Know How to Fix USB drive cannot be formatted on Windows 11/10

Posted on August 27, 2022

Unable to Format the USB drive on your Windows? Wondering why flash drives could not be formatted? Do not worry, this article helps you understand what caused the error and effective methods to fix the error can’t format the USB drive. If you are looking for ways to recover data from a USB drive, the best plausible way is to hit the download button without any further delay and recover your USB data within minutes.

Why Can’t I Format USB Or A Flash Drive?

When the error Can't Format USB is displayed on Windows, this problem could be caused due to several factors.

• Bad sectors:
  A bad sector on a storage device has been damaged and no longer responds to read or write requests. The formatting of a hard drive that has faulty sectors cannot be performed in Windows.


• Physical damage:
  Compared to internal hard drives, removable disks are more likely to be physically damaged. If your storage device is physically damaged, the solutions in this article will not repair it.


• Write-protection
  When your USB is write protected, it prohibits users from making modifications. In other words, you cannot format or perform any functions such as copy, cut, edit on your write protected USB drive.


• Virus or Malware infection
  If the USB device is infected with a virus or malware, you will be unable to format the USB sometimes and your data could be compromised.

If you are wondering how to fix the error, cannot format the USB drive, follow the methods described in the next session and check if you are able to fix the error.

How to Fix Windows Unable to Complete the Format Error?

Here are a few basic workarounds that help you fix the error: unable to format the USB drive on Windows.

• Run the antivirus
  It is the basic fix to overcome any kind of errors or issues that exist due to corruption from virus intrusion on the flash drive. Make sure you scan your drive for viruses to keep your thumb drive/flash drive safe.


• Disable write protection
  Check if your USB has a physical switch or slider on it to remove write protection. All you must do is, slide the switch to the opposite direction. This will unlock the write protection on the USB or pen drives. If you don’t have a physical switch to unlock, click here to know how to format the write protected USB using various approaches.

Verify if you are still encountering the error Windows was unable to format the USB drive. If the computer still displays the error, you might want to try the following methods to format the USB drive.

Note: Below mentioned methods not only help you fix the error but also formats the drive. If you have any important files or documents saved on the USB, it might be permanently lost. It is always rewarding if you keep the backup of your important files and data. What if you have no backup? We got you covered.

SFWare USB data recovery software is an effective data recovery tool that helps you recover data from unreadable or corrupt USB. However, if format is your utmost concern, the software is capable of recovering data from the formatted USB as well. Therefore, your important files are safe with SFWare, be it before or after formatting the USB drive.

Method 1: Format the USB using CMD

Command prompt is an inbuilt command line interpreter Windows that helps you perform functions using precise commands. You need to be extra careful while performing commands on command prompt. Follow the steps carefully and try formatting the USB drive.

Launch cmd and type 'diskpart'

• Type list disk
• Type select disk * (Replace * with the USB number from the list)
• Type clean
• Type create partition primary
• Type format fs=ntfs quick

If your drive’s file system is FAT, you can replace format fs=ntfs quick' with “format fs=fat32 quick”.

Verify if you are able to format the USB and if the error still exists, try the next methods available.

Method 2: Fix bad sectors on the flash drive to format the USB using CHKDSK

CHKDSK is a command used by command prompt [Windows built-in utility] to fix logical issues on Windows. If the error is caused due to bad sectors on the drive, this method will help you fix the issue.

• Input cmd in the search bar and click on Run as administrator to open Command Prompt window.
• In the command prompt window, enter chkdsk J: /f /r /x and hit Enter to execute this command.

Replace J with the drive letter of your flash drive and verify if your problem of Windows being unable to format the USB is resolved or not.

Method 3: Format the USB using In Windows Disk Management

Disk Management is a built-in utility in Windows that allows users to manage disks and partitions connected to their computer. You can try to format the USB using the steps given below. Once you complete the process check if Windows is displaying unable to format the USB error.

• Right Click on the Start button and select Disk Management
• Right-click the listed partition you are trying to format and select Format from the drop-down menu. When you receive a pop-up message, select Yes to format all data on the partition
• Make sure you choose a file system type you desire and check the Perform a fast format box >> click OK.

Now you would receive another dialog box saying formatting this drive would destroy all data on it and that you should backup your data. Click OK, and Windows will immediately begin formatting the drive.

Now, check if the can't format USB issue is fixed or not on Windows System.

With all the above-mentioned methods, you will surely be able to fix Windows unable to format the USB error. Once the error is fixed and you would like to recover your precious data from the formatted USB drive, you can always rely on SFWare data recovery software.