There are a number of file systems types such as NTFS, exFAT, FAT16, FAT32, EXT4, EXT3, EXT2, etc. Since formatting can create and change file system formats, you need to choose a file system type for the USB flash drive to be formatted. If you are not sure about the bad sector thing, or plan to sell or give it away, then perform a full format to fix errors as well as wipe data. If you attempt to re-use the drive which does not contain any bad sectors or physical damages, a quick format is adequate. If the process completes successfully, the damaged USB drive gets repaired.Ī quick format does not permanently destroy data, and files can be unformatted by data recovery software. If the full format finds bad sectors, it'll try to fix them. Causes of bad sectors are many, such as failed flash memory transistors, aging, quality, failed heads, etc. A sector which is not writable, inaccessible, or damaged is called a bad sector. Also, it scans and tries to fix bad sectors during formatting. It completely wipes the drive being formatted, and thus lost files are no longer recoverable by any means. What happens during a full format? The full format runs an additional step that scans bad sectors, which takes much longer than a quick format. If you want to permanently wipe data, this is not the correct choice. Thus if there are not files that stored on the disk to overwrite lost data, you can recover files with a free file recovery program. It does not really recreate the file system and does not completely delete file data. The quick format simply removes journal and lays a new and blank file system. The journaling records what files are stored and where they are located. The formatting does not check bad sectors for selected drive, but it deletes the journaling part of file systems. What is a quick format? The obvious feature is quick. What are the differences between quick format and full format? Which one should you use to format / reformat a USB drive? Have you ever wondered the differences whether it is selected? Normally, the formatting is called a full format or low level format if the "Quick Format" is not selected. If you format a volume in Windows, you can see the "Quick Format" option is selected by default. For example, when a disk becomes inaccessible and reports error message like " The file or directory is corrupted and unreadable", you may want to format it to repair the corrupt volume. Many users take formatting as the last resort to errors they encounter. If your USB flash drive is infected with virus or malware, you can format the disk to totally get rid of threats. USB drive can be reformatted to FAT32, exFAT, NTFS, EXT4, etc., so that it can be used on different system platforms. Formatting process creates a file system to organize data, and it also can change file system format when necessary. You can perform a full format on the flash drive, which helps check USB drive health by scanning whether there are bad sectors on the USB drive. Will you format the USB flash drive you've recently purchased? The answer should might be Yes. If you want to permanently erase data from USB drives (make USB data recovery impossible), you can refer to the guide: How to completely wipe a USB flash drive?. Since it causes data loss, be sure files are backed up before formatting. The quick formatting is the best way to wipe data from storage media with ease and speed. This section sums up what formatting can do for you. In fact, some underlying benefits of formatting a USB flash drive are ignored. In many cases we format a drive in order to prepare it to be used by operating systems or erase all data. What formatting a USB disk can do for you? understand the ins and outs of formatting? Let's take a close look at it now. Many users count on formatting to fix errors on storage devices, free up disk space, or change file system formats. In this guide, you can find multiple methods to format USB disks and you can choose one based on actual situation and needs.įormatting a USB drive, volume or hard drive is one common operation to all computer users. Formatting a USB drive can repair corrupt partition as well as change file system format, thus we may need to format USB flash drives from time to time. This article mainly talks about how to format / reformat USB flash drive to FAT32, exFAT, NTFS or EXT4 file system in Windows 11/10/8/7/XP.
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