How to Fix USB Showing as Read-Only in Windows 11? [Solved]

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"USB appears as read-only in Windows 11"

If the files on the USB drive are set to read-only, the user will be unable to delete or format the drive. But that's for PCs, so you can get around this by plugging the USB into a Mac or Linux machine and doing whatever you please.

When you try to format the drive, it may say that it's “write protected.” This means that the USB drive is in read-only mode. If you need to change the settings to edit the contents of the drive, you can use the Command Prompt on Windows to alter the status of the USB drive.

Why is my USB drive read-only on Windows 11?

Normally, if you get the read-only error on your USB drive (also called write protection), you won't be able to make any changes to the USB drive and prevent others from modifying your data.

This is due to the file system format, which is becoming increasingly common as more users work with NTFS on their computers. Many storage devices (such as USB drives and external hard disks) now come preformatted with NTFS.

Windows Updates can also cause your folder to stay read-only. Many users complain that they encountered this error when upgrading their system.

If your folder keeps reverting to Read-only, it might be due to a recent upgrade to Windows 10.

Many users reported that they encountered this error while upgrading their system to Windows 10.

Solution 1: Disable Write Protection in Windows 11

You'll need to remove the read-only attribute in order to take off the write protection. This applies to files, folders, and entire storage devices. It's easy to uncheck a file from read-only mode – just open its properties and uncheck the “Read-only” box.

Step 1: Right-click the file and select "Properties." You can also get to it by clicking the three dots in the top-right corner of File Explorer with a single click.

Step 2: Untick the box for "Read-only" to uncheck it.

Step 3: Click OK to save your changes.

There's another way you can unblock write protection in Windows 11 as well. You can edit a registry key to disable the write protection.

Step 1: Press the "Win + R" keys to open the "Run" dialog box, and type "Regedit".

Step 2: Move on to the next trace. "PC\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\StorageDevicePolicies"

Step 3: Double-click WriteProtect, and change its value from 1 to 0.

4. Close the Registry Editor, and restart your computer. When you reconnect your USB drive, you should find that it's no longer set to read-only.

Solution 2: Use Diskpart to Clear the Read-Only Status

Devices and media are often described as being in read-only mode, which users can change to read-write for further use. If your USB flash drive doesn't have a physical lock switch, you can use Diskpart to clear the read-only attribute. You can do this by following these steps:

Step 1: Press "Win + R," type "cmd," and hit Enter. In the cmd window, type "diskpart" and press Enter.

Step 2. Type “list disk” and press Enter to see a list of all the disks on your computer.

Step 3. Type the number of the disk you want to select and press Enter. The number will correspond to your USB drive. In this example, we select Disk 2.

Step 4. Type “disk attributes” to uncheck the Read-Only box, and hit Enter to remove the write protection from your USB drive.

Solution 3: Fix disk errors with CHKDSK

If your USB device has gone into read-only mode due to disk errors, you can use the CHKDSK.exe utility to check and fix any errors on the USB drive.

Step 1: Press "Win + R" to open the "Run" dialog box, then type "cmd" in the search bar and press Enter. Right-click on the Command Prompt icon and select "Run as Administrator."

In the Command Prompt window that opens, type “chkdsk g: /f /r /x” to check for and fix any errors.

Solution 4: Format the Read-Only USB to Another File System

All the methods above should help you remove write protection from your USB drive. In many cases, you will be able to format your USB drive without getting the “The disk is write-protected” error message. However, you might not be able to configure it via File Explorer or Disk Management. In that case, we recommend trying a tool – a free and powerful partition manager.

A disk partition manager tool is one of the best software to use for erasing or wiping partitions or hard drives. It helps in completely getting rid of all information on your hard drive or external storage, including programs, malware, viruses, and even your data. The program uses military-grade wiping technology that overwrites your data multiple times to ensure that it cannot be recovered again, even with the most sophisticated tools.

This application can help you delete partitions and entire disks from your computer, or wipe files, with minimal hassle. The task can be accomplished in just a few simple steps, and all you need to do is follow the on-screen instructions. The main window of the utility, Partition Master, displays the three main functions in a streamlined manner. You can choose to partition a disk, erase it, or destroy files.

• Right-click the external drive or USB device you want to format, and select "Format."
• Set the volume label, file system (NTFS/FAT32/EXT2/EXT3/EXT4/exFAT), and cluster size, then click "OK."
• Click "Yes" to continue.
• Click "Perform 1 Task," then click "Apply" to format the hard drive partition.

Many storage devices like USB hard drives, flash drives, floppy disks, SD cards, and external hard drives come pre-formatted with a specific file system that might not be compatible with your Windows PC or Mac. This results in the disk being read-only, allowing you to view files but not write new data. In such cases, you can resolve the read-only disk issue by converting the incompatible file system to one that's recognized by Windows, Steam, or the particular device.

AOMEI Partition Assistant Free is a powerful and user-friendly disk management tool that happens to be free, making it very much worth your attention. A familiar layout, comprehensive user guide, extensive help resources, and disc mapping get you up to speed quickly. Partition Master Free can format, copy, resize, move, and manage disk partitions with the same efficiency as its premium rivals. It also supports external drives and RAID devices.

You can download a reliable free partition manager, Partition Master, to format it to the file system you need, such as NTFS, FAT16/32, EXT2/3/4, and more. Other features of Partition Master include:

• User-friendly interface
• Burn, copy, explore, and partition CDs
• Dynamic volume management
• Combine two SSDs into one
• Best data erasure software

Conclusions

Read-only, also known as write-protected, is a file system permission that allows users to only read or copy data stored on it, without the ability to write new information or edit existing data. You can make an entire disk read-only to prevent accidental formatting. The above article outlined five different methods to help you resolve the "USB drive read-only" issue in Windows 11. We hope you were able to fix the problem easily. However, if these steps didn't solve your issue, you can always opt to purchase a new USB flash drive for hassle-free usage.

Lastly, the Tools Free Edition Partition Manager is a solid recommendation for a powerful and easy-to-use disk management tool – and it's free.