How to Format USB Using CMD on Windows 10

In this tutorial, we are going to see how to format USB using CMD on Windows 10. Formatting a USB drive can be useful in many cases. You can format a removable storage device to ensure that it does not contain any malicious code or when the USB drive is not accessible because the data is corrupted.

Also, formatting a removable storage device is required if it uses a file system that is not compatible with your system. Finally, you can format your USB drive before you get rid of it, in order not to leave any personal information.

To format a USB flash drive or any other removable storage device, there is no need to install third-party software. Windows 10 includes by default several tools to format any storage device.
 

 

How to Format USB Using CMD on Windows 10

Step 1: There are two ways to open the command line. Click on the Start menu, type CMD in the search box, then right-click on it and select Run as administrator. Or press WIN + R, type CMD, and press Enter.
 

 
Step 2: In the Command Prompt window that opens, enter the following command to format your USB drive (where E is the letter of your USB stick) by copying and pasting and validating with the Enter key:

format E: /fs:ntfs

 

 
When you get the message Insert new disc for drive E, press Enter again to continue.
 

 
Here is the complete syntax for the command format:

format <volume> [/fs:{FAT|FAT32|NTFS}] [/v:<label>] [/q] [/a:<unitsize>] [/c] [/x] [/p:<passes>]

Wait a few minutes for the formatting process to finish. Once Windows has finished the formatting process, close the Command Prompt.