Format External USB Drive and Recover Data From Formatted Flash Drive

External Drive Needs to be Formatted- Why?

There are various reasons for the need to format the USB drive. One of the most common reasons is when drives get corrupt or encounter errors. For example: To Fix 0x0000004E Error, sometimes formatting is required. The other causes are as follows:

• Enhance the compatibility of the drive by resolving drive issues.
• To get maximum storage space in the drive by clearing it.
• For transferring large files across devices in an optimal manner.
• Moreover, it is required to keep files secure and improve performance.
• Additionally, a reason may be to use it on a different operating system.

Methods to Format USB External Hard Drive

The different ways to format external USB drives are the manual method and a professional tool. The manual method is cost-free, but it doesn’t ensure safe recovery of data. Whereas, the tool is a comprehensive solution to recover files and store them as a backup before formatting. Furthermore, the detailed step-by-step procedure is discussed below.

Method 1: Using Windows Explorer to Format Drive

Follow the steps given below:

1. Connect the USB drive to your system.
2. Next, go to This PC and find your drive there. Right-click and select Format.
3. Further, choose any one file system, select other formatting options, and click Start.
   
4. Lastly, click OK to get the process started.

Method 2: Format External USB Drive with the Command Prompt

1. Open Command Prompt on your system.
2. Input the command diskpart and press Enter.
3. Next, input cmd: list disk and press Enter.
4. Further, input command: select disk Z (Z refers to the number of the USB drive) and press Enter.
5. After that, write the command clean and again hit Enter.
6. Subsequently, run the command create partition primary.
7. At last, run the command: format fs=(type of file system for USB drive).
   

Method 3: Using Windows Tool to Format Drive

This method uses the Disk Management Windows tool. It is a utility offered by Windows for managing advanced and external storage operations. To find and use it, the steps are as follows:

1. Navigate to the Start menu, right-click, and select Disk Management.
2. Then, search for your USB drive, select and right-click, and choose Format.
   
3. Subsequently, select the file system (NTFS, exFAT, FAT32), checkbox perform a quick format, and click OK.

This marks the finishing of manual methods. However, these methods only format your drives and do not recover or protect data. Therefore, we must go for a more advanced solution and select the best format for External drive to format.

Know more: Format USB Flash Drive Using Command Prompt

Method 4: Automated Tool to Recover Data from External Drive

If your drive is corrupt, formatting can permanently delete all your files and it will be difficult to recover. Better, you recover possible data from the drive beforehand and avoid any future loss. You can use the Windows Data Recovery Tool to recover your data securely. Further, format the drive once you have retrieved your files.

This tool has different advantageous features, such as:

• It is user-friendly and highly compatible with systems.
• Recovers all sorts of corrupt, damaged, or deleted files.
• Moreover, it supports both FAT and NTFS formats in drives.
• It also helps to fix Cyclic Redundancy Check Data issue.

Process to Recover Data from External USB Drive

1. Download and install the tool on your system. Run it as an administrator.
2. Select the drive and click Next. Further, check the selected volume information again and click Next.
3. After that, choose the mode of recovery for your drive data and click Next.
   
4. Once the scanning process is complete, click OK to save the data. Next, preview the directory structure of your drive data.
5. In addition, choose the folders to recover and click Save.
   
6. Subsequently, browse and locate the destination to save and click OK.
   
7. Finally, hit the Save button.

Conclusion

This write-up above explains how you can format an External USB drive. However, to protect your data and keep it safe without modifications, go for the suggested professional tool. It is easy to use, is quick, and seamlessly recovers your data. Whether, the drive is corrupted, damaged, or data is deleted it ensures complete recovery. Make sure to protect your files before you go through the steps to format the drive.

Frequently Asked Questions

About The Author:

Simran Bhatia

Simran Bhatia is a technical content writer engaged in writing clear, concise, and SEO-optimized content. With a background in computer science and a passion for writing, I thrive to deliver complex technical content in simple layman terms.