Using Your Mobile Number As A USB Label Really Works

We always like hearing about how posts on Lifehacker have helped people out. Reader Xavier took up our suggestion of labelling a USB key with your mobile phone number, and found that it worked for getting the key back even after a three-month break.

Here’s Xavier’s tale:

As soon as I saw the post, I immediately changed all of my USB keys to a similar label because I thought it was a great idea (16GB – Pls call Xavier – 04XX XXX XXX).

Going back to mid-December, I was visiting one of my favourite microbreweries near Central Station in Sydney, and that’s when I lost my USB Key. The key was picked up by one of the bar staff and by the sounds of it, he/she isn’t the kind of person who was honest enough to call me up when found. After a few weeks they realised they had no use for it. Instead, it was palmed off to one of their friends.

When the key was eventually opened three months later, the friend had noticed that the documents I had on the USB looked rather important (my resume in particular). Now this was an honest man. He didn’t make any changes to any files. Nothing had been copied, opened or deleted. Just a random phone call this afternoon saying “Hey! I have your USB key here with me. Come pick it up.”

All I can say is “thanks!” for passing on great tips on Lifehacker like that one, as somewhere, at some time, to someone, it’s going to make a difference.


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