Hard to do when you're plugging into the back of a workstation that's located under your desk. Or in a lot of other situations really.

Actually still pretty simple - In almost all scenarios, the USB connections on the PC will be oriented to point downwards or to the right. You tell what's 'down' on your USB cord by looking for the seam on the outside metal band that runs around the USB connector itself.

Orient that seam downwards or (if the ports are vertical) to the right, and most of the time it'll fit first go.

I have come across a few setups that had a USB port 'upside down', but mostly this is on laptops where they've got the connector board fitted upside-down inside the chassis.

Likewise here; I rarely experience the "catch" that would make me think I have the connector upside-down. The trick is to approach at an angle, giving a lot more room for the connector to fit.

>The trick is simple, look at the damn connector first.

Wouldn't do you any good, as the port can be on different orientation (up/down) in different devices.

If you mean look at both ends, then duh!. That doesn't count as "first try" though as it's not an actual "try" (and see), but a in-advance planned action...

Nearly all devices that have a horizontal USB port expect the "holes with shadows" side up. Look, then feel a little to jiggle it in. It takes just 2 mins to learn this and it will (well would have) save you years of frustration.

Not every cable is labeled with the USB logo. And sometimes even that is on the wrong side.

True that's not foolproof but you also have the fat plastic part down if you just glance into your cable before you go to plug. That's foolproof. But you still have to know what is 'down' on the device you are plugging into...

That is also not foolproof.

There is no method or approach that is foolproof for all cables and ports. I have cables with no logo, cables with rounded and heavy cable parts on both sides, cables with holes in the metal jacketing on both sides, and so on.

The only truly foolproof method is to look inside both the plug and the port before attempting to plug it in, to see where the metal is. Of course, that only works when you can clearly see into the port, so it doesn't work in the dark or for ports behind other things.

So yeah, nothing is foolproof when it comes to USB-A. Not 100% of the time.

You're not the only one!

Okay, and what’s your trick for knowing which way around the plug is?

Edit: Whoops, meant port.

No idea why no one else has mentioned: if the usb is horizontal, the side with the two open holes is 99% of the time the "up" side.

No need for USB logos or anything.

The cable has the “thick” part on the bottom, when you hold it with the USB symbol up.

The port is orientated “up” on the device (that is, the thick portion is on top), or orientated up with regards to the motherboard if it’s sideways. Most devices that accept USB provide these orientations.

It has a symbol printed on the side that's "up".

People keep saying this, but I have at least a half-dozen (admittedly cheap) USB cables with no symbol or logo printed on them at all.

Oh that's no good. Time to grab a pocket knife and make some marks. :)

The logo on the connector usually corresponds to the top/right of the plug