it cant be bigger than a 2gb drive. and sometimes you have to take out the stick and plug it back in. they are fiddly sometimes.

Thanks to all who answered. I learned a lot from your responses. Now, I'm confident I can use this machine for what i want to do.

Your flash drive will hold a lot of designs, but your machine can't handle all of them at one time, so it just refuses to display any of them. Put only a few designs at a time on your drive. Save back to the computer or delete for your next embroidery session. For thos folks that don't have software to create names or sentences (I'm thinking quilt labels), there is an offer right now at
http://www.bowsandclothes.com/index....esignSetup.php It uses digitized fonts in your computer to merge and combine ...letting you create names/words and save for embroidering all at once. As I understood (I've already bought it) they are offering as a test and hoping you will report back any errors. It is offered for $5.00---Paypal---and there is a 6 page PDF to describe how it works, as well as a Youtube video. I can't wait to try it out. Just tho't I'd mention for all those who only use the machine built in fonts. Works 4x4 and 5x7.