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Formatting a USB storage drive in Windows®

External storage like USB drives make it simple to backup, copy, and transport large amounts of data. Formatting is a simple tool to get your storage back in shape, whether you're preparing a USB drive for a fresh installation of Windows, clearing out old files or fixing a corrupted device. In Windows, formatting a USB drive not only erases its contents but also sets up the file system that determines how data is stored and accessed.   

To begin, simply connect your USB drive to your computer and follow the steps below. 

Types of USB connectors

It’s important to make sure you connect your USB drive to the correct port. There are several types of USB connectors on the market today.  

The latest version is the USB-C connector. USB-C uses a small, rounded-rectangle connector about a quarter inch across. USB-C is a reversible connector, so orientation doesn’t matter when plugging one in.   

Close up USB-C cable connection set against a gray background.

The older, but widely used, standard is the USB-A connector. This is a rectangle with square edges almost half an inch long. A USB-A connector can only be installed one way, so don’t force it if you are having trouble. 

Close up of USB-A cable connection on a white surface.

Other types of USB connections include Type-B, Mini-B and Micro-B, although these connections are less common in modern devices.

How to format your USB flash drive in Windows 10 and 11

1. Open File Explorer  
Hold down the Windows key and press E to open the File Explorer window.  

2. Find your USB drive  
In the sidebar on the left, look for This PC and click on it. The right-hand pane will display all your connected drives, including your USB storage device.  

3. Select your drive  
Right-click on your USB drive and select Format from the pop-up menu. 

Windows screenshot of the right-click menu for a drive.

4. Configure your USB drive for formatting   
Capacity: This should default to the maximum size of your device. 2. Find your USB drive

Windows screenshot of the Format USB Drive window with the Capacity field highlighted.

5. Select file system  
This lets you select the File system of the drive. File systems are how computers organize data on storage devices, and not all computers use the same one. NTFS is the default choice for Windows but be aware that Macs cannot write data to NFTS drives by default. FAT32 is more widely supported, but files are limited in size to under 2GB. 

Windows screenshot of the Format USB Drive window and the File system dropdown highlighted.

6. Allocation unit size  
Leave this as the default option unless you have a reason to change it. 

Windows screenshot of the Format USB Drive window with the Allocation unit size field highlighted.

7. Volume label  
Give your USB drive a short but meaningful name. This name will remain consistent when you move the device to other systems. If you don’t set a name, the host operating system will assign a label for you (e.g. D: or E:) and could change each time the drive is connected.  

Windows screenshot of the Format USB Drive window with the Volume label field highlighted.

8. Choose Quick Format or regular format  
If you leave Quick Format ticked, the drive will be prepared for use very quickly, but without a thorough format of the whole drive. This can leave data behind which could potentially be recovered with the right technical knowledge.

Unticking Quick Format will mean the format process will take longer but will be more thorough. 

Windows screenshot of the Format USB Drive window with the Format options field highlighted.

9. Start the formatting process  
Click Start to begin the process. Windows will warn you that all data on the drive will be erased, so be sure you’re ready and then click OK.

You will see a confirmation message when the format is complete. Click OK.

You can now close the formatting options window.

Your new drive is ready for use!  

Read our article on securely wiping data from a hard drive if you want to be sure your data has been erased. The principles in this article will work on USB flash drives too. 

FAQs

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