“Can I use a USB 2.0 flash drive in a USB 3.0 port?”

(Answer requested by Roksana Parvin Yasmin)

Sure, as long as both devices and their software (e.g. drivers) were manufactured to formal USB standards, they should work fine.

USB is designed to be backwards (lower-numbered) compatible, meaning that a USB 3 port will work fine with USB 3, USB 2, and USB 1 devices.

Likewise, a USB 3 device can plug into a USB 3, 2 or 1 socket.

But in all cases, the connection’s speed and features will be limited to that of the lowest-numbered device in the USB chain.

For example, if you plug a USB 3 device into a USB 2 port, or vice versa, both devices will operate with USB 2’s speed and features.

And again, that all assumes that everything on both ends of the connection was designed to spec, and manufactured correctly. If a manufacturer deviates from the official USB spec — perhaps in the name of adding some special feature or function — then backwards-compatibility may be compromised.

But absent that, you should be able to plug just about any USB device into a like-shaped/keyed physical port, and get at least basic functions going, no matter what number (1, 2, 3…) USB standard is involved.

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