Replacing a disk, repairing a disk, reinstalling a disk, and using a new disk cannot be accomplished without formatting. It is a good chance to reformat or format a hard drive. This blog holds everything to format a hard drive on Windows or Mac computer with these format utilities.
Hot Topic Today - How to format or reformat a hard drive?
In this article, you'll learn:
There are a few reasons why you might want to format or reformat a hard drive.
No matter your reasons for wanting to format a hard drive, it's a pretty simple process that anyone can do.
So what happens when you format a hard drive? Does formatting a drive wipe it? Figure it out if you have such doubt.
✔. Delete all data on the drive, hold the chance for data recovery
That means any files you had stored on the drive and any programs you had installed will be gone. However, formatting is not equal to wiping, meaning formatting a hard drive is to clean the address tables and reset the file system and file structure. And you still get a chance to recover data even if it turns difficult.
✔. Reset the drive format
Set the file system of your internal or external hard drive.
✔. Remove virus or malware from hard drive
It can also be helpful if the drive has become corrupted and is no longer working correctly. In some cases, formatting the drive will fix the problem and allow you to keep using the drive.
✘. Note that formatting will also delete any files saved on the drive, so be sure to back up your data before proceeding.
NTFS - Standard Windows File Format (It is the best choice for most computers.)
FAT32/16 - Works for 32GB or smaller drive.
ExFAT - Available for Windows, Mac, and Linux
HFS+/APFS - Mac supported.
You May be Concerned about details of popular file systems:
Apply straightforward ways to format a hard drive on Windows and Mac computers. Note that you cannot format your C drive unless you create a bootable device.
See also to format USB and SD Card:
Step 1. Type the "Create and format hard disk partitions" on the search bar, and click it to open Windows Disk Management.
Step 2. Locate the drive you want to format (Check again to ensure you choose the correct drive!), right-click it, and select the "Format..." button.
Step 3. Set the volume label and file system. And click "OK" to start formatting.
To format a hard drive for Windows 10, you can resort to an accessible hard drive format tool - EaseUS Partition Master Free.
EaseUS Partition Master Free is software that helps you optimize your computer by managing the partitions of your hard drive, including resizing, formatting, deleting, creating, converting MBR to GPT, copying data disk, etc. This software is straightforward to use and has many features that can help you improve your computer's performance.
Download This Free Hard Disk Format Tool:
Format A Hard Drive Windows 10/11:
Step 1. Launch EaseUS Partition Master, right-click the partition you intend to format and choose "Format".
Step 2. In the new window, enter the Partition label, choose the FAT32/EXT2/EXT3/EXT4 file system, and set the cluster size according to your needs, then click "OK".
Step 3. Then you will see a warning window, click "Yes" in it to continue.
Step 4. Click the "Execute 1 Task(s)" button in the top-left corner to review the changes, then click "Apply" to start formatting the partition to FAT32/EXT2/EXT3/EXT4.
You can also use another Windows built-in tool - Diskpart, a smart choice for formatting or reformatting a hard drive.
Step 1. Type cmd in the "Search" bar. Right-click Command Prompt and select "Run as administrator".
Step 2. Type command lines and press Enter each time.
Do you know how to format a hard drive and clean up the disk on your own? On this page, we'll show you how to format a hard drive using DiskPart quick format command and a third-party free formatting tool on Windows 10/8/7.
If you have a new disk and haven't partitioned it, you'll need to initialize disks, creates partitions, and format partitions. Follow the steps to create and format a partition with Disk Management:
1. EaseUS Partition Master Format Tool
2. HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool
3. HDD Low-Level Format Tool
4. Windows File Explorer
5. Windows Disk Management
6. Windows Command Prompt
Check All Software
Read on to check all six disk format tool.
To reformat a hard drive, you can use the Disk Utility.
Step 1. Open Disk Utility by searching it in the spotlight.
Step 2. Select the drive you want to format from the left list.
Step 3. Select Erase tab from the upper toolbar.
Step 4. Change disk name and format. Click "Erase" button.
When trying to format a C drive, you could receive this error - "You cannot format this volume". How to fix this issue?
You can download EaseUS Partition Master first, create a bootable disk, change the boot mode and use the hard drive formatter to format the C drive.
Get Depth Instructions: how to format C drive.
"Can't format USB" and "Unable to format SD card" error happens all time due to unsupported drive format, bad sectors, virus attack, etc. EaseUS Partition Master can fix the USB drive or SD card by reformatting it. You can use CMD and other recommended options if the third party is not your cup of tea. Go to the step-by-step instruction:
See Also
Try 7+ valuable solutions to fix "Windows was unable to complete the format".
Can I get data back from a formatted hard drive? Yes! It is possible to unformat the hard drive and recover all data with a specific data recovery software - EaseUS Data Recovery Free.
Follow the video guide to recover formatted hard drive:
RAW indicates your hard drive is inaccessible, and the best fix is to reformat the hard disk with a compatible file system. You can recover data from a RAW drive and repeat format steps with disk management.
Other Unexpected Error:
Now you know how to reformat a hard drive with Windows built-in utilities or EaseUS hard drive formatted! They are the fastest ways to format your hard drive on Windows 10/11 and Mac computers. After disk cleaning, worry about data leaks or unworkable devices is no longer necessary. We hope this guide has walked you through it.
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