We do encounter problems with USB flash drives where the USB format tool, also known as USB formatter, lets you solve these problems. In some cases, formatting a USB flash drive can be a great option when you want to delete stored data from the flash drive with speed and efficiency or when you use it on a different operating system.
Formatting your USB drive takes some time, but it will eventually optimize its performance. Below are proven flash formatting software to help when standard equipment fails.
Table of Contents
Top 7 free flash formatting software
- HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool
- MiniTool Partition Wizard
- HDD Low Level Format Tool
- EzRecover
- Kingstone Format Utility
- Tokiwa Fat32 Formatter
- SD Card Formatter
1. HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool
Platforms: Windows.
A proprietary utility from Hewlett-Packard for cleaning and formatting USB drives, HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool doesn’t exceed standard Windows functionality, but it does format problematic disks that aren’t readable by the operating system. The tool is available for creating partitions in FAT32, exFAT and NTFS as well as DOS boot disks.
2. MiniTool Partition Wizard
Platforms: Windows.
Multifunctional tool for working with disks, MiniTool Partition Wizard can divide free space into partitions, clone them and, of course, format them. You can select file systems as per your need, including ext4 and exFAT. You can also customize the cluster size. In addition, full disk erasing and bootable media creation are supported.
3. HDD Low Level Format Tool
Platforms: Windows.
Special software for low-level formatting of hard drives, which, among other things, works with flash drives and is capable of completely destroying any data that has already been written to the disk. This procedure also allows you to troubleshoot various issues with the device. In addition, regular, fast formatting is also supported with this tool.
4. EzRecover
Platforms: Windows.
A useful application that will help bring a problem drive back to life. In just one click, EzRecover allows you to initialize USB drives that are not recognized by the system, defined as security devices or displayed with a volume of 0 megabytes.
5. Kingstone Format Utility
Platforms: Windows.
This is a proprietary application for cleaning and formatting Kingstone flash drives. Compared to the tools built into the OS, it achieves better performance and also handles most of the problems. This tool knows how to format write-protected flash drives.
6. Tokiwa Fat32 Formatter
Platforms: Windows.
Tokiwa Fat32 Formatter is a simple and intuitive utility that works without installation. This tool can format flash drives in FAT32 file format. This tool supports disks over 32 GB, starting devices, deleting individual partitions and, of course, you get a choice of your formatting settings.
7. SD Card Formatter
Platforms: Windows, macOS.
A special program for working with flash drives in SD format, which has more optimized algorithms than the formatting functions in the OS. This tool helps eliminate read or write errors, detection problems, and can format and completely erase data on a disk.
FAQs – Flash Formatting Software
1. What is formatting?
Formatting is the process of deleting old information and preparing a storage device, such as a hard drive, solid-state drive, flash drive, etc., to store information. This creates a filing system that allows you to organize your data and maximize the space for your files.
It is similar to formatting a drive when a new operating system is being used or when additional space is needed. Below are the types of formatting on a USB drive:
- Quick format: This formating process deletes the file system table and the root folder. It is frequently used for USB flash drives to free up the available space and transfer or store other files. But it is important to noet that this is not the most secure way to delete your files. The data may still be recoverable using data recovery tools.
- Full format: This process first scan for bad sectors and write zeros in all sectors, and eventually deletes all the data permanently.
What are the File system options?
There are different types of file formats and it is vital to understand them for your ideal use. Below are the most commonly used file systems in USB flash drives.
- FAT32: This is a common option in most USB flash drivee whcih is recognized by both Mac and Windows OS, but it does not offer any protection and caps files at 4GB in size.
- exFAT is the ideal file system for USB flash drives that does not have a 4GB file size limit and is compatible with most Windows and Mac operating systems. However, you may need to update an older version of OS to properly read and write USB drives with an exFAT file system.
- NTFS is the format file system prefers to use by default for internal drives running the Windows operating system or used as secondary storage drives. Its maximum file size is huge, but is read-only on Mac OS X (unless you install a third-party NTFS read/write utility).
- Mac OS Extended is the native solution for Mac users and any of them have a maximum file size. Use this option only if the drive will be used only in Mac OS becasue Windows will not detect this file system without a third party utility.
How to format drives in Windows?
- Insert a USB drive into a USB port and then, open File Explorer.
- Now, click on This PC from the left pane.
- Under the “Devices and drives” section, right-click on the flash drive and then select the Format option.
- Use the “File system” from the drop-down menu and select your preferred option.
- In the “Allocation unit size” drop-down menu, use the default selection.
- In the “Volume label” field, confirm a drive name that will appear in File Explorer.
- Under the “Format options” section, you need to select the Quick format option.
- Next, click on the Start button and then confirm with the Yes button.
- Once formatted, the USB flash drive is all set to store files on the removable drive.
How to formatting Drives on a Mac OS?
- Insert a USB drive into your USB port.
- Now you need to launch “Disk Utility” (from Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility).
- Select the USB drive from the list on the left.
- Select “Erase” at the top.
- Type in a “Name” for the drive, then select a “Format” (file system).
- Select “Erase”.
- Once complete, select “Done”.
- Once formatted, the USB flash drive is all set to store files on the removable drive.
See More: Best Free iPhone Data Recovery Software
