Completely Reformat Usb Drive

1. Format A Usb Drive
2. Format A Flash Drive
3. Completely Reformat Usb Drive Recovery Software
4. Format Usb Drive Online

Last updated on 10/11/2020

If you buy an external drive—such as one of our recommended desktop hard drives, portable hard drives, or USB 3.0 flash drives—you may need to reformat it to work with your operating system of. Here are the basic steps in reformatting your USB flash drive: Backup your data. Formatting your USB flash disk doesn't leave any files behind so make sure you copy your most important files to a temporary location. If you plan to put these files back after formatting, organize the folder structure so you can better manage your disk next time. Using these free USB flash drive formatting software, you can format USB drive in FAT, FAT16, FAT32, NTFS, exFAT, etc. Some of these software are primarily developed to format hard disk drives or memory cards, but they are also capable of formatting USB flash drives excellently. Even after completely formatting all the files from an exFAT or FAT32 USB flash drive we can completely recover it or even we can repair the damaged data. Here we explain it in such a way that each one of you can format USB drive without losing data.

These best free formatters work for all brands and types of usb flash, hard drive, sd memory card. You may use them to force format usb/disk/sd for free.

Format usb flash or memory card on MAC? Be free to visit: Top 3 free formatters for MAC; Flash drive corrupted? Try these usb repair utilities: 8 usb repair tools for Windows

Table of contents

1. A). HP USB Format Tool Download - needs admin privilege
2. B). IM-Magic Partition Resizer Free - can also repair bad blocks for disk/usb before formatting
3. C). Rufus - format disk/usb/sd that won't format

Hard Disk Formatting Software to Format Hard Disk?

'Windows was not able to complete the format when I received drive not formatted error message and performed a formatting there. Really want to format hard disk smoothly and also restore its common use. Thanks!'

'I am searching for best free drive formatting software to wipe everything stored inside before selling this drive online. Do you have any suggestion? Hope the suggested formatting software would help delete data permanently and any erased file will never be restored again. Thanks'

Hello, friends, you are also looking for the related hard drive reformatting utility to fix hard drive problems or remove hard drive viruses, bad sectors and sensitive data, etc? OK! No worry! Here are several tested best hard drive formatting programs for you.

Note: Before any formatting, we would recommend you backup data from your media. If the device is no longer accessible, you may try this tool: how to recover data from not formatted drive/card

Free Disk Drive/Memory Card Data Recovery Tool (386)

Free Download Tool to Recover Data from Damaged Media, inaccessible drive, not formatted disk/usb/memory card.

Tested 5 Best Free Hard Drive/USB/SD Formatting Tool

Here are several common and useful free hard disk formatting utilities for you:

1). HP USB Disk Storage Format tool

HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool is really a free disk formatting tool which allows people to easily and quickly format a USB flash drive to FAT32, exFAT or NTFS file system. And it can work flawlessly even when Windows was unable to complete the format when your usb pen drive turned raw format.

MUST READ: * It needs you to run it under 'Administator'

With this software, if necessary, you can also make a bootable USB drive by choosing its 'Create a DOS startup disk' option.

Pros:

*It is completely free and easy to grasp and use.
*It works well in formatting USB drive into FAT32, FAT or NTFS.
*It is portable and could be installed on a flash drive to be used on different PCs.
*It allows people to 'Create a DOS startup disk' to help boot up a computer from USB flash drive.
*It supports common Windows operating systems.

Cons:

* It works well on USB flash drive and does not recognize internal hard drives and partitions.
* It needs you to run it under 'Administator'

Also read: HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool Review and Error Fixing

2). IM-Magic Partition Resizer Free

As a disk formatting tool, Partition Resizer Free Edition also allows people to format the selected hard drive or partition into FAT32/ntfs for free. As a partition managing program, this software also help format, create, wipe, delete, resize, hide and manage partitions effectively for you.

Free USB/Disk Formatter (1386)

Download IM-Magic Partition Resizer Free Edition to format disk/usb/memory card totally free of charge.

Format, repair bad blocks totally free of charge.

Must have: it has 'Check Partition' function to check and repair possible errors for your digital devices.

Pros:

*The home edition is free and easy.
*It helps format hard drive or partition into FAT32 as you wish.
*It also help format, wipe, delete, resize, hide and manage computer internal hard drive partitions well.
*A tutorial video will also be automatically popped out and lead you to this software step by step.
*It supports the latest Windows 10/8/7 Vista and XP.

Cons:

*This home edition is free for personal use.

Note: this freeware also provides bootable iso version that you may format disk/usb under WinPE.

Read more details: Partition software bootable iso download

3). Rufus - format device that cannot be formatted

Rufus is an easy to use freeware that is able to format media which cannot be formatted in regular ways.

Rufus download url: https://github.com/pbatard/rufus/releases/download/v3.11/rufus-3.11.exe

Also read: how to format sd card that cannot be formatted, or format usb drive that won't format

4). HDD Low Level Format Tool

HDD Low Level Format Tool is also another completely free disk formatting utility and allows people to easily format internal and external hard disk. With a Low-level format function, it often helps users format a hard drive completely and leave no original drive data there as well as removing some basic hard drive problems.

Pros:

*It is free and user-friendly.
*It support not only external hard drives, and also reads internal hard drives.
*It also offers a low-level format option to help users completely format hard drive and also ease everything inside drive.
*It also supports external memory cards, like SD, MMC, memory stick, CF card and more.

Cons:

*Pay $3.30 to upgrade this free tool to get faster speed and free lifetime updates.
*It recognizes the internal hard drive as one, not separated partitions.
*The speed of this free version is capped at 180GB per hour which is 50MB/s.

5). USB Disk Storage Format Tool

As the second disk formatting tool tested and listed here, USB disk storage format tool is also 100% freeware and allows people to completely format any USB flash drive or memory card with FAT, FAT32, exFAT and NTFS file system formats.

Pros:

Format A Usb Drive

*It is free, fast and safe to format a flash drive or memory card.
*It supports all USB flash drives and memory card, like pen drive, thumb drive, CF, SD, Micro SD, TF, SDXC, SDHC memory card and more storage devices with different bands.
*It supports USB drive and memory card with FAT, FAT32, exFAT and NTFS file system types.
*It helps formatting storage device and also removes all stored videos, music and files completely.

Cons:

*It also does not read any internal hard disk and partition.
*Upgrade software to pro version to get more features, like creating bootable USB disk, formatting USB disk not recognized by Windows, doing a low-level format or adjusting cluster size for USB disk for faster speed, etc.
*It supports FAT, FAT32, exFAT and NTFS file system types only.

6). Tokiwa FAT32 Formatter

Tokiwa FAT32 Formatter is also a free disk formatting program which also helps everyone format hard disk and partition into FAT32 for free. With an easy-to-use interface, this software is also able to help delete or initialize a drive or partition smoothly.

Pro:

*It is free and easy to grasp.
*It allows users to delete or initialize hard drive partitions with simple clicks.
*It also reads all computer internal hard drives as separated partitions.
*It also allows user to format drive or partition into FAT32

Cons:

Format, repair bad blocks totally free of charge.

Must have: it has 'Check Partition' function to check and repair possible errors for your digital devices.

Pros:

*The home edition is free and easy.
*It helps format hard drive or partition into FAT32 as you wish.
*It also help format, wipe, delete, resize, hide and manage computer internal hard drive partitions well.
*A tutorial video will also be automatically popped out and lead you to this software step by step.
*It supports the latest Windows 10/8/7 Vista and XP.

Cons:

*This home edition is free for personal use.

Note: this freeware also provides bootable iso version that you may format disk/usb under WinPE.

Read more details: Partition software bootable iso download

3). Rufus - format device that cannot be formatted

Rufus is an easy to use freeware that is able to format media which cannot be formatted in regular ways.

Rufus download url: https://github.com/pbatard/rufus/releases/download/v3.11/rufus-3.11.exe

Also read: how to format sd card that cannot be formatted, or format usb drive that won't format

4). HDD Low Level Format Tool

HDD Low Level Format Tool is also another completely free disk formatting utility and allows people to easily format internal and external hard disk. With a Low-level format function, it often helps users format a hard drive completely and leave no original drive data there as well as removing some basic hard drive problems.

Pros:

*It is free and user-friendly.
*It support not only external hard drives, and also reads internal hard drives.
*It also offers a low-level format option to help users completely format hard drive and also ease everything inside drive.
*It also supports external memory cards, like SD, MMC, memory stick, CF card and more.

Cons:

*Pay $3.30 to upgrade this free tool to get faster speed and free lifetime updates.
*It recognizes the internal hard drive as one, not separated partitions.
*The speed of this free version is capped at 180GB per hour which is 50MB/s.

5). USB Disk Storage Format Tool

As the second disk formatting tool tested and listed here, USB disk storage format tool is also 100% freeware and allows people to completely format any USB flash drive or memory card with FAT, FAT32, exFAT and NTFS file system formats.

Pros:

Format A Usb Drive

*It is free, fast and safe to format a flash drive or memory card.
*It supports all USB flash drives and memory card, like pen drive, thumb drive, CF, SD, Micro SD, TF, SDXC, SDHC memory card and more storage devices with different bands.
*It supports USB drive and memory card with FAT, FAT32, exFAT and NTFS file system types.
*It helps formatting storage device and also removes all stored videos, music and files completely.

Cons:

*It also does not read any internal hard disk and partition.
*Upgrade software to pro version to get more features, like creating bootable USB disk, formatting USB disk not recognized by Windows, doing a low-level format or adjusting cluster size for USB disk for faster speed, etc.
*It supports FAT, FAT32, exFAT and NTFS file system types only.

6). Tokiwa FAT32 Formatter

Tokiwa FAT32 Formatter is also a free disk formatting program which also helps everyone format hard disk and partition into FAT32 for free. With an easy-to-use interface, this software is also able to help delete or initialize a drive or partition smoothly.

Pro:

*It is free and easy to grasp.
*It allows users to delete or initialize hard drive partitions with simple clicks.
*It also reads all computer internal hard drives as separated partitions.
*It also allows user to format drive or partition into FAT32

Cons:

*It is able to format only unallocated space into FAT32 file system type.
*It only allows people to format hard drive or partition into FAT32.
*It supports Windows XP/Vista /2000 /7 only.

Free usb/disk formatting without software

Here are also some free methods that are available for you to operate hard drive formatting or usb format without any software under Windows.

Tool #6: format by right click the disk drive, pen drive or sd card

Tool #7: Format under PC Disk Management

Tool #8: format with cmd, it works when Windows was unable to complete the format

Step 1: open cmd by typing 'cmd' or 'diskpart' in 'Search Programs and Files' under Windows start

Step 2: type the letters inside of the quote 'format F: /fs:fat32' and enter. F must be replaced by the drive you want to format.

If you want to know more solution about why and what to do when Windows was unable to complete the format, you may read this article: Windows failed to format

Or you may see the following video to get a quick fix when it is unable to format your drive/card.

Note: when your flash drive or hard disk is damaged, be free to try these 8 free usb drive repair software for free repairing.

Remove Sensitive Data on Hard Disk/USB Flash by freeware Partition Resizer Free

Some users want to download disk formatting programs with the purpose of removing personal information on their storage media that they do not want to share any byte of the confidential data with another one.

In case of removing sensitive data with the usb format tools, we would recommend this freeware - Partition Resizer Free to you since it is built with a function - 'Wipe Partition' that could wipe the whole disk or usb by writing 0 or 1 into the disk, which makes the old data to be completely overwritten and can not be restored by any data recovery programs.

Step 1: Download and install Partition Resizer Free and get the usb/card to your PC if you want to remove an external device.

Step 2: Launch Partition Resizer Free and then right click the media you want to remove its privacy. Final cut pro x 10.

Step 3: Choose a wiping method. Time consumption depends on how much data on your media. Usually 120GB data would take about 10 minutes.

Conclusion:

No matter why you have to format a hard drive or memory card, there are always five common ways for you to choose, like formatting it in My Computer, performing a formatting process in Disk Management, formatting a hard drive with common line, doing a formatting process with drive partition managing software or disk formatting software. And No matter which way you choose at last, hope you can extract and save important data backups well in advance to avoid any unexpected data loss troubles.

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Differences between erasing and formatting a memory card/USB drive

Microsoft word and mojave. In many cases, you should clear or reformat an SD card, USB flash drive, pen drive, or hard drive for certain reasons. Both of the operations will wipe all your data on the device but they are usually done for the different purpose.

You may clear or wipe an SD card/USB flash drive to:

• Gain more device when the SD card or USB drive is full
• Erase all the data on the SD card, USB flash drive before selling
• Remove unknown virus or malware on SD card or USB flash drive

You may reformat an SD card/USB flash drive to:

• Clean SD card, USB flash drive, hard drive and delete its partitions when the devices are not working properly
• Change RAW to FAT32, NTFS or other file systems to fix a RAW issue
• Restore SD card to full capacity when SD card does not show full capacity
• Restore USB drive back to full capacity when flash drive shows the wrong capacity
• Change the file system to use the SD card, USB flash drive, hard drive in different devices, for example, format PS4 hard drive for PC

After learning the differences between erasing and formatting an SD card/USB drive, you can choose the right method that works best to fix your issue. Here EaseUS free partition software that fully is compatible with Windows 10/8/7/XP/Vista can help you wipe SD card in the easiest and most efficient way. Now, you can connect the SD card or USB drive to PC and try the step-by-step tutorial to format/clear a SD card with ease.

How to clear, erase or wipe SD card/USB flash drive

Here list three ways to clear SD card/USB flash drive. Now, you can try the detailed steps based on your needs. We put the most straightforward way in the first position.

How to wipe a flash drive with USB eraser

Step 1: Insert your SD card into your computer or connect your USB flash drive to your computer, run EaseUS Partition Master, right-click the SD card/USB partition you intend to format and choose 'Format'.

Step 2: In the new window, set the Partition label, File system (NTFS/FAT32/EXT2/EXT3), and Cluster size for your SD card/USB, then click 'OK'.

Step 3: Then you will see a warning window, click 'OK' in it to continue.

Step 4: Click the 'Execute Operation' button in the top-left corner to review the changes, then click 'Apply' to start formatting your SD card/USB flash drive.

How to wipe SD card/USB flash drive via Diskpart

For users who choose to erase SD card with Diskpart, you must use this method carefully. If you pick the wrong disk, your data will go permanently.

Step 1. Press Windows + R, input Diskpart, and press Enter. (Run Diskpart as administrator.)

Format A Flash Drive

Step 2. Use the Clean All function to erase SD card.

1. Input list disk > Enter. (Your SD card will listed on it.)

2. Run select disk* > Enter. (* represents the disk number the SD card.)

3. Run Clean All >Enter

How to erase SD card/USB flash drive with Disk Management

For users who do not want to use the SD card/USB eraser or the Diskpart, you can try the Windows built-in tool - Disk Management.

Step 1. Press Windows + X and choose Disk Management.

Step 2. Format SD card.

1. Choose partition on the SD card.

2. Right-click the partition and select Format.

3. Set the Volume label, File System, Allocation unit size.

4. Click OK to wipe/erase SD card.

Completely Reformat Usb Drive Recovery Software

How to format & partition SD card/USB flash drive

Step 1: Launch EaseUS Partition Master, right-click the partition on your external hard drive/USB/SD card which you want to format and choose the 'Format' option.

Step 2: Assign a new partition label, file system (NTFS/FAT32/EXT2/EXT3), and cluster size to the selected partition, then click 'OK'.

Step 3: In the Warning window, click 'OK' to continue.

Step 4: Click the 'Execute Operation' button in the top-left corner to review the changes, then click 'Apply' to start formatting your external hard drive/USB/SD card.

Format Usb Drive Online

You can read this post to completely format SD card/USB flash drive: How to format SD card on Windows 10.