Can't eject external hard drive

[Sue]

Help! I plugged an external hard drive into my laptop  to see what was on it, and now I can't eject it because it has started doing something. 

I'm getting a message that it's currently in use, close any programs or windows that might be using it, and try (to eject it) again.

But I've closed everything down that I can see.

It's got an enormous amount of stuff on it, documents photos and music,  which I don't want to lose. 

Could it be synching to OneDrive? What shall I do? Just wait till it's finished whatever it's doing? Surely whatever it's doing shouldn't have started automatically?

I hate my laptop with a vengeance 🤬 It has caused me nothing but trouble since I got it.

I also hate Windows 11. Rant over.

Edited May 29 by Sue

[ianr]

 

For a start you could just try a standard shutdown and let the system try its own tidy-up and  graceful process halting.   Then remove the disk,which can be examined elsewhere.  Alternatively doesn't windows have a task manager that can show you what processes and devices are running, and allow you to shut any down.Ctrl_Alt_Delete?   Or use a command window or ?Explorer to examine any changes in the contents of the external drive. 

Edited May 29 by ianr
Afterthoughts