No.5 disk formatting tool for Windows and Mac – Paragon Disk Wiper. Paragon Disk Wipe allows you to create a bootable USB-flash drive or external hard drive that will help you to completely erase a whole hard disk, a separate partition or just clean free space. It is the reliable disk formatting tool for Windows/Mac. Jul 01, 2021 Free Edition. For average users to manage basic disks including disk check, hard drive repartition and file system conversion. Support Windows XP, Windows 7, Windows 8/8.1 and Windows 10 (all editions, 32/64 bit). Your Mac can have as little as 64GB of free storage space, but at least 128GB of free storage space provides the best experience. Automatic Windows updates require that much space or more. If you have an iMac Pro or Mac Pro with 128GB of memory (RAM) or more, your startup disk needs at least as much free storage space as your Mac has memory.
Western Digital Hard Drive Utility Formatting Drive. To format the Western Digital Hard Disk Drive using the Disk Management application, follow the instructions given below. First, back up the data from the hard drive that you wish to format. Give a right-click on the Start icon on your system. Disk formatting is the process of preparing a data storage device such as a hard disk drive, solid-state drive, floppy disk or USB flash drive for initial use. In some cases, the formatting operation may also create one or more new file systems.The first part of the formatting process that performs basic medium preparation is often referred to as 'low-level formatting'. Enter to Search. My Profile Logout. CNET News Best Apps. HDD Low Level Format Tool. Format and re-certify a SATA, IDE or SCSI hard disk drive.
Last updated on 1/10/2020
These formatting tools work for all brands and types of usb flash, hard drive, sd memory card. You may use them to force format on your usb/disk/sd for free. The best free formatter we tested for usb flash, disk drive, memory card.
Format usb flash or memory card on MAC? Be free to visit: Top 3 free formatters for MAC; Flash drive corrupted? Try these usb repair utilities: 8 usb repair tools for Windows
'Windows was not able to complete the format when I received drive not formatted error message and performed a formatting there. Really want to format hard disk smoothly and also restore its common use. Thanks!'
Aug 11, 2021 Gparted, or also called Gnome Partition Editor, is a free tool to manage the partitions. Using this tool, you can resize, copy, and move the partitions without the problem of data getting dissolved. You can quickly grow or shrink your C drive, make enough space in a new operating system, and even attempt to rescue the data from lost partitions. Mac partition recovery steps are as follows: a) Install, launch the free trial of Stellar Data Recovery Professional for Mac software. B) On the Select What To Recover screen, click Next. C) On the Select Location screen, click Can’t Find Volume, then click Next. Image: Look for deleted partition.
'I am searching for best free drive formatting software to wipe everything stored inside before selling this drive online. Do you have any suggestion? Hope the suggested formatting software would help delete data permanently and any erased file will never be restored again. Thanks'
Hello, friends, you are also looking for the related hard drive reformatting utility to fix hard drive problems or remove hard drive viruses, bad sectors and sensitive data, etc? OK! No worry! Here are several tested best hard drive formatting programs for you.
Note: Before any formatting, we would recommend you backup data from your media. If the device is no longer accessible, you may try this tool: how to recover data from not formatted drive/card
Free Download Tool to Recover Data from Damaged Media, inaccessible drive, not formatted disk/usb/memory card.
Here are several common and useful free hard disk formatting utilities for you:
HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool is really a free disk formatting tool which allows people to easily and quickly format a USB flash drive to FAT32, exFAT or NTFS file system. And it can work flawlessly even when Windows was unable to complete the format when your usb pen drive turned raw format.
MUST READ: * It needs you to run it under 'Administator'
With this software, if necessary, you can also make a bootable USB drive by choosing its 'Create a DOS startup disk' option.
Pros:
*It is completely free and easy to grasp and use.
*It works well in formatting USB drive into FAT32, FAT or NTFS.
*It is portable and could be installed on a flash drive to be used on different PCs.
*It allows people to 'Create a DOS startup disk' to help boot up a computer from USB flash drive.
*It supports common Windows operating systems.
Cons:
* It works well on USB flash drive and does not recognize internal hard drives and partitions.
* It needs you to run it under 'Administator'
Also read: HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool Review and Error Fixing
As a disk formatting tool, Partition Resizer Free Edition also allows people to format the selected hard drive or partition into FAT32/ntfs for free. As a partition managing program, this software also help format, create, wipe, delete, resize, hide and manage partitions effectively for you.
Download IM-Magic Partition Resizer Free Edition to format disk/usb/memory card totally free of charge.
Format, repair bad blocks totally free of charge.
Must have: it has 'Check Partition' function to check and repair possible errors for your digital devices.
Pros:
*The home edition is free and easy.
*It helps format hard drive or partition into FAT32 as you wish.
*It also help format, wipe, delete, resize, hide and manage computer internal hard drive partitions well.
*A tutorial video will also be automatically popped out and lead you to this software step by step.
*It supports the latest Windows 10/8/7 Vista and XP.
Cons:
*This home edition is free for personal use.
Note: this freeware also provides bootable iso version that you may format disk/usb under WinPE.
Read more details: Partition software bootable iso download
Rufus is an easy to use freeware that is able to format media which cannot be formatted in regular ways.
Rufus download url: https://github.com/pbatard/rufus/releases/download/v3.11/rufus-3.11.exe
Also read: how to format sd card that cannot be formatted, or format usb drive that won't format
HDD Low Level Format Tool is also another completely free disk formatting utility and allows people to easily format internal and external hard disk. With a Low-level format function, it often helps users format a hard drive completely and leave no original drive data there as well as removing some basic hard drive problems.
Pros:
*It is free and user-friendly.
*It support not only external hard drives, and also reads internal hard drives.
*It also offers a low-level format option to help users completely format hard drive and also ease everything inside drive.
*It also supports external memory cards, like SD, MMC, memory stick, CF card and more.
Cons:
*Pay $3.30 to upgrade this free tool to get faster speed and free lifetime updates.
*It recognizes the internal hard drive as one, not separated partitions.
*The speed of this free version is capped at 180GB per hour which is 50MB/s.
As the second disk formatting tool tested and listed here, USB disk storage format tool is also 100% freeware and allows people to completely format any USB flash drive or memory card with FAT, FAT32, exFAT and NTFS file system formats.
Pros:
*It is free, fast and safe to format a flash drive or memory card.
*It supports all USB flash drives and memory card, like pen drive, thumb drive, CF, SD, Micro SD, TF, SDXC, SDHC memory card and more storage devices with different bands.
*It supports USB drive and memory card with FAT, FAT32, exFAT and NTFS file system types.
*It helps formatting storage device and also removes all stored videos, music and files completely.
Cons:
*It also does not read any internal hard disk and partition.
*Upgrade software to pro version to get more features, like creating bootable USB disk, formatting USB disk not recognized by Windows, doing a low-level format or adjusting cluster size for USB disk for faster speed, etc.
*It supports FAT, FAT32, exFAT and NTFS file system types only.
Tokiwa FAT32 Formatter is also a free disk formatting program which also helps everyone format hard disk and partition into FAT32 for free. With an easy-to-use interface, this software is also able to help delete or initialize a drive or partition smoothly.
Pro:
*It is free and easy to grasp.
*It allows users to delete or initialize hard drive partitions with simple clicks.
*It also reads all computer internal hard drives as separated partitions.
*It also allows user to format drive or partition into FAT32
Cons:
*It is able to format only unallocated space into FAT32 file system type.
*It only allows people to format hard drive or partition into FAT32.
*It supports Windows XP/Vista /2000 /7 only.
Here are also some free methods that are available for you to operate hard drive formatting or usb format without any software under Windows.
Tool #6: format by right click the disk drive, pen drive or sd card
Tool #7: Format under PC Disk Management
Tool #8: format with cmd, it works when Windows was unable to complete the format
Step 1: open cmd by typing 'cmd' or 'diskpart' in 'Search Programs and Files' under Windows start
Step 2: type the letters inside of the quote 'format F: /fs:fat32' and enter. F must be replaced by the drive you want to format.
If you want to know more solution about why and what to do when Windows was unable to complete the format, you may read this article: Windows failed to format
Or you may see the following video to get a quick fix when it is unable to format your drive/card.
Note: when your flash drive or hard disk is damaged, be free to try these 8 free usb drive repair software for free repairing.
Some users want to download disk formatting programs with the purpose of removing personal information on their storage media that they do not want to share any byte of the confidential data with another one.
In case of removing sensitive data with the usb format tools, we would recommend this freeware - Partition Resizer Free to you since it is built with a function - 'Wipe Partition' that could wipe the whole disk or usb by writing 0 or 1 into the disk, which makes the old data to be completely overwritten and can not be restored by any data recovery programs.
Step 1: Download and install Partition Resizer Free and get the usb/card to your PC if you want to remove an external device.
Step 2: Launch Partition Resizer Free and then right click the media you want to remove its privacy.
Step 3: Choose a wiping method. Time consumption depends on how much data on your media. Usually 120GB data would take about 10 minutes.
No matter why you have to format a hard drive or memory card, there are always five common ways for you to choose, like formatting it in My Computer, performing a formatting process in Disk Management, formatting a hard drive with common line, doing a formatting process with drive partition managing software or disk formatting software. And No matter which way you choose at last, hope you can extract and save important data backups well in advance to avoid any unexpected data loss troubles.
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Low level format of the hard disk is the most thorough way to initialize the hard disk. After the low level format of hard disk, the original saved data will be lost, so it is generally undesirable to perform low-level formatting on the hard disk. But when the hard disk has a certain type of bad sectors, in order to use the hard disk normally, you have to format the hard disk at a low level.
What's the best low level format tool that facilitates a hard drive formatting? HDD Low Level Format Tool from HDDGURU receives positive feedbacks from personal/home users as well as commercial/professional users.
HDD Low Level Format Tool is an outstanding disk formatter for low level hard disk drive formatting.
By using the HDD Low Level Format Tool, the hard drive low level formatting shall become easier and faster. Even a computer novice could make full use of it. Simply follow the guide to low level format a USB drive, pen drive, SD card, external hard drive, and more.
Step 1. Google 'HDD Low-Level Format', pick up an official site or CNET download site to download and install it on PC.
Step 2. Plug your HDD or USB drive into the computer and launch the low-level format tool.
Step 3. Select the desired drive and click Continue. Confirm the option by clicking Yes.
Step 4. Select 'Low-Level Format' in Tab to start the low-level formatting process.
The purpose of complete low-level formatting of a hard drive is to zero-filling it so that erased data can never be restored. So, behave cautiously while choosing this type of formatting process.
It doesn't finish yet after low level format your hard drive if you want to put it in normal use. The hard disk must undergo three processing steps: low level format, partition, and high level format (hereinafter referred to as formatting) before the computer can use them to store data.
Hence, take more steps after using HDD low level format tool. Use EaseUS Partition Master to help you partition and format partitions on the low level formatted hard drive simply.
In the steps of partitioning and formatting the hard disk, it is necessary to create partitions and logical disks to format the hard disk. You can create either FAT or NTFS partition according to the physical hard disk capacity.
And don't panic if the partition file is formatted incorrectly, You can still use EaseUS partition management software to convert FAT32 to NTFS on Windows 10, 8, 7.
Partition Hard Drive/Create a Partition
Step 1: Run EaseUS Partition Master, right-click the hard drive partition you intend to format and choose 'Format'.
Step 2: In the new window, set the Partition label, File system (NTFS/FAT32/EXT2/EXT3), and Cluster size for the partition to be formatted, then click 'OK'.
Step 3: Then you will see a warning window, click 'OK' in it to continue.
Step 4: Click the 'Execute Operation' button in the top-left corner to review the changes, then click 'Apply' to start formatting the partition on your hard drive.
Move/Resize Partition
As a professional disk management software, EaseUS partition management tool can help you easily move or resize partition so that your hard disk can play the maximum efficiency.
Step 1: Locate the drive/partition
Which drive/partition do you want to adjust its size? Right-click on it and choose 'Resize/Move'.
Step 2: Resize the partition
You can either shrink the selected partition or extend it.
To shrink the partition, simply use your mouse to drag one of its ends into unallocated space. Expand the 'Advanced Settings' list, where you can see the exact disk space for each partition. Once done, click 'OK'.
Fig. 1 Unallocated space before the drive.
Fig. 2 Unallocated space after the drive.
To extend the partition, make sure that there is unallocated space aside (if there isn't, follow the above steps to create some). In the same way, drag your mouse towards the unallocated space. Click 'OK'.
Fig. 3 Add unallocated space into the partition
Step 3: Apply changes
At this step, you will see the new disk partition information & diagram.
To save changes, click the 'Execute Operation' button and then 'Apply'.
Other practical key features of EaseUS Partition Master are:
Low-level formatting is recognized as one of the three disk formatting processes, the others are partitioning and high-level formatting.
By wiki's explanation, low-level formatting marks the surfaces of the disks with markers indicating the start of a recording block and other information like block CRC to be used later, in normal operations, by the disk controller to read or write data. This is intended to be the permanent foundation of the disk and is often completed at the factory.
Pros
Low-level formatting is extremely helpful and significant when hard disk drive or some removable storage devices developed bad tracks, such as track 0 bad, or Windows was unable to complete the format due to write protection. Besides, severe computer virus infection.
Cons
Low-level formatting does damage to the hard drive and accelerates its death. What's more, it's incredibly time-consuming. It is estimated that low-level format a hard drive of 320GB takes about 20 hours or even longer.
If you have to do low level disk formatting, there are three typical approaches, including DOS command, inbuilt disk utility of disc or USB drive, and third-party low-level format tool (demonstrated in this article).
After low level format, partition, and high level format, your hard drive can be perfectly put in use even after experiencing a dead moment. For any problem during the process, you can contact our technical support for help via live chat or email support: support@easeus.com.
Here are a few questions related to low level format on Windows 10. If you also have any of these problems, you can troubleshoot here.
Low level format is to reset the contents of the disk, restore the factory state, divide the cylinder and the track, and divide the track into several sectors. Each sector is divided into the identification part ID, the interval GAP, and the data District DATA, etc. Low level formatting is a job before high-level formatting. Low level format can only target one hard disk and cannot support a single partition. Each hard drive has been low level formatted by the hard drive manufacturer when it leaves the factory, so users usually do not need to perform low level formatting operations.
Low level format means clearing all sectors, including partition tables, boot sectors, etc.. It is a very long, but quite effective way to delete private data, boot sector viruses, C-Dilla data, and a few more. Low level formatting is a lossy operation, which has a certain negative impact on the life of the hard disk.
You can use HDD low level format tool to low level format a hard drive:
Step 1. Download and run HDD LLF Low Level Format Tool on your computer.
Step 2. Plug your HDD or USB drive into the computer and launch the low-level format tool.
Step 3. Select the desired drive and click 'Continue'. Confirm the option by clicking Yes.
Step 4. Select 'Low-Level Format' in the tab to start the low-level formatting process.
Formatting is divided into high level formatting and low level formatting. High level format simply clears data on the hard disk, generates boot information, initializes the FAT table, and marks logical bad sectors. The low level format divides the hard disk into cylinders and tracks and then divides the tracks into several sectors, and each sector is divided into an identification part ID, a partition area, a GAP, and a data area DATA. Low level format is a job before high level format.
Are you looking for a reliable format tool that can format and change the file system of your USB flash drive or external USB drive to make it detectable on Mac computers?
Follow through the below guide, you'll learn how to set a suitable file system for your USB flash drive and make it detectable on Mac:
This guide also works to format your external hard drive, SD card, hard drive, etc., devices to recognized on Mac computers.
The first thing that comes up in your mind could be which tool that you can use to format the USB flash drive or external USB drive, right?
Here, in this part, we've collected 3 top recommended USB format tools that can help you fully format and reset the file system of your device to be usable on Mac:
USB Format Tool for Mac | Pros | Format Process |
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Disk Utility for Mac |
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Terminal Command for Mac |
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Format Software for Windows |
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So how to select a suitable tool to format your USB flash drive or external hard drive for Mac? For a quick guide, read the tips here:
After picking the right USB format tool, you can now move to the next guide and decide which format that you should set for the USB flash drive or external hard drive.
Note that Windows uses NTFS but Mac can't write files to volumes with NTFS format. Mac computer can only read NTFS devices.
Here is a list of macOS supported file systems:
Usually, both APFS and Mac OS Extended file systems are mostly used on Mac hard drives, while the FAT/FAT32 and exFAT are common formats for external storage devices.
So how to set a suitable format for your USB flash drive or external USB drive? Here are our suggestions:
So how do I format a USB stick on a Mac computer? Here, we'll show you how to format your USB flash drive or external hard drive for Mac usage.
Important Note:
Disk Utility offers users similar features in the disk management tool, such as to create, delete, resize, merge and format partitions. You can try the following steps to format USB or external hard drive for Mac with Disk Utility on Mac:
Step 1. Connect the USB or external hard drive to your Mac computer.
Step 2. On the Apple menu, click 'Go' and select 'Applications'.
Step 3. Double-click 'Utilities' in the Applications window.
Step 4. Double-click to open Disk Utility in the Utilities window to open it.
Step 5. Select your USB or external drive, click 'Erase', then click the Format column and select a format for your USB.
For example, Mac OS Extended (Journaled) or MS-DOS (FAT).
Step 6. Reset the drive name and click 'Erase' to confirm the operation on the next pop-up window.
Wait for the process to complete and then you'll get a new Mac compatible file system on your external hard drive or USB, which will make your device detectable and workable on Mac.
Terminal command lines work the same as Disk Utility, however, it's more complex for beginners. If you prefer to use this method, make sure that you follow the steps below carefully:
Step 1. Connect the USB flash drive or external hard drive to your Mac computer.
Step 2. Press cmd + space to run Spotlight, type: terminal, and hit Enter.
Step 3. Type: diskutil list and find out which disk is your USB drive.
Step 4. Type:sudo diskutil eraseDisk FAT32 MBRFormat /dev/disk2 and press Return.
Step 5. Wait for the process to complete and then close Terminal.
After this, you can use your USB on Mac in a detectable and readable format now.
If you need a simpler format tool to format USB or external hard drive to FAT32 on a Windows computer so to make it work on Mac, you can apply a third-party format tool for help.
EaseUS partition software is a popular disk management tool that is available for resolve all types of partition management jobs such as format disk partition, extend system partition, settle low disk space problems.
It allows you to format a USB or external hard drive on your Windows PC in only 4 simple steps:
After this, you can connect the formatted external hard drive or USB drive to your Mac computer and use it to save data by then.
You May Also Interest In:
Note that if you want to transfer a USB flash drive from NTFS to FAT32 without formatting it as you have saved some important data on it, EaseUS Partition Master can help.
On this page, we presented 3 reliable USB format tools for you to format a USB flash drive or external hard drive on Mac or Windows computers, making the storage device usable on Mac.
For Mac beginners, Disk Utility is good for you to try. As for Windows users who want to format a USB drive for Mac, EaseUS partition manager software - Partition Master worths your trust.
After picking the right tool, you can just revert to the right tutorial, take action to format your drive usable for Mac computer now.