When you buy an external hard drive, SSD (solid-state drive), or flash stick, chances are that you can connect it to your Windows PC and use it right away. However, you may still want to erase and format the drive, so that you know you’re starting with a clean slate and an appropriate file system.If you’ve already been using the drive for some time, formatting can help resolve persistent performance issues and other problems. You must also reformat the drive and securely erase its data if you plan to sell it.
How Erasing and Formatting a Drive in Windows Works
How Erasing and Formatting a Drive in Windows Works
When you format an external HDD, SSD, or USB flash drive in Windows, the operating system frees up the disk space for use by other data. Additionally, it runs reliability checks on drive sectors and fixes severe errors (though there’s no guarantee). But that’s just half the picture. Formatting also gives you the perfect opportunity to implement a suitable file system. That’s essential when you want to ensure that a drive is compatible with other devices. Windows allows you to format external drives with one of the three file systems below. NTFS: The default Windows file system. NTFS supports large file sizes and provides excellent security, but it doesn’t fully work on alternative operating systems besides Windows and Linux. FAT32: A legacy Windows file system. Unlike NTFS, FAT32 features wider compatibility with most operating systems but imposes file size limits of 4GB or less, is less reliable, and is not as secure. exFAT: An all-round file system that works well on both Windows and Apple macOS for Mac, exFAT strikes an excellent balance between compatibility, usability, and security. You can format a drive via the Format utility, Disk Management console, and Command Prompt in Windows. However, only the Command Prompt lets you implement FAT32 as the file system on drives that exceed 32GB. That said, formatting a drive in Windows doesn’t completely wipe your data. If you intend to sell the drive, you must use a third-party formatting tool such as Disk Wipe that can securely delete all data. If you’re troubleshooting for issues on a drive, you might want to consider running the Check Disk (CHKDSK) utility before you start. Warning: Erasing a drive or partition will permanently delete all files and folders. Take a backup of any data if you want to restore everything afterward.
Erase and Format a Drive in Windows Using Format Utility
Erase and Format a Drive in Windows Using Format Utility
The Format utility, which you can access via File Explorer, is the most convenient way to erase and format external drives in Windows. You can also decide if you want to speed things up by performing a quick format.
Erase and Format a Drive in Windows Using Disk Management
Erase and Format a Drive in Windows Using Disk Management
The Disk Management console is a versatile utility that allows you to manage drives, volumes, and partitions in Windows. It also allows you to format drives quickly. Use it if an external drive fails to appear in File Explorer.
Erase and Format a Drive in Windows Using Command Prompt
Erase and Format a Drive in Windows Using Command Prompt
Alternatively, you can use the Command Prompt and Windows PowerShell consoles to format a drive in Windows. It’s the best option if you want to format drives that exceed 32GB natively in FAT32.
Securely Erase and Format a Drive in Windows Using Disk Wipe
Securely Erase and Format a Drive in Windows Using Disk Wipe
If you want to erase an external drive securely, you can use a free third-party formatting tool called Disk Wipe. It lets you run various erasing patterns to prevent file recovery tools from retrieving your data.
