Formatting is the complete deletion of data on a storage device, including a USB flash drive. Why is this necessary and how is it done? Find out from our material.
Why do you need to format a flash drive?
In the vast majority of cases, it is enough to simply delete one or more files in order to write others. But there are also a number of reasons that force you to completely clear the drive by formatting:
- Change file system;
- Preparing a bootable USB flash drive;
- Presence of bad sectors;
- Consequences of infection with viruses and malware;
- Complete destruction of data without the possibility of recovery.
How to format a flash drive in Windows
Windows 10 offers several formatting methods. Let’s look at the three most popular ones.
Method one – via “My Computer”
Procedure:
- Open the “My Computer” section and insert the USB drive into a free port;
- Right-click on the icon of the disk that appears and select “Format”.
In the window that opens, the following settings will be available to you:
- File system type . FAT and FAT32 are outdated formats that do not support files larger than 4 GB. In addition, if your drive is larger than 32 GB, Windows will only offer exFAT and NTFS;
- Size of the distribution unit . It is also the cluster size. It is recommended to set the default parameters;
- Volume label . You can set the name of the flash drive;
- Format type . If you do not plan to wipe the flash drive without the possibility of data recovery, then choose fast. Full formatting can take several hours.
We set the necessary parameters and click on the “Start” button. Now we just have to wait for the process to finish.
Method two – via disk management
Procedure:
- Right-click on “My Computer” and select “Manage”
- At the bottom we find the item “Storage devices”, then “Disk management”;
- Open the section and find your flash drive there;
- Right-click on it and select “Format”;
- We set the required parameters and click on the “OK” butto
Method three – via command line
Procedure:
- Click on the search icon on the taskbar and type “Command line”, then launch it;
- Enter the command format x: /FS:xxx /Q, where X is the letter of the flash drive, and xxx is the file system type (FAT, FAT32, NTFS or exFAT) and press Enter;
- A small note – if you want to perform a full format of the drive, rather than a quick format, then remove the letter Q from the command.
How to format a flash drive using third-party software
For the vast majority of users, quick formatting via “My Computer” will be enough. But for more exotic purposes (for example, forced formatting of a large flash drive in FAT32), special software will be needed.
One of the most popular programs is Rufus . The utility is free and easy to use – connect the flash drive that you want to format and set the settings as in the screenshot.
The exception is the file system – here we select the desired one, and not strictly FAT32.