Once the drive has been selected, type clean then hit Enter. Type create partition primary then hit Enter Type active then hit Enter DiskPart Windows 10 command line Type format fs=exfat label=”DRIVE LABEL HERE” quick then hit Enter This command will format and label the drive, e.g. Format fs=exfat label=”ANDRE”. Use the Windows key + X keyboard shortcut to open the Power User menu and select Command. The default format used by most USB flash drives and other external storage media is FAT32. Some people are fine with keeping this format. But for most users, they always find the need to convert.

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If you need to format a USB flash drive, HDD, SDD, or some other form of storage to FAT32, you've come to the right place.

In this article we'll go over what a file system is, the FAT32 standard, and several ways to format a storage device to FAT32 on Windows 10.

What's a file system?

A file system is a standardized way of organizing data on a computer storage device like a flash drive or HDD.

A file system divides a storage device into virtual compartments, almost like a wall of post office boxes, and keeps track of all the information that gets stored in each box.

Some of the most common file system formats for portable storage devices are FAT32, NTFS, and ExFAT.

FAT32 compared to other formats

Of those three common formats, FAT32 is the oldest and most widely supported. Every major operating system will allow you to read and write from a USB flash drive that's formatted to FAT32.

Meanwhile, macOS can only read NTFS drives, and you would need to install third-party software to write back to the drive.

However, though FAT32 is well supported, its maximum drive and file size is severely limited when compared to newer formats like NTFS and ExFAT:

* 1 petabyte is about 1 thousand terabytes
** 1 exabyte is about 1 million terabytes

Note that the maximum drive and file size of NTFS and ExFAT is so large that there's basically no limit. (But it would be nice to have a 128 PB USB drive, wouldn't it?)

On the other hand, FAT32's max file size of 4 GB is almost nothing now that phones can record 4K videos. Also, it's a little more difficult to format a drive larger than 32 GB to FAT32 on Windows 10.

These days, the only reason why you'd choose to format a drive to FAT32 is for compatibility. For example, if you need to boot up an old computer, maybe with a different operating system, and backup some of its files. But you'd need to be sure that none of those files are greater than 4 GB.

If you're sure you want to go with FAT32, here's how to format a storage drive on Windows 10.

Important note: Before you format a drive, make sure that you backup all of your important files. In fact, make two backups, and keep one on a remote service like Google Drive or Dropbox.

Formatting a drive will delete all of the data that's currently on it.

How to use Windows File Explorer to format a USB drive to FAT32

A quick note about this method: it only works on USB flash drives that are less that 32 GB. If your USB drive is larger than 32 GB, check out one of the later methods.

With that out of the way, plug your USB drive into your computer and open Windows File Explorer.

Next, right-click on the drive on the left hand side of the File Explorer window and click 'Format':

In the window that pops up, ensure that 'FAT32' is selected. Also, feel free to rename the USB drive whatever you'd like:

You can leave the rest of the options alone. Just click start to format your drive.

Once it's done, your USB drive should be formatted to use the FAT32 file system.

To double check this, open File Explorer, right click on your USB drive, and click 'Properties'.

A window will pop up and you should see that the file system is now FAT32:

How to use Rufus to format a USB drive to FAT32

If your USB drive is larger than 32 GB, you'll need to use a third-party program like Rufus to format it.

There are lots of other programs that can format USB drives, but Rufus is really small and portable. This means you can stick Rufus right on a USB drive, plug it into any Windows computer, and format other drives on the go.

After you download Rufus, double click on the .exe file to start the application.

Make sure your USB drive is selected. Then, click the 'Boot selection' dropdown and select 'Non bootable':

Next, click the 'File system' dropdown and select 'FAT32'.

Also, feel free to change the name of your USB drive under 'Volume label':

Then, click the 'Start' button to format your drive. After a few seconds it'll be formatted to FAT32.

How to use PowerShell to format a USB drive to FAT32

While this method works with drives larger than 32 GB, it's really slow – even formatting a 32 GB drive can take up to an hour depending on your computer.

But, if you aren't able to use the previous two methods for some reason, this will work in a pinch.

First, click on the Windows Search Bar and type in 'powershell'. Then, click 'Run as administrator' to launch PowerShell with elevated privileges:

In the PowerShell terminal, enter the following command:

format /FS:FAT32 DRIVE_LETTER:

Use the File Explorer to double check your drive letter. My drive letter was D, so I entered format /FS:FAT32 D:.

Press Enter, make sure your USB drive is plugged in, and press the Enter key again to start the process:

Then go run some errands or something – it will take awhile.

Once the format command is finished, your drive should be formatted to FAT32.

In closing

Now you should be able to format a USB drive of any size to FAT32 on Windows 10. And with just a little modification, any of these methods can be used to format your drive to another file system like NTFS or ExFAT.

Now get out there and format all your USB drives. (But only after you backup everything important!)

Was this helpful? Is there a better method that you know of? Tweet at me and let me know how you format things on Windows 10.

Windows formatting tool can not always format the USB flash drive correctly. Standard formatting is not solution at all if a file table information on the storage device has been corrupted. Unfortunately, it's harder to recover data on a flash drive with this kind of damage.

Consider the best programs for formatting flash drives, there are more or less versatile tools. You can easily find other alternatives, free and proprietary utilities offered by manufacturers and download it for Windows. So, let’s begin!

Important! Save the USB flash drive contents on the computer before formatting. All data stored on the formatted media will be irretrievably deleted.

Contents:

JetFlash Recovery Tool - simple usb stick formatter

JetFlash Recovery Tool is a universal solution to format usb drive. It will be useful in case if:

• USB flash drive consists any file table errors or bad sectors
• Information on the flash drive can not be read (reasons unknown)
• You just need to format a USB flash drive

Install the JetFlash Recovery Tool and try to forcefully format flash drive with it. The flash drives formatter works with A-DATA and Transcend brands, but other variants are possible as well.

JetFlash Recovery Tool can be downloaded from the official website. Install it on the computer according to the instructions that come with the program.

USB Disk Storage Format Tool

USB Disk Storage Format Tool allows you to format a USB flash drive on Windows quickly and correctly. You can specify the file system of the formatted usb media: FAT, FAT32, exFAT or NTFS.

The main features of the utility:

• It allows to choose standard formatting or erase all data on a flash drive, which can not be formatted by usual (system) way
• USB Disk Storage Format Tool removes any traces of malware and viruses that could infect the USB flash drive
• Search and fixing of reading errors and bad blocks on a flash drive
• Creating a volume label (name) for USB drives
• Creating a partition in FAT32 with a 32 GB > capacity
• Low-level formatting of flash drives of the required model (Kingston, HP, Sony, Lexar, Imation, Transcend, Corsair and so on).

USB Disk Storage Format Tool has been successfully tested on thousands of storage devices (Compact Flash media, Thumb Drives, Pen Drives). It supports such brands as SanDisk, Kingston, Transcend, Corsair, Sony, Lexar, Toshiba, Verbatim, Silicon Power, IronKey and HDE.

There is also a Pro version of the USB Disk Storage Format Tool. It can be useful for making bootable flash drives, performing low-level formatting, changing the size of the clusters and so on.

HDD Low Level Format Tool

Can't Format Flash Drive Windows 10

HDD Low Level Format Tool is utility for low-level hard disks formatting. This app allows you to read SMART data and get service information about data storage devices on your Windows PC.

However, the HDD Low Level Format Tool supports not only hard disks. It is also possible to format usb pen drive or memory card (SD, MMC, MemoryStick and CompactFlash) – you need a card reader to connect them via an USB port.

HDD Low Level Format Tool will erase data from SATA, IDE, SAS, SCSI or SSD via low level access. The utility also works with any USB and FIREWIRE external drives, as well as SD, MMC, MemoryStick and CompactFlash sticks.

HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool for Windows

A very simple utility for the correct flash stick formatting in FAT32 or NTFS formats. The main function is to help the user to quickly select options and format the USB flash drive on the computer by pressing a “Format” button.

HP USB Storage Format Tool is available for free, the installer can be downloaded for Windows 10, 7, 8, etc.

In addition, through the HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool, you can make a bootable USB flash drive (which other similar usb flash formatters can’t do).

How to format a USB flash drive in Mac OS

The HP USB Format Tool allows you to format the USB flash drive in the Mac OS X. However, for this you need to follow the next steps:

1. Install the Parallels Desktop emulator on your Mac OS
2. Install Windows on Parallels Desktop
3. Download HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool on Mac, install it on emulated Windows
4. Format the USB flash drive under Mac OS X via emulated Windows

Kingston USB Format Tool

Kingston format utility does not contain any settings at all. For formatting, you need to specify a device (usb-flash drive) and a file system.

Developers of the program claim that the FAT is the best format for usb drive to avoid conflicts with other operating systems. It will not affect the performance of the flash drive.

Format Thumb Drive Windows 10

The program is able to format and repair usb flash drives under Windows 7, Windows 10 and earlier versions of the OS.

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Therefore, if you have a Kingston flash drive and noticed that it works slowly, try this app: maybe it will solve the problem.