How to Format a USB Drive Using CMD: A Step-by-Step Guide

On this page, you will learn how to format USB in Windows 10/8/7 via CMD or an easier alternative to CMD. Now choose a suitable USB formatting tool for help:

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Applies to: Format corrupted USB, fix SD card won't format issue, format BitLocker encrypted drive, and format USB to NTFS/FAT32, exFAT/EXT, etc.

Supported operating systems:  Windows 11/10/8.1/8/7 and Windows XP/Vista, along with all Windows Server versions.

Both methods will format your USB, but CMD can be too difficult for beginners. Therefore, it's recommended to use the CMD alternative to format your USB with ease. Click the button below to format your USB with one click.

Back up your data before formatting USB using CMD in UTF-8 format.

Here are some tips to follow before formatting your USB using CMD, to ensure everything is in order:

1. Backup USB essentials

Since formatting will remove all data saved on the USB drive, make sure you back up any important USB data to another secure location if the USB is accessible. You can manually copy files from USB to another device, or use an automatic and free file backup software – Todo Backup Free tool – to create a full backup of everything on the USB in one go.

Step 2: Choose a Reliable USB Formatting Tool - CMD or its Alternative

If you want a quick and easy way to format USB, or you need to format it to EXT4/3/2, you can choose to use an alternative to the command prompt, Partition Master.

Experienced Windows users can directly use the CMD formatting command: format fs=ntfs quick or format fs=fat32 quick to format the USB drive.

Let's begin with using the CMD alternative tool or CMD command line to format your USB, RAW, inaccessible, unreadable, or even corrupted USB flash drive, pen drive, and memory stick to get it working normally.

# Format USB via CMD (Alternative Method)

Though you can format USB via CMD, it's not user-friendly for most Windows beginners. Plus, any wrong operation may lead to data loss on other storage devices. Here, we recommend trying a third-party CMD alternative – the free partition manager tool – AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard.

AOMEI Partition Assistant Free is a perfect alternative to CMD for USB formatting. It features a user-friendly interface and precise operations, allowing you to format your USB effortlessly with just a few clicks. Users of all levels can utilize this tool for USB formatting. Here are the detailed steps:

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

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Aside from using CMD to format USB, Partition Master is also a great hard drive formatting tool that you can use to format and set various types of storage devices for different purposes, as shown below.

How to Format a USB with CMD (Command Prompt)

USB flash drives are widely used for storing data and transferring files. However, they can get damaged or become inaccessible due to RAW or invalid file systems, bad sectors, or other errors. A quick solution to these issues is to format the USB using CMD or perform a low-level format on it.

Below are two detailed guides on how to format a USB flash drive from the Windows Command Prompt, which you should follow closely.

Steps to Format a USB Drive using CMD (for NTFS or FAT32)

1. Format USB Drive using CMD in Windows 11/10:

Step 1: Connect the USB to your computer and press Windows + R.

Step 2: Type cmd in the search box, and press Enter to open the Command Prompt.

Step 3: Type each of the following commands one at a time and press Enter after each:

1. diskpart
2. list disk
3. select disk # (replace # with the number of your USB drive)
4. list volume
5. select volume # (replace # with the number of your USB flash drive's volume)
6. format fs=ntfs quick (or replace NTFS with FAT32 or exFAT)
7. exit

CMD can also fix the “Windows was unable to complete the format” error on your computer's hard drive, USB, or any other storage device.

Read more: Format a USB Drive that Does Not Show Up

Method 2: Formatting a USB Flash Drive with the Command Prompt in Windows 8 or 7:

If you're using Windows 8 or 7, here's how to format the USB with Command Prompt:

Step 1. Connect the USB drive to your computer.

Step Two: Open File Explorer and note the letter assigned to your USB drive.

Step 2: Right-click the Start menu and select “Search.”

Step 3. Type cmd and right-click on Command Prompt, then select Run as administrator.

Step 4: Open the Command Prompt, and enter each of the following commands one at a time, pressing Enter after each:

• format /FS:NTFS J: (Replace J with the letter of your USB drive.)

• Exit

Additional Tip: How to Clean and Format a USB using CMD

If you want to wipe everything off a USB drive and reuse it for another purpose, you can try the following steps using CMD:

Step 1: Right-click the Windows icon or Start menu, type cmd, then right-click Command Prompt and select "Run as administrator."

Step 2. Enter the following commands one at a time, pressing Enter after each:

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• diskpart
• list disk
• select disk 2 (replace the number 2 with the number of your USB drive)
• clean
• create partition primary
• format fs=ntfs
• assign

When you're done, exit DiskPart and you'll be able to save data to your USB drive again. However, since the Linux Ext2/3 file system isn't supported by Windows, you may want to refer to the formatting tools in Method 1 to fix this.

Was this guide helpful? If you managed to fix the problem, consider sharing this article with friends who might be running into the same issue.

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Video Tutorial: How to Format a USB Drive via CMD

Both methods are shown in the video, which will guide you through resetting your USB drive or external hard disk to factory condition.

Fix existing errors while formatting USB through Command Prompt in UTF-8 format

Some USB users reported encountering certain errors while formatting it via CMD.

Here, we have compiled two common errors encountered while formatting USB using CMD, along with their respective solutions. If you encounter these issues, don't worry; simply follow the provided solutions:

Error 1: Diskpart formatting stuck at fs=ntfs, at 0%, 10%, 11%, 12%...

If the formatting process gets stuck in DiskPart, as the message indicates, don't worry. You have two options:

1. Wait for the formatting process to complete. 2. Close CMD and proceed to Part 2 to format your drive with Partition Master.

Error 2: Disk Management encountered an error: Access is denied. Refer to the system event log for more information.

If you encounter this issue, click the following link to resolve it:

Diskpart Encountered an Error: Access is Denied

Data recovery is no longer a challenge. The tool, as a reliable data recovery app, recovers lost data with just a few simple clicks.

The Finish Line

With their portability, convenience, capacity, and affordability, USB flash drives remain the world's most popular external storage devices.

Issues with USB drives are also common while using them for data transfer or storage. Formatting the USB flash drive is one of the most common issues among them.

We have listed two USB formatting tools on the page – you can choose to format USB using CMD or an alternative tool, Partition Master. Choose the suitable one and follow the respective tutorial guide to get your USB flash drive working properly.

To easily and freely solve the formatting issue, you can prefer the tool Partition Master. It is a perfect CMD alternative that can help you anytime.

People also ask about formatting USB using CMD in UTF-8 encoding.

Some of you might have more questions about formatting USB. Here, we've gathered some of the most concerned ones and listed the answers below. Check them now if you have the same doubts.

< strong > 1. Why do you need to format USB flash drive?

While HDDs and SSDs are commonly used for operating system installations and data storage, removable storage devices like USB flash drives are often used for data transfer and storage. However, a USB flash drive might become inaccessible, and you need to format it to make it work again.

Here's a list of reasons why you and other USB users might need to format a flash drive:

• 1. RAW, invalid or unrecognized USB file system
• 2. Damaged USB flash drive
• 3. Virus infection
• 4. USB is write protected
• 5. Changing the USB file system to NTFS, FAT32, or Ext2/3/4 via formatting

How do I format a USB drive using CMD?

The process of formatting a bootable USB flash drive is very similar to the one displayed on this page. You can follow the steps listed here to format it using CMD:

How do I format a read-only USB in CMD with UTF-8 encoding?

You can format a write-protected (read-only) USB using the command line with the following steps:

Step 1: Press "Win + R," then type "cmd" to open the "Command Prompt." Step 2: Type **diskpart** and press Enter. Step 3: Type **list disk** and press Enter. Step 4: Type **select disk 2** and press Enter. (Replace '2' with the number of the write-protected device.) Then press Enter. Step 5: Type **attributes disk clear readonly** and press Enter. Step 6: Type **exit** to close the diskpart window.

Once the write protection is removed, you can format the USB drive again. You can use Partition Master, Windows Explorer, or even CMD commands (as shown in Part 2) to format the USB drive.

4. How to Solve "Windows Was Unable to Complete the Format" Issue?

If you get the “Windows was unable to complete the format” error when trying to format a USB flash drive with File Explorer, don't worry. You can try these seven solutions to fix the issue:

1. Use a Partition Master Tool 2. Utilize the Diskpart Command 3. Employ Disk Management 4. Remove Viruses and Format 5. Disable Write Protection and Format 6. Fix Disk Errors and Format 7. Repair Bad Sectors and Format

Note that you can try both tutorials above to format the USB flash drive and fix this issue.