can't find logs while copying files in usb

Question

Where can I find logs for copying files from local to USB? I'm using GUI to copy files.

OS:Ubuntu 16.04 LTS

Answer 1

Unless you are referring to the journal of some file systems, no general logs (of which I am aware) are made when files are copied to a USB drive. The most common file systems used on USB drives (FAT32, exFAT) do not contain such journals.

I know of no general utility to view or work with file system journals. However, you might find the following information useful:

• For NTFS, you might be able to use ntfsinfo. You can read more about the NTFS Journal:

  • Digital Forensics – NTFS Change Journal
  • GitHub: ExtractUsnJrnl

• You might be able to use xfs_db for xfs.

• For ext3/4, you can use debugfs to dump the journal and ext4magic to search and recover files.