the drive simultaneously^[3][6][4][2].
3. Open Hyper-V Manager:
   • Right-click your target VM and choose Settings^[7].
   • Make sure the VM is powered off for hardware changes.
4. Add the USB drive to the VM:
   • In the VM Settings, select the SCSI Controller (not IDE—SCSI allows hot swap).
   • Click Add > Hard Drive.
   • Select the newly created Hard Drive entry, then choose Physical hard disk.
   • In the drop-down, select your USB drive, which now appears because it's offline to the host^[3][6][5][2].
5. Start the VM: The USB drive should now be accessible to the guest OS as a new disk. You may need to partition or assign a drive letter from inside the VM^[2].

Alternative Methods (if direct passthrough is not suitable):

• Enhanced Session Mode or RDP: These methods allow you to redirect USB devices (such as storage drives) via Remote Desktop, but are suitable mostly for USB sticks or for file copy, not for all devices^[1].
• Third-party USB over network software: Programs like USB Network Gate can also redirect USB devices over the network for more complex scenarios^[2][1].

Key Requirements & Limitations:

• You must take the USB drive offline from the host before the VM can use it.
• Only one system (either host or VM) can access the USB drive at a time^[2].
• This process works for USB storage devices (drives, sticks), not for all USB peripheral types (like some security dongles or specialized hardware)^[8][1].
• For non-storage USB devices, use Enhanced Session Mode or network USB solutions^[1][2].

References:

• Official Microsoft guide to USB passthrough^[3].
• Step-by-step YouTube tutorials^[6][4].
• Detailed written guides with illustrations of each step^[5][2].
• Approaches for non-storage USB devices and software options^[1][2][8].

If you need steps for a specific kind of USB device (not storage), let me know.

⁂

1. https://www.nakivo.com/blog/performing-hyper-v-usb-passthrough/     
2. https://www.net-usb.com/virtual-usb/hyperv-usb-passthrough/        
3. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/1009500/how-to-connect-a-usb-dongle-to-virtual-machine-hyp   
4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nn9WaKEJrmQ  
5. https://endurtech.com/connecting-a-drive-to-a-vm-in-hyper-v/  
6. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VoJ1bLCkG1k  
7. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/2193986/usb-passthrough-in-hyper-v-and-networking-with-hyp
8. https://www.reddit.com/r/PLC/comments/1dubl0p/hyperv_and_usb_devices_solutions_or_alternatives/ 

Article ID: 936
Created: August 4, 2025
Last Updated: August 4, 2025
Author: Natural Networks NOC [support@naturalnetworks.com]

Online URL: https://kb.naturalnetworks.com/article.php?id=936