A USB peripheral connected to the Linux computer is not automatically available to an application inside its virtual machine. First decide where the task should run. A scanner used by a guest accounting application and a webcam used by the host meeting application belong to different workflows even though both cables enter the same computer.

Identify the device before redirecting it

Record the intended guest name and the peripheral's visible model. Close host applications using that peripheral. Start with a noncritical device or harmless test material; do not use a drive containing the only copy of a project for the first trial.

GNOME documents USB redirection for a running box. Open that box's Preferences, choose Devices & Shares, and inspect the USB Devices list. Turn on only the switch for the intended device. Redirection presents the selected hardware to the virtual computer as a directly connected device.

If several devices have similar names, stop and identify the correct one before toggling them. Do not redirect a keyboard needed to control the host merely to see what happens. If the option or device is missing in your installed build, record that fact and the Boxes version rather than assuming the peripheral is physically faulty.

Test the guest task and the return

Inside the guest, inspect the expected application or device view. Confirm the actual model, then perform a small task: preview a webcam image or read a disposable test file. Seeing a device in Boxes is only the handoff step; the guest still needs to use it successfully.

Finish the guest operation before switching redirection off. For storage, close files and use the guest's safe removal process first. Then release the device through Boxes and check the host workflow again.

Keep a short record of which guest used the peripheral and whether it returned normally. If it disappears from both environments, stop repeated switching and collect the observed states. This comparison separates a virtual-device handoff problem from an ordinary cable, port or hardware failure.

Sources: GNOME documentation.