Windows Can’t Format USB? How to Fix It (Simple Step by Step Guide)

It is very embarassing struggling to use your usb flash and you notice you cannot do so. 

 Fixing this kind of weird USB not formatting error.  very straightforward and shouldn’t take more than a minute to complete. All you need to do is follow the step-by-step instructions i will show you here below.

Before we move on, it is good for you to know that depending on the operating systems which you are using, it could be Windows 7, 8, or 10, Vista, XP that is before you. The error messages you get may vary from case to case. Here are a few cases i want you to know about. Read them carefully to figure which is yours..

• The disk is write protected.
• The USB disk is not formatted.
• The USB drive is not initialized.
• The operation did not complete.
• There is no disk in the drive.
• Windows refuses to format your USB key or access files.
• Other force format error messages.

Other formatting errors may also be due to  flash drive corruption, improper ejection or an unexpected PC shutdown during data transfer, incompatibility issues between your flash drive and the PC.

Another common reason for that is file system error. For example, normally a new flash drive is initiated with FAT-32. It’s possible that you (or the person who uses it) might have reformatted it into NTFS or another file system.

Here is what you should do then in simple steps.

Fixing It Then...

Simply steps are:

step 1° Insert your flash drive into a PC.

step 2° Move the cursor to the bottom left corner. Right-click on the Windows icon.

step 3° Select Disk Management.

step 4° Highlight the disk your flash drive represents, right click and choose format.

step 5° After selecting the formatting options, make sure under File System you choose FAT-32 or exFAT.

step 6° Click “Next” to complete the rest procedure.