How do I remove write protection from a pen drive?

How do I disable the write protection on a USB flash drive?

"My USB flash drive got write-protected while I was copying a 3GB folder, and the write protection prevented the copy process. It happens every time I plug in the USB for about 5-6 minutes, then the write protection reappears. I don't know how it got enabled, but when I tried to copy a 9GB folder, the issue occurred again. I can't disable the write protection, nor can I format the USB flash drive because it always shows an error saying 'The disk is write-protected.' Is there any effective way to remove the write protection and format the USB flash drive?"

If you don't delve into their differences, flash drives and USB flash drives are often used interchangeably. Nowadays, portable storage devices like flash drives and USB drives play a significant role in managing data flexibly in our digital lives, such as transferring files between computers, backing up data, creating a Windows To Go portable USB drive, installing apps, and more. Generally, a branded USB flash drive should last at least five years with proper use. Though various issues with flash drives occur, most can be fixed on your own. For instance, on this page, you can learn how to remove write protection from a flash drive and how to format the flash drive after removing write protection.

How to Remove Write Protection from a Flash Drive
How to Format a Flash Drive After Removing Write Protection

What is "Pen Drive Write Protection"?

Write protection refers to the ability of a hardware device or software program to prevent new information from being written to it, while also blocking alterations or changes to existing data. In simple terms, when a disk is set to be write-protected, you cannot normally write data to it or copy data onto it.

Write protection is usually accompanied by a Windows prompt on your PC, warning you that the disk is write-protected and giving some additional information.

#1. USB flash drive is write-protected during formatting:

The next sentence only needs to be translated into American English: ""

#2. While copying files, the USB drive is write-protected, showing an error message asking you to remove the write protection or use another disk:

Aside from write protection issues, you might also encounter similar “read-only” errors. If that's the case, don't panic – the write protection solutions below should also help you get rid of the read-only error.

How do I remove the write protection from a pen drive?

Write protection on most USB flash drives, thumb drives, and SD cards is caused by either a physical lock or a change in a virtual attribute. Understanding the cause will help you resolve the issue and successfully remove the write protection.

Method 1: Check the Lock Switch and Disable Write Protection

Do you see a slide switch on the side of your flash drive? This is used to control the read/write permissions for the device. Most modern flash drives have one, and you'll find them on popular brands like SanDisk, Sony, and Kingston. You'll need to slide the switch from the “Locked” position to the “Unlocked” position. This will allow you to freely use your drive again without encountering the “disk is write protected” error.

Method 2: Use a Write Protection Removal Software to Remove the Write Protection

With the help of Partition Manager tool, you can easily get rid of write protection with simple clicks. Here's how:

Click on «Remove Write Protection»:

Step 2. Select your read-only USB, external hard drive, or SD card and click “Disable.”

Click on "Remove Write Protection"

Method 3: Change the Read-Write Properties of the USB Flash Drive

Go to "My Computer" or "This PC". Under "Portable Devices", find your USB drive. Right-click on it, then select "Properties". In the pop-up window, click "Edit". Sometimes, there will be an option to remove the write protection. Change the status of this option and try again.

Method 4: Disable Write Protection via CMD

Currently, using the Windows Command Prompt is the go-to method to try and remove write protection from any drive in Windows 10/8/7. If you're willing to try out a slightly advanced command, you have a very high chance of successfully removing over 90% of write protections from a flash drive.

Step 1: Search for Command Prompt on Windows and run the program as an administrator.

Step 2. Type each of the following lines at the Windows command prompt, pressing Enter after each one:

These are disk management commands in the Windows command line: 1. **diskpart**: Launches the Disk Management utility, which is an interactive text-mode program that allows users to perform various operations on the computer's hard disks. 2. **list disk**: Within the diskpart environment, this lists all the disks connected to the system. 3. **select disk #**: Selects the disk to be operated on, where '#' should be replaced with the actual disk number. 4. **attributes disk clear readonly**: Clears the read-only attribute on the selected disk, enabling read and write operations.

Step 3: Once the disk has been unmounted, you'll see a message that says "Disk attributes cleared successfully." Type exit to close the window.

Method 5: Remove write protection from USB drive using Regedit.exe

The Windows Registry Editor (Regedit) is a graphical tool in the Windows operating system that allows authorized users to view and make changes to the Windows Registry. While this is a last resort, it is not recommended as it poses risks and dangers when you attempt to remove the write protection.

This is the last method to remove write protection from USB drive, so if this really helped you out, please share this article to help others.

Step 1: Plug your USB flash drive into your computer.

Step 2. Press Windows + R to open the "Run" dialog box. Type "regedit" in the blank field, then press Enter.

Step 3: Click on "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE" to expand "System."

Step 4: Under System, find Current Control Set and click on Control.

5. Look for a key named “Storage Device Policies”. If you find it, change the value of “DWORD” to “0”, and then click “OK” to save the changes.

Note: If you don't see a key named “Storage Device Policies,” you'll need to create it: right-click “Control,” create a new key and name it “Storage Device Policies” >> right-click this new key, choose “DWORD (32-bit) Value,” and name it “write protect” >> finally, double-click it to change its value.

How to Format a USB Flash Drive After Removing Write Protection

Don't attempt to format a write-protected USB flash drive until you find a way to remove the write protection. When the USB drive is write-protected, you can't use either Windows' built-in disk formatting tool or any third-party USB formatting tools to format it.

Fortunately, there are write protection removal solutions available for various storage devices. With the write protection removed from your USB drive, you can now format it smoothly. I recommend using the Free Partition Manager tool called Partition Master, which lets users format USB drives to FAT32, NTFS, or EXT. We suggest this instead of the built-in Windows formatting option because it offers additional features such as:

• Support formatting a 64 GB USB flash drive to FAT32 without Windows' 32 GB limitation.
• Format USB drive when it shows Windows was unable to complete the format.

Step 1: Select the USB drive you want to format.

Plug your USB drive or flash drive into your computer. Download and open a disk partition tool. Right-click the USB drive that you want to format, then select “Format.”

Step 2. Choose the USB drive letter and file system.

指定新的 partition label, file system (NTFS/FAT32/EXT2/EXT3/EXT4/exFAT), and cluster size for the selected partition, then click OK.

Step 3: Check the “Yes” box to confirm the formatting of your USB.

If a warning message appears, click Yes. Back up any important data beforehand, just in case.

Step 4: Apply the changes.

First, click the "Execute 1 Task(s)" button, then click "Format" to format the USB drive.

Conclusion

In this article, we discuss how to remove write protection from a flash drive. By reading through, you will have a clear understanding of what write protection is and learn five methods to fix a write-protected USB flash drive, including:

1. Toggle the Lock Switch
2. Change the Read-Write Properties of the USB Drive
3. Disable Write Protection Using CMD
4. Remove Write Protection with Unprotect USB Software
5. Remove Write Protection from USB using Regedit.exe

To help you format the USB flash drive after removing write protection, we recommend using a Partition Manager software that can fully replace the built-in Windows format feature for removable hard drives. Additionally, it can solve the problem that Windows cannot format a drive or partition larger than 32 GB to the FAT32 file system.