If you’re a new Mac user, you've probably noticed that mounting a CD or DVD on the desktop is as easy as sliding it into the Mac's optical drive. You may have also noticed that ejecting the CD or DVD isn't quite as easy. Unlike many PCs, optical drives don't have a manual eject button. Fortunately, there are other ways of ejecting CDs and DVDs, and they're all pretty simple.
Keyboard Eject
All Apple keyboards have an eject key in the top right corner of the numeric keypad. Clicking this eject key will unmount the volume from the desktop, and eject the CD or DVD from the optical drive.
If you're using a Windows keyboard, the same function is available by pressing the F12 key.
The Menu Method
You can use your mouse to eject a CD or DVD by letting the mouse pointer hover over the desktop icon for the CD or DVD, right-clicking on the icon, and selecting ‘Eject [volume name]’ from the pop-up menu. (If you're using a Windows keyboard, press and hold the Ctrl key and click on the icon to access the pop-up menu.)
CDs and DVDs don't just appear on the desktop; they also appear by default in a Finder window's sidebar. And because the Finder knows they're removable media, it displays a little eject icon next to the CD/DVD's name in the sidebar. Click the icon to eject the CD/DVD.
To the Trash
Last on my list of ways to eject a CD or DVD is simply to click and drag its icon from the desktop to the 'Trash' icon in the Dock. As you drag the CD/DVD, the 'Trash' icon will change to an' Eject' icon. Release the mouse button, and the CD/DVD will pop out of your Mac.
