BootForge

Make a bootable drive

Connecting a USB drive

Plugging in over OTG, granting permission, using hubs, and letting BootForge open automatically.

Everything in BootForge starts with a connected drive. Here’s how detection and permission work.

Plug it in

Connect your USB drive to the phone through an OTG adapter (or plug a USB-C drive in directly). BootForge watches for USB devices and detects the drive automatically — you don’t need to refresh anything.

On the Home screen you’ll move through a few short states:

  • Connect a USB drive — nothing is plugged in yet.
  • Allow access to (drive name) — Android needs your permission to read this specific drive.
  • Reading drive… — BootForge checks what’s already on it.

Grant access

Tap Grant access and accept Android’s USB permission prompt.

Permission is per-device and is asked again each time you reconnect the drive. That’s an Android security rule, not a BootForge limitation.

If you deny it, BootForge can’t read the drive — reconnect and grant access to continue.

Connecting through a hub

If you plug a USB hub into the phone first, BootForge shows USB hub connected and waits. Plug your drive into the hub and it’s detected. You may be asked to allow access twice — once for the hub, once for the drive.

”This looks like a hard drive”

If the connected device reports itself as a fixed disk (an SSD or HDD rather than a flash drive), BootForge shows a caution. Preparing or formatting erases everything on it, so make sure that’s really what you intend.

Set aside, reconnect, or switch drives

  • If you set a drive aside, Home shows Drive set aside with a Reconnect button.
  • The drive card’s ⋮ menu lets you Disconnect drive or, on a ready drive, Use a different drive.

Open BootForge automatically on connect

BootForge can offer to open itself whenever you plug in a drive. This is off by default.

Turn it on in Settings → USB drive → Open when a drive is connected. With it on, plugging in a drive lets Android offer to open BootForge; tap Use by default for this USB device to make it automatic from then on.

BootForge can’t force this — Android always controls the “use by default” choice. Turn the setting off to stop the prompt entirely.

Once a drive is connected and read, BootForge tells you whether it’s already a Ventoy drive or needs preparing.