iPad Pro will not accept USB Flash Drive

As you have discovered, you cannot use regular, commonplace, everyday USB flash memory drives with iDevices.

There are a few special storage devices for mobile devices. There are portable, bulit-in WiFi hotspot hard drives for mobile devices made by Western Digital and Seagate.

http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.aspx?id=1330

http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.aspx?id=1660

http://www.seagate.com/consumer/stream/

There are special mobile lightning connected and built in WiFi Hot spot, USB flash drives made by SanDisk (now owned by Western Digital)

https://www.sandisk.com/home/mobile-device-storage/ixpand

https://www.sandisk.com/home/mobile-device-storage/ixpand-mini

https://www.sandisk.com/home/mobile-device-storage/connect-wireless-stick

http://www.adamelements.com/iKlips/iklips.html

This listing maybe incomplete and somewhat outdated, now. So do an online search for similar external data storage devices for iPads

Kingston Electronics makes some data storage devices for iPads/iDevices, now, too!

https://www.kingstongo.com/us/usb/datatraveler-bolt-duo-flash-drive-for-iphone

Good Luck!

YOu will need to use one of the special drives linked above. Your random average USB drive will not work. (And haven’t for years....there were a few way back in the ipad 2 days that worked, but not anymore)

There are some drives out there, as linked above, that use an app to access data. I have a lexar one that uses a micro sd card and an app to transfer data....still often takes a bit of work around to get things off it and into the app I want them to get into.

iPads do not have a file manager/file explorer like computers do, so no way to access what’s on a drive unless that drive comes with an app that allows access.

The other option is to use a cloud service like iCloud, Dropbox, or (Google) Drive.

You don't need to use a Mobile WiFi hotspot to use the WiFi drives that work with iPads. They generate their own WiFi network. There's no additional fee because you can't use them for getting on the internet. The WiFi is just used for transferring between the two devices.

As I already stated, these special mobile drives have their own Wifi generator/network built-in, so you can communicate between the drive and iPad using the drive maker’s own drive app for iOS.

These are the drives you need to use with ANY iDevice.

Rocketship01 wrote:

Well what if I don’t want WiFi? I just want to use the USB so I can access stuff on it in areas where that’s not practical like on a plane.

You could still use this on a plane. WiFi is permitted on planes during flight. You turn the drive, connect the iPad to the drives WiFi and transfer, generally using an app provided by the drive manufacturer.