U Disk Format

Dec 21, 2020 • Filed to: USB Recovery • Proven solutions

USB drives are something of daily use for a modern-day person. From listening to music to transferring important files from pc to pc, we use flash drives for a variety of reasons. These flash drives are plugged into several different devices and hence are at risk of corruption or malfunctioning and might require to be formatted at times. The USB flash drive can be formatted in a variety of ways like depending upon the operating system and other features.

Sometimes, certain devices may only read specific USB file systems. So learning how to format your USB to a new file system is something that will come in handy.

Part 1: What is FAT32 Format?

USB Disk Storage Format Tool utility allows you to quickly and thoroughly format virtually any USB flash drive with your choice of FAT, FAT32, exFAT, or NTFS partition types. Features: Quick format. Right-click on the disk you'd like to format and select Format. In the dialog that appears, select the File System (usually NTFS) and enter the Allocation Unit Size (usually 4096) and check Perform a quick format. With your freshly formatted drive, you can install the operating system or start installing programs. Disk formatting is the process of preparing a data storage device such as a hard disk drive, solid-state drive, floppy disk or USB flash drive for initial use. In some cases, the formatting operation may also create one or more new file systems.

FAT32 is an improved version of the FAT system which was introduced in 1996 by Microsoft with its Window95 OSR2 system. The purpose of its development was to be a better version of the FAT16 in terms of speed, performance, robustness, flexibility, and to support larger volumes.

Part 2: What Should You Do before Formatting a USB Drive?

A USB drive may contain songs, videos, documents, important files, etc. depending on the person who uses it. So most people don't prefer formatting unless they want to get rid of those files. Formatting can also be done on faulty USB drives in which case, the user should move all the data in it before deletion.

If a device is not being detected or faulty, formatting is the last step. The user should try all the options to make it visible whether it is a Windows or Mac. Even then if it doesn't work trying to repair and recover the files is the next option.

Part 3: How to Format USB to FAT32 on Windows 10?

In some cases, the USB flash drives need to be formatted to FAT32 as it is one of the most preferred and compatible file systems for both mac and windows. But, while trying to format a flash drive in the usual manner, problems may arise or the FAT32 option might not be available. In such cases, we can resort to alternative as well as simple methods to achieve the goal.

Let us have a look at how a USB flash drive can be formatted to FAT32 via file explorer as well as via disk management.

Method 1: Format USB to FAT32 via File Explorer

A common and easy way to format a USB drive to FAT32 is to make use of the File Explorer.

Step 1: Connect the USB drive or the desired external hard drive to the Windows 10 computer

Step 2: Launch the File Explorer and from it find the USB drive. Right-click on the drive and select Format

Step 3: Select the FAT32 type as the target file system and select the box beside Quick Format. Tap on Start to start the formatting process.

When you are notified about the completion of the process tap OK. Your USB is now is FAT32.

Method 2: Format USB to FAT32 via Disk Management

Disk management is a built-in utility of Windows which is made to help users with the disk partition related problems or works. It is also one of the most preferred choices when it comes to formatting USB to FAT32.

Step 1: Right-click on My Computer and select the Manage option

Step 2: Under Storage tap the Disk Management option

Step 3: from the volume list select the thumb drive

Step 4: Right-click on it and then tap Format

Step 5: Select FAT32 format from the file system: list box

Step 6: tap OK

Part 4: Format USB to FAT32 on Mac - macOS 10.15 Catalina

Formatting a USB flash drive to FAT32 on Mac is easy as windows. To do so you can either use the disk utility or the terminal command line.

Method 1: Use Disk Utility

Follow the steps to format FAT32 with Disk Utility:

Step 1: Plug the USB drive that needs to be formatted to the Mac computer.

Step 2: Navigate to Applications and then to Utilities. Tap it twice to open.

Step 3: Choose the drive that needs to be formatted and tap on Erase.

Step 4: You can rename the USB drive if needed. Choose the MS-DOS(FAT) to format.

Step 5: Select the Master Boot Record for the scheme and then tap Erase.

Step 6: When the process is complete the USB drive is converted to the FAT32 file system.

Method 2: Use Terminal Command Line

The command line also works in the same way as the disk utility to format the USB drive.

Follow the steps to format FAT32 with the Terminal command line:

Step 1: Plug the USB flash drive that needs to be formatted to a Mac computer.

Step 2: To run Spotlight press cmd + space and type: terminal and press Enter

Step 3: Type diskutil list and then find the drive that is acting as your USB

Step 4: Type sudo diskutil eraseDisk FAT32 MBRFormat /dev/disk2

• Sudo - grants you the user right.
• Diskutil – calls the disk utility program.
• erase disk – to command to format the drive
• FAT32 - selects the file system
• MBRFormat – pass information to disk utility commanding to format with a Master Boot Record
• /dev/disk2 - it is the USB drive location

The process may take some time to complete. Wait patiently. On completion type diskutil list in command box if you want to check whether the formatting had been successful

Part 5: How to Recover Lost Data after Formatting a USB Drive to FAT32?

The formatting USB drive is an easy task. But before formatting, some might be worried about the files or data in the USB drive. There may be irrelevant as well as very important files that can't be replaced in a USB drive. But what to do if the drive is a corrupt one or malfunctioning in some ways?

You need not worry as there are varieties of applications available in the market for recovering such files. An application like Recoverit helps you to recover almost all data, ranging from documents to big size videos from a USB drive even after formatting to FAT32.

Recoverit Data Recovery is one of the best and preferred applications in the market and the steps for data recovery are pretty simple and the same whether it be a Windows or a Mac. the recovery of data from an external drive can be done in these three simple steps

• Select a location
• Scan the location
• Preview and recover data

Recoverit Data Recovery - The Best File Recovery Software

Recoverit allows the user to recover any lost data regardless of the model and type of the external device. There is a high success rate in the recovery of files using Recoverit whether it be memory cards, external hard disks, cameras, USB flash drives, music players, etc.

Step 1: Select the external device/drive

To recover deleted or lost files from an external device, it needs to be selected as the target location for data searching and scanning

Step 2: Scan the removable media

A complete scanning will be initiated once you select Start. The scanning usually takes some time depending on the size of the USB drive In between the process, the desired files can be located and filtered.

Step 3: Preview of files and recovery

After the whole scanning process, Recoverit allows the user to preview the located files. All the files including photos, videos, documents, videos, audios, etc. can be previewed. When does macos catalina release.

Then, select the files that you need to recover and tap the Recover bar.

All the files will be recovered and saved for your use.

Conclusion

The loss of files from a USB drive or the drive itself malfunctioning is a common issue in today's world. The loss of important files and data can have a huge impact on our domestic life as well as work. But, applications like Recoverit helps us to tackle these issues and move forward.

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Recover USB Drive

Format USB Drive

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Know USB Drive

The best disk format tool in 2021 comes out. They are third-party EaseUS HDD format tool, HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool, HDD Low Level Format Tool, and the built-in HDD formatter like File Explorer, Disk Management, and CMD in Windows 10/8/7. Choose one of the six to format a disk, HDD, SSD, USB flash, pen drive, and SD card with ease.

6 Best Hard Drive Disk Format Tools in 2021

1. 1. EaseUS Partition Master Format Tool
2. 2. HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool
3. 3. HDD Low Level Format Tool
4. 4. Windows File Explorer
5. 5. Windows Disk Management
6. 6. Windows Command Prompt (CMD)

Each hard disk format tool in the list can be used to format any drive in Windows 10/8/7/XP/Vista and Windows Server operating system. Some of them are free to use, while some are for commercial use. Next, you'll learn the details of the product description, advantages and disadvantages.

IMPORTANT: Back Up Data Before Formatting Disk

In general terms, we format a disk using the quick format, which erases data completely but the data is recoverable by some third-party data recovery software. The other disk formatting manner is called low-level format, which erases the whole disk surface and makes data restoration impossible!

No matter which way you'll need to format a disk, to protect important data from completely erasing, always create a backup in advance.

1. Method 1. Open the target hard drive and manually copy useful files and documents to another device.
2. Method 2. Use Windows backup software to automatically back up the whole disk/partition or target files and folders to another device at one time.

#1. EaseUS Partition Master - Best Hard Disk Format Tool Free Download for PC

• Supported file system: NTFS, FAT16, FAT32, EXT2, EXT3, and EXT4
• User interface: simple, graphical, clean, and user-friendly to beginners

EaseUS Partition Master Free is an all-around disk & partition management tool that includes but not limited to a disk formatting feature. It's placed on the top position of the best hard drive format tool due to the facts of the following:

Pros:

• Free to download and format disk
• Support all Windows operating systems and servers
• Format a drive that is RAW, not showing up or not recognized by Windows
• Format a disk even when the Windows was unable to complete the format
• Allow you to create a bootable hard drive format tool
• Format 64/128/256GB USB hard drive to the FAT32 file system
• Convert FAT32 to NTFS without formatting or losing data
• Build with other powerful features: resize, move, create, merge, delete, wipe, or recover lost partition

Cons:

• Some advanced features are not free, such as migrate OS to SSD

Guide - How to Format Disk - HDD/SSD, USB, etc., with EaseUS Format Tool:

Step 1: Run EaseUS Partition Master, right-click the hard drive 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 the partition to be formatted, 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 the partition on your hard drive.

#2. HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool - Windows XP Disk Formatter

• Supported file system: FAT, FAT32, and NTFS
• User interface: kind of outdated but relatively easy-to-use

HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool is a Windows-based disk format utility to format any drive. It should work on all the older and newer Windows OS versions, but viewing from the formatting speed and performance, it stands out on usually the Windows XP operating system. With HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool, you can format any USB Flash drive, hard drive, or memory card in FAT, FAT32, and NTFS file systems. Moreover, create DOS startup disks that can help boot a PC after it dies.

Pros:

• It is best used on USB drives and it strips and re-formats your drives
• The GUI is very familiar because it looks just like the Windows XP formatting tool

Cons:

• It may cause crashes on modern computers with newer operating systems
• It needs you to run it under Administrator

Guide - How to Format Hard Drive with HP Disk Storage Format Tool

Step 1. Connect the USB drive to your Windows XP computer, click Devices and select the USB drive you want to format.

Step 2. From the File System menu, select a file system and enter a name for the reformatted disk in the Volume Label input box.

Step 3. Click the Quick Format option to enable a quick format. If you leave this option unchecked, a slower, low-level format will be performed.

Step 4. Click Start to begin the USB formatting.

#3. HDD LLF Low Level Format Tool - Best Low-level HDD Format Tool

• Supported operating system: Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, and Windows Server 2003, 2008, 2008R2
• User interface: kind of outdated and complex to use

HDD Low Level Format Tool is a utility exclusively designed for low-level hard disk drive formatting. After running this low level format tool, the whole disk surface will be erased. As a result, data restoration is impossible after using this utility! This HDD Low Level Format utility is free for personal/home use, but the speed is restricted at 80GB per hour, which is 50 MB/s.

Pros:

The only disk format tool for a low level format

Cons:

Almost paid software. Personal license without speed limit is $3.30 while the commercial license is $27.00 per seat (PC)

Guide - How to Format Disk with HDD Low Level Format Tool:

Step 1. Download and run HDD LLF Low Level Format Tool on your computer.

Step 2. Plug your HDD or USB drive into the computer and launch the low-level format tool.

Step 3. Select the desired drive and click Continue. Confirm the option by clicking Yes.

Step 4. Select Low-Level Format in the tab to start the low-level formatting process.

#4. Windows File Explorer - Easiest Disk Format Tool in Windows 10/8/7

• Supported operating system: NTFS, exFAT and FAT32
• User interface: Simple design and operation throughout the formatting procedure

It's the first native Windows disk formatting choice we'll introduce. Press Windows + E keys so we can easily evoke the File Explorer. The local disk drives and the externally connected drives will appear there. As long as the drive you tend to format is visible, you can use the Format option to start a quick format with a few simple steps.

Pros:

• Free
• Works on all Windows computers
• Applies to Windows beginners
• 3-step formatting

Cons:

• Doesn't work when the hard drive is not showing up
• FAT32 is not available for a storage drive over 32GB

Guide - How to Format HDD/SSD or Storage Device in File Explorer

Step 1. Open Windows File Explorer, locate and right-click on the target hard drive which you need to format, select 'Format'.

Step 2. Rename the hard drive, reset its file system to NTFS or other formats.

Step 3. Click 'Start' to begin the formatting.

#5. Windows Disk Management - Free Built-in Disk Formatter for Advanced Use

• Supported operating system: NTFS, exFAT and FAT32
• User interface: Designed with a couple of useful disk management features in the clean organization

Windows Disk Management is a free Windows built-in tool, which means you can easily open it on your computer without downloading. It comes to use when you're trying to format a drive that is not showing up in the File Explorer. It's good at formatting some storage devices that have something wrong, like file system corruption, not formatted error, not accessible, etc.

Pros:

• Free
• Available to all Windows operating system
• Be able to format a RAW drive

Cons

• Doesn't support to format a Linux drive
• FAT32 is not available for a storage drive over 32GB

Guide - How to Format Hard Drive Partition in Disk Management

Step 1. Right-click 'This PC' and choose 'Manage'.

Step 2. Go to 'Disk Management'.

Step 3. Right-click the target hard drive partition and choose 'Format'.

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Step 4. Set the volume label, file system and click 'OK' to start formatting the drive.

#6. CMD (Command Prompt) - Powerful Disk Formatting Tool for Professionals

• Supported file system: NTFS, FAT16, FAT32, EXT2, EXT3, and EXT4
• User interface: Very unfamiliar to beginners

Windows Command Prompt, for average computer users, is a hidden but powerful computer troubleshooting program that is able to solve most of the computer and hard drive problems. You can apply a variety of command lines to examine, check or repair computer issues. For example, to format a disk drive, you'll use the diskpart command lines.

Pros:

• Free
• Format any drive to every file system that is available to use on Windows, macOS or Linux

Cons:

• Applies to experienced users only
• Any false operation will cause serious computer problems

Guide - How to Format Disk with DiskPart Command

Step 1. Open Command Prompt by right-clicking on Windows icon, select 'Search' and type: command prompt.

Right-click on Command Prompt and select 'Run as administrator'.

Step 2. Typediskpart in Command Prompt and hit Enter.

Step 3. Hit Enter each time when you type below command lines in DiskPart to quick format hard drive:

• list disk
• select disk 2 (Replace 2 with your disk number)
• list volume
• select volume 10 (Replace 10 with the volume number of the partition that you want to format)
• format fs=ntfs quick (If you need to format a hard drive partition to FAT32 or other file systems, replace with fat32, exfat, etc.)

Step 4. Type exit and hit Enter to close the program when DiskPart reports it has successfully formatted the volume.

Conclusion: What To Do with Hard Drive After Formatting

Some of you may have the same question about what to do after formatting the hard drive. Here is a list that you can follow to make full use of your formatted hard drive:

# 1. Re-partition hard drive to make full use of space on your hard drive.

To do so, you may need a reliable partition management tool like EaseUS Partition Master Free to partition hard drive on your computer for free. You may also use this tool to merge partitions or extend hard drive partition based on your needs.

# 2. Save files to the formatted hard drive.

How To Format A Blank Disc

# 3. Recover lost files due to formatting.

If you didn't back up data before formatting and lost valuable files, you may apply professional data recovery software to recover data after formatting.