You may have encountered the error disk is write-protected, due to which you cannot format the USB drive. Wondering what this write-protected does? Why is the drive write-protected? Then scroll down below!
What does Write Protection on USB mean?
When a USB drive is write-protected, you cannot create new files, edit or delete existing files, or format the drive because it operates in read-only mode. Write protection on USB flash drives or pen drives primarily prevents accidental data loss. It also blocks viruses from damaging the files and ensures that you don’t accidentally overwrite or delete data.
If you are facing trouble and cannot format the write-protected USB, follow the methods described in the next section.
How to Fix Cannot Format USB Drive Write-Protected Issue?
To format the write-protected USB, try the simple yet effective solutions explained below. Once you format the USB, you can perform tasks like creating new files or editing the files saved on the drive.
However, once you format the write-protected USB drive, all the data present on the drive is deleted. Therefore, make sure you have a backup or recover data from the USB drive before formatting the drive.
Method 1: Unlock the Write Protection Switch on USB
Most USB flash drives come with a physical switch on one of the sides. Verify if there is a lock on the USB and just slide the switch in the opposite direction to unlock the write protection on the pen drive.
What if you have no physical switch on USB? Wondering how to format the write-protected USB? Try the next methods to fix the problem: cannot format the write-protected USB drive.
Method 2: Use the Diskpart Command to Format the Write-Protected USB
You can use the Diskpart command line to clear all write-protection file attributes from the USB and reformat it.
Note: Make sure you don’t have any important files on the drive as formatting the drive causes data loss.
1: Press Windows + R to open Run >> type diskpart >> Enter. Now, you have launched the Diskpart command prompt utility.
2: Input (type) the below command and hit Enter after each command.
- list disk
- select disk n (Here n refers to the number of your USB drive from the above-listed drives.)
- attributes disk clear read-only
By running these commands, you will set your USB attributes to allow writing new content and clear the read-only mode. Verify if you can format the files from the write-protected pen drive now.
Method 3: Use Registry Edit to Format the Write-Protected USB Drive
Registry edit is the utility that helps you alter the keys to change the attribute of the USB drive.
Note: Make sure you use the right commands. Any wrong steps might risk your USB and cause serious issues and data loss.
1: Press Windows + R Key to open the Run command or type: Regedit.exe in the search box >> click on run as administrator to open the Registry editor.
2: Navigate to: Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\StorageDevicePolicies
3: In the right-hand pane of Regedit.exe., double-click on the Write-Protect value. Make sure the volume data field is marked as “0“.
4: Open it by double-clicking on it and changing the Value data from “1” to “0” and click “OK” to save the change.
Now close Regedit restart your computer and verify if you format your write-protected pen drive. You will see that the device is no longer write-protected, and the write protection has been removed.
Recover Lost Data from Write-Protected USB Drive
If you lose any data during the process, you can easily recover data from the formatted USB with the help of the SFWare data recovery tool.
Conclusion:
With the help of the above-mentioned methods, you can easily format the write-protected USB drives. As you know, formatting the drive will cost your data as well. Therefore, we always recommend backing up your files. If you have formatted your important files and folders without any backup, do not worry! You can always rely on SFWare data recovery software to recover data from formatted USB flash drives.
